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The Doctor found himself trying very hard now. He did everything deliberately because, now he had regenerated, he seemed to have found this new sense of purpose. Everything had to be perfect because, as Rose walked in from saying goodbye to her mother and Mickey, she smiled brightly and he realised just how close he'd come to losing his best friend. Not just because of the Daleks, but because of the regeneration that came afterwards. She had shown him how to be better just by existing near him, he'd been worried that she would have changed her mind and wanted to stay home. He just had to make sure that she didn't think about it ever again.
So, he grinned back just as happily, and set them into flight. She chucked her stuff down by the door, took off her jacket and placed it on one of the beams, and rushed to his side. As he twiddled knobs and pressed buttons, she watched him eagerly.
"So, where are we going?" she asked.
He leant in a little closer, temptation in his tone. "Futher than we've ever gone before."
It worked, he could tell, and very quickly they were landing on the other side of their very long trip. He'd taken then past the Daleks, past Satallite Five and Platform One, landing just on the other side with a thud. The TARDIS sighed, as if she was happy with the trip and he hoped she was. He hoped both of them were very happy with the trip.
He let Rose out first onto the windy stretch of grass outside. She had to fight her hair slightly to keep it out of her face, and the Doctor quickly shoved his hands in his overcoat's pockets to keep it from becoming too windswept. She was immediately drawn to the large city in front of them, where various vehicle zoomed over their heads to enter the roads from above.
"It's the year five-billion-and-twenty-three," he explained to his companion. "We're in the galaxy M87and this… this is New Earth."
They had come to a stop, but Rose took a small step forward, her mouth open in amazement at the new place in front of her. He did a quick sweep, just to make sure they were in the right place, falling back at her side as she took it all in.
"That's just… that's just…" she stuttered out before laughing in pure delight. The Doctor couldn't help but smile along with her.
"Not bad, not bad at all," he agreed with a nod.
The cars flew overhead, coming almost dangerously close, but no more than if they had been standing on the curb of a pavement. They were never going to hit them, but it felt as if they might. Fly cars were so close they might hit them. The sky was new, the ground was new. Everything was just so new. "That's amazing," Rose breathed. She had never, not in her wildest dreams, thought up anything even close to what her life had become with the Doctor. "I'll never get used to this," she told him. "Never. Different ground beneath my feet," she jumped up and down before looking upwards, "different sky." She frowned, something else hitting her amongst all the sensations. "What's that smell?"
The Doctor reached down and pulled up some grass, sniffing it before holding it out to her. "Apple grass."
Her cheeks were starting to hurt but she hoped she never stopped smiling. "Apple grass," she repeated, utterly amused. "It's beautiful." She looked up at him and her chest swelled in happiness. She couldn't begin to articulate just how grateful she was that he was stood next to her. He had become such a large part of her life that when she thought he was going to die it had completely fallen apart around her. Now he was there, though. Looking out at the city, a smile on his new face, the window blowing through that rather dashing new hair of his. "Oh, I love this," she stated before linking her hands through his arm. "Can I just say, traveling with you? I love it."
"Me too," he replied with just as much enthusiasm and, for a moment, they just smiled at each other.
Then there was a bright flash of light and Danielle Fielding stumbled into existence next to them, barely managing to keep herself off the floor. Immediately his mood soured and the smile fell, much to Rose's confusion.
"Danni!" she cried happily. She'd wanted to spend some time one-on-one with the Doctor, but now Danni had appeared suddenly a hundred million questions she could ask the time-jumper flew through her mind and she was very glad she'd turned up. She still wasn't sure what happened between finding the Heart of the TARDIS and waking up to the Doctor regenerating, so she hoped that she was far enough in her timeline that she could give her some answers.
Danni smoothed down the her clothes, trying to sort herself out from her less than graceful landing. Her own excitement spiked at the sight of the blonde woman she had appeared with. She had been enjoying her time with Eleven immensily, but this was a moment she'd been looking forward to since she'd landed in this other universe.
"Rose Tyler!" she exclaimed. "It's about time!" They hugged as if they were old friends, which just made Danni even happier. She had been worried that Rose might have been a bit upset at having someone else travel with them, like she had for the episode when Mickey had finally joined them, but she could instantly tell that wasn't the case.
She frowned, though, and sniffed as the same thing Rose had picked up reached her. "Is that…" She sniffed again. "Is that apple grass?"
Eleven had mentioned it to her on their first adventure so she'd assumed she'd make it here eventually. Still, as she beant down and grabbed it, she couldn't believe she'd made it to New Earth. She held a small clump up to her nose. She'd expected it to smell more like fresh apples rather than apple-flavoured sweets, but it was quite obviously apple scented. "We're on New Earth!" she cried, excited.
"Should've known you'd know about apple grass," Rose said with a shake of her head, like she should have known better than trying to surprise Danni, who always seemed to know what was going on around her. Danni opened her mouth to reply when the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand, still looking rather annoyed, and pulled her away. He didn't even glance at Danni.
"Come on," he snapped, as if he'd grown tired of them talking. Danni frowned, confused and slightly hurt at his reaction to her. So far the Doctor had always been rather happy to see her. Now he wasn't. Maybe the last time he'd seen her she'd managed to annoy him. Understandable, really, they couldn't get along all of the time. Still, it kind of hurt. She'd been enjoying the Doctor liking her around.
Rose glanced over her shoulder at the red-head, looking just as baffled and Danni took it as a sign that she didn't understand the sudden change either. Feeling slightly better about being in the dark, she followed them down a slope to where the Doctor was taking his jacket off to lay it down on the grass. He almost dragged Rose down onto it, keeping her hand clasped in his to make sure that only the pair could sit on it. Still a little confused, Danni sat behind them.
The silence was heavy, and Danni wasn't sure where it had come from. Sure, she'd not been in the universe very long, her travelling days were very new, but the last time she had seen Ten he had been very nice to her.
Actually, she thought to herself with a frown, had he? There had been a couple of moments where he'd seemed angry at her, but she hadn't done anything, had she? What could she have possibly done to annoy the Doctor?
"So, the year five billion - the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted," the Doctor began, and for some reason it really felt like he was only addressing Rose. Danni hadn't felt so left out since school when she'd had a few of her friends make plans around her, but without her. It wasn't a nice feeling.
Rose smiled up at him. "That was our first date," she teased. A grin spread on his face as well, though, so she knew that he felt the same way as she did.
"We had chips!" he added. They giggled together, like it was an inside joke, until the Doctor looked back and caught Danni's eyes, causing him to stop and clear his throat. "So anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up... oh, yeah, they get all nostalgic. Big revival movement, they find this place!" He sat up next to Rose to get a better look at the city across from them. "Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit, lovely! Call goes out, the humans move in!"
"What's the city called?" Rose asked.
"New New York," Danni called over. She knew perfectly well that she behaving like a child and offering something to the conversation, something that would seem smart, just to be included. The Doctor had seemed to like it when she had known stuff as well. So, she was very surprised when he shot her a really dark look, very annoyed she even spoke.
She frowned, hurt at his apparent distate for her, but if Rose had noticed she didn't comment. "Oh, come on," Rose replied sceptically.
"It's the City of New New York!" the Doctor told her as if Danni hadn't spoken. He paused for a moment, thinking to himself. "Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original. So that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York." Rose laughed once, looking down at him with a gentle smile on his face. "What?"
"You're so different," she told him.
"New New Doctor."
Rose giggled happily and he joined in with his own chuckle before they both went back to watching the city continue with its day in front of them. A metal spider-like creature appeared from the bushes the Doctor had taken them to and Danni swatted it away, knowing who was controlling it.
"Shoo, Cassandra," she whispered harshly and it skuttled away, obviously spooked by her. She smirked slightly.
"I'm quite surprised you even knew who I was," the Doctor spoke up suddenly, turning to look at Danni suspiciously. "You weren't there when I regenerated."
She blinked, surprised more at his statement than his tone. Maybe that's why he was angry at her? Because she'd left him on his own to regenerate? Were they already friends by that point? If so, then he should know that she didn't have a choice on where she landed.
A little part of her filed that information away, though. Perhaps she could use it to plot out her own timeline. "Well, I promise I'll be there next time."
He shrugged, turning back around. "No, it's alright, I don't need you to be there."
Whatever the reason, he still seemed a little sore about it, and there wasn't much she could do but apologise. For some reason, though, as she looked at him pointedly not looking at her, she didn't think that it would matter that much even if she did.
Perhaps he would get over it? He was fine in the Runaway Bride, and Martha too. Perhaps he was just feeling a little slighted and taking it out on her.
Rose stood up, stretching slightly. "Can we go and visit New New York, so good they named it twice?" she asked the Doctor, who also stood up, struggling to put his jacket on in the harsh wind.
"Well- I thought we might go there first," he replied before he motioned to a large building on the coast. It was a hospital and while Danni knew that, and who was inside.
"Why? What is it?"
"Some sort of hospital. Green moon on the side - that's the universal symbol for hospitals."
"He got a message from someone there," Danni piped up. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her and pulled out the psychic paper.
"Next you'll be telling us who it is," he muttered and she shrugged.
"I could, but where's the fun in that?" Rose giggled and he showed Rose, the words 'Ward 26' being replaced by 'Please Come' and finally changing to 'Bring Danni' flashing across the paper before restarting.
"Someone wants to see me," he stated and Danni caught her name before he shut the wallet and put it back into his pocket.
"And me," Danni pointed out. "That's interesting, isn't it? How did they know I'd be here?"
"Shouldn't you know?" he snapped back.
She just stared at him, still too thoroughly confused to understand his annoyance at her. She really must have pissed him off at some point, because she couldn't remember him acting like this to other people in the show. Well, he could get annoyed, but this just felt petty. Like it was aimed specifically at her.
Rose, who really didn't know what was going on with the newly regenerated Time Lord, was about to step in and ask what his problem was, when she decided that perhaps distracting him until he was no longer in the bad mood that he seemed to be in might have been the better course of action. She still had a lot to learn about the regeneration business. Perhaps he was still getting used to being a new man? She didn't want to push him too much and worry about it being aimed at her instead.
Although, if he didn't back off her friend soon, she would have to address it. Just because she rather liked him didn't mean she was going to stand by and let him act like that towards Danni.
"And I thought we were just sight-seeing," she declared with a sigh, cutting through the conversation before they started arguing. "Come on then! Let's go buy some grapes."
She linked her arm through the Doctor's. He shot her a grin in reply, which was also a little confusing because that meant that the bad mood was being aimed solely at Danni. The last time they saw the redhead was just before he regenerated, and Rose hadn't seen her since the Doctor had sent her back to Earth. Something must have happened, but what?
She reached out and took Danni's hand, though, knowing that she was appreciate being included. She did, but the Doctor's grin dropped.
Perhaps he just didn't like sharing her. That was a thought that Rose rather liked, in a selfish sort of way. Were Time Lords possessive?
"Where have you been?" Rose asked Danni as they headed towards the city.
Thankful that Rose was addressing her directly, and therefore not as angry as the Doctor seemed to be, her face lit up happily. "Oh, we've went to this planet, Jayana," she explained. "It was a forest planet and I wanted to be protected from the plants on the planet floor. It was beautiful." She laughed slightly. "We went swimming in this lake and afterwards we were dry in like 10 minutes, it was so warm. Would highly recommend."
"Is that soon?" Rose asked hopefully Danni shook her head.
"Oh no, that's his next body," she said apologetically. "A long while to go before then."
She looked up at the Doctor, who still didn't look very happy she was there. In fact, he didn't even seem to be listening to her. Maybe he just didn't want to hear about his future. She bit her lip; then she wouldn't talk about it anymore.
~0~0~0~
"The Pleasure Gardens will now take visitors carrying green or blue identification cards for the next fifteen minutes. Visitors are reminded that cuttings from the gardens are not permitted," a voice proclaimed over the Tannoy. The hospital was very clean, very white, and very futuristic. Danni and Rose looked around in amazement. Nuns walked past in futuristic white habits, and the reception was full of people coming and going.
"Very smart. Not exactly NHS," Rose stated.
Danni nodded towards another pair of nuns. "Not exactly NHS nurses though, are they?"
"No shop," the Doctor whined. "I like the little shop!"
Rose paused and turned in the middle of a seating area, taking in the huge building. She'd been to the future before, but it was always so strange to see the different versions, to see all of the differences. "I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything."
"The human race moves on, but so do the viruses," the Doctor explained, continuing on. "It's an ongoing war." A nurse walked past, on her own this time, and Rose stared at her feline face as the Tannoy proclaimed 'Hope, Harmony and Health'.
"They're cats," she whispered, pointing after the nurse.
"Now, don't stare..." the Doctor teased. "Think what you look like to them, all—" he looked her up and down, "-pink and yellow." He pointed over her shoulder. "That's where I'd put the shop! Right there!"
Rose looked as he walked over to her lift. The Doctor walked over to a lift and Danni tugged Rose's sleeve. "Come on, he'll leave us behind." She ran after him, diving in the lift just as the doors closed, leaving Rose behind, who didn't even have a chance to catch up to them.
"Ward 26, thanks!" he told the lift before looking down at her, scowling. "Why'd ya leave Rose on her own?"
"She'll get in the next lift." Which was true, even if she didn't follow them upwards, "And the paper said my name as well." Rose banged on the doors.
"Hold on! Hold on!"
"Oh, too late - I'm going up," the Doctor called back to her.
"It's all right, there's another lift."
"Ward 26. And watch out for the disinfectant!"
"Watch out for what?" Rose asked, her voice already getting fainter.
"Oh you'll find out!" Danni cut in, smiling slightly at the memory of what was about to happen to Rose.
The Doctor glared at her. "Just let me do the talking."
She sighed, becoming seriously tired at his tone. "All right, Spaceman," she snapped and stood in front of him. "I'm getting a little sick and tired of your attitude issues. I don't know what your issue is, or what you think I've done, but I haven't done it yet! Either tell me what the hell is up or stop blaming me!"
It was obvious that her words had struck something in him, as he looked every other way but at her, even if he didn't even reply to her.
'Commence stage one – disinfection.'
The warning lights in the lift flashed briefly before the pair were soaked in the disinfectant that Danni knew was about to startle Rose. She gasped at the sudden coldness of the liquid, but the Doctor just rocked on his heels. He reached up, running his hands through his hair like he was having a shower and she couldn't help but giggle at the imagery.
She very much appreciated the wink he sent her way – which told her that no matter how mad he was at her, there was a good chance it was only temporary – and they both closed their eyes just before a blast of white power puffed out of all the walls at them.
She did the best she could with her hair as the room blow-dried them before the lift pinged again and the doors opened. He stepped out first, looking around as she joined him. She knew that the Face of Boe – or, rather, Jack – was somewhere in the room so she looked up at him instead.
"What did I do to make you so angry?" she asked. He just rolled his eyes, like the mere question annoyed him, before pushing her towards Ward 26. A nurse was quick to meet them.
"Nice place," he commented to the nurse as they entered the room before she could even say a word. "No shop, downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one - just a shop. So people can shop."
"The hospital is a place of healing," the cat nurse replied, surprised at all the talk of shops.
"A shop does some people the world of good. Not me. Other people..."
Danni held her hand up. "Yeah, me," she replied. She turned to the nurse as they started walking down the aisle between the two lines of patients, passing a floating red man. "You know what I like to get? Keyrings. Or magnets. You know, something to remind me of where I've been. Nothing big that'll take up a lot of space, just something to jog a memory." She frowned in thought then turned to the Doctor. "I might start doing that. Something for every place I'll go."
"The Sisters of Plentitude take a lifelong vow to help. And to mend," the nurse explained, going back to the matter at hand before the Doctor could give his retort to Danni. He diverted up to a huge fat man, grey and groaning as he turned to stone. There was a woman hovering over him.
"Excuse me!" she snapped, approaching the Doctor who looked back at her in surprise. "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York," ahe told him primly.
The Doctor ignored her warning completely, instead nodding at the Duke. "That's Petrifold Regression, right?"
"I'm dying, sir," the Duke replied, his voice filled with pain. "A lifetime of charity and abstinence. And it ends like this."
"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance," the woman recited angrily.
"Frau Clovis!" the Duke cried in pain and she rushed to his side, taking his hand. "I'm so weak!"
"Sister Jatt! A little privacy, please!" ahe barked out and Sister Jatt motioned for them to continue on.
"He'll be up and about in no time," she reassured them both.
"I doubt it. Petrifold Regression? He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for... oh... a thousand years? He might be up and about, but only as a statue..."
"Have faith in the sisterhood," the nurse dismissed. "But is there no one here you recognise? It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient."
The Doctor looked around, but Danni had been looking for him since she'd stepped out of the elevator. She had hoped that she might have met Jack as a human first, but she didn't really care too much. The Face of Boe was away from the ward window, his eyes closed, whilst another nurse tended to the many bags of medicine that were being fed into his giant jar. He looked peaceful, at the very least.
"Novice Hame-" The nurse in question turned to look at her superior. "if I can leave this gentleman and his friend in your care?"
She was obviously eager to leave, but the Doctor stopped her just before she left. "Oh, I think my friend got lost. Uh- Rose Tyler. Could you ask at reception?"
"Certainly, sir."
"I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep," Novice Hame told them as the other nurse left them. "That's all he tends to do these days. Are you friends, or...?"
The Doctor ran his hand through his hair. "I only met him just the once on Platform One," he replied. "What's wrong with him?"
"He's dying," Danni replied for the nurse. She knelt down in front of the giant head, reaching out and placing her palm on the glass to let him know they were there. Captain Jack Harkness, still all alone after all these years. She knew he didn't die yet, that was later on with Martha but he didn't have long left.
The Doctor blinked in surprise, not expecting that answer or the devastated look on her face. She hadn't even met him; she didn't go to Platform One. Maybe she met him at another point. His anger flared up for a moment, that meant she was still in his future, when it should just be him and Rose. They didn't need anyone else.
"Of what?" he asked Novice Hame, not wanting to talk to Danni anymore.
"Old age. One thing we can't cure." She stared at the Face of Boe in awe. "He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions. Although, that's impossible."
He smiled at that. "Oh, no... I like impossible," he replied before he also knelt down, placing a hand on the glass. "I'm here," he said softly. "I look a bit different, but it's me; it's the Doctor."
Danni turned around, sitting herself on the floor with her head leaning against the glass. She smiled sadly as she closed her eyes, enjoying a calmer if not sadder moment in her new life. "I'm here too, you big Boe Face," she whispered. "Let me know you're okay."
~0~0~0~
'Hope, harmony and health.'
Danni was getting sick of the PA repeating the saying over and over again. She had to wonder if it would just become background noise for the patients and the staff because she would have hated being ill for a prologued amount of time, stuck listening to that voice on repeat constantly.
The Doctor had left to fetch a drink of water for Novice Hame. Once he had realised that he didn't really have anything to do for the head in a tank, he had become restless and decided to go for a wander. She had opted to stay with the Face of Boe, not fancying being snapped at as he looked around. She sat leaning against the tank, this time facing out of the window watching New New York carry on its daily life.
"Just so you know," she told the head. "If you can hear me, anyway, I've not met you yet. So I may have no idea about anything you want to tell me. But I have to say, you're looking really good." She smiled to herself. "I always thought you'd be amazing to meet. Captain Jack Harkness; the Impossible Man. You would have flirted with me, but then again you flirted with everyone so I knew it wouldn't mean anything." She laughed slightly. "I'm a bit young though, even for you." She sighed. "I wish you were awake, then you could tell me what I'm going to do that makes him act so horrid to me. He's been grumpy since the moment I appeared." The Doctor came back, interrupting her little moment with the sleeping head, with a cone-shaped cup of water for himself and Novice Hame. She rolled her eyes; she didn't warrant a drink obviously.
"That's very kind," Novice Hame said timidly, obviously noticing the tension between the two. "But there's no need."
"You're the one working," he told her, walking over to the window to look at the city.
"There's not much to do," she admitted. "Just maintain his smoke. And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing, sometimes. In my mind, such ancient songs." She turned to look at the head affectionately. Danni smiled; at least he had someone.
"Are we the only visitors?" the Doctor asked.
"Another woman and man came, once, but the rest of Boe-kind became extinct. Long ago. He's the only one left. Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old." The Doctor smiled at her devotion. "There's all sorts of superstitions around him," she continued. "One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret. That he will speak those words only to ones like himself."
"What does that mean?"
"It's just a story," Novice Hame replied with a soft laugh, trying to brush it off
"Tell me the rest."
"it's said he'll talk to a wanderer. To the man without a home and his queen." The Doctor looked at the face, obviously recognising himself in the description but Danni frowned, standing up. "The lonely God."
"How can he be lonely if he had a queen?" She asked and the pair looked at her, almost surprised she was still there.
"It doesn't mean anything. Just whispers surrounding such an ancient creature," Novice Hame told her.
"But it must, if she was important enough to mention. Is there any more on them? Like, I dunno, hair colours or something?" She knew she didn't save Rose either at Torchwood or from the other universe, but maybe there was a third time she didn't know about. Maybe, he wouldn't be so lonely after all. But then again, it was with Martha that he died and she knew Martha wasn't the Doctor's 'queen'. Realising how she was sounding, Danni giggled. "Listen to me, worrying over a mythical man, when really I should be wondering where Rose is." She tried to divert attention off herself by turning to the Doctor. "She's been gone a long time, maybe you should ring her."
He looked at her suspiciously. "Where is she?" he asked firmly and she shrugged.
"I don't know. Ring her and find out." He turned and walked away from them over to the ward phone. She was certain that he had his own phone, he was just doing it so that she couldn't hear the conversation. Every slight was obviously made just to hurt or annoy her.
She refused to let him be horrible to her for no reason, so she walked over to his side just to catch the end of the conversion. He glanced over at the Duke and his attention was pulled quickly back over to him. "I'd better go. See you in a minute," he told her before hanging up. He began towards the Duke of Manhattan before pausing and turning to Danni.
"I know you know what's wrong with her," He muttered lowly. "And for once you're going to tell me."
He stormed off and Danni followed, making faces at him behind his back. She supposed that one of the good things about having watched the show was that she knew that Rose was completely safe, even if she was currently being worn like a puppet by Cassandra. It also made it very easy to decide that she wasn't going to tell him what was going on.
"Didn't think I was going to make it!" the Duke was telling the his companion before seeing the Doctor and pointing at him. "It's that man and woman again!" he cried joyously. He motioned them over as the Doctor grinned widely. "They're my good luck charms! Come in! Don't be shy!"
Frau Clovis turned to them. "Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract," she explained to them. Her tone was much less angry as she was much too happy that the Duke was alright to care.
"Winch me up," the Duke commanded and as she pressed the button on a remote to do so, he shot them a thumbs up. "Ah! Look at me! No sign of infection!"
They were both offered a glass of the celebratory champane, but both declined. "Uh... you had Petrifold Regression, right?" the Doctor asked and the Duke nodded.
"That being the operative word! Past tense! Completely cured."
"But that's impossible." he stated with a frown. This was much too early for a cure to be readily available for the disease.
"Primitive species would accuse us of magic." He jumped slightly as a nurse appeared next to them. "But it's merely the tender application of science."
"How on Earth did you cure him?"
"How on New Earth, you might say," she replied with a laugh, not answering his question.
He motioned with his head to the drips above the Duke's bed that the very large man was still "What's in that solution?"
"A simple remedy."
"Then tell me what it is," the Doctor challenged.
"I'm sorry. Patient confidentiality," she told him before looking him up and down. "I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."
"I'm the Doctor," He told her before shooting her a fake smile. He had lived too long to know that she was using patient confidentiality to not tell him the answer.
"I think you'll find that we're the doctors here," Casp hissed in warning.
"I'm Danni, in case anyone cared," Danni muttered with the distinct feeling she was being ignored again.
The cat nurse who had left them with the Face of Boe appeared by the Matron's side. "Matron Casp - you're needed in intensive care."
"If you would excuse me," she told the pair before walking off.
"I think," Danni started. "We should go see what's in intensive care."
"I think you should tell me what's happened to Rose," he bit back and she sighed.
"I like Rose, I really do," she told him. "She's been nicer to me than you have, although then again so have the cats. But trust me, intensive care is much more important than that right now."
He glared at her. "Nothing is more important than Rose."
She sighed; he wasn't going to make anything easy, was he?
"Someone has taken over her head so that, among other things, they can find out what is happening in intensive care," she snapped, frustrated and more than a little hurt. "Now, don't you think we should find out what it is without them knowing we know so they don't hurt her?"
He obviously agreed by the pained look on his face, which aggravated her even more. "Look, you may have some random issue with me that is making you act like an arse, but Rose will be up in a moment so you may want to act a bit less... angry." She stormed over to the Face of Boe, stopping and turning to point at him. "And if it's because I'm ginger and you're not, then so help me I'm going to scream."
She turned back around and sat down next to the Face of Boe. "You know, I didn't sign up for a grumpy Time Lord," she muttered to him. Her eyes widened as a chuckle ran through her head and she looked at the head before grinning. "Ha! I knew you could hear me, you sneaky Boe Face."