Mickey hadn’t seen Rose for some time now. He’d been waiting to see the blue box materialise in its usual place in front of the takeaway, down in the courtyard below his flat. He found himself looking out the window almost constantly to see if it might be there… but it never was. As far as he knew, Rose hadn’t been back in the here-and-now since the hullabaloo in Cardiff involving that Slitheen, Margaret, and some kind of rift in the earth… and that encounter had hardly ended happily. He hadn’t even said goodbye - he just hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it, so angry had he felt at Rose for running off back to that blasted Doctor, and leaving him in the lurch…

It was the Doctor on Mickey’s mind right now as he walked out onto his small balcony one afternoon and looked down to see none other than Captain Jack, another guy that Rose had been travelling with, strutting down the path as if he did it every day!

Mickey couldn’t believe his eyes at first, but there was no mistaking that man’s gait and glowing countenance. “Hey, Harkness!” he yelled.

The man immediately stopped and looked about himself until he caught sight of Mickey and gave the other man a wave. He was about to shout a response, but Mickey beat him to it; “Stay there!” he ordered whilst he pulled on his trainers and rushed out of his flat. He tore down the stairs as fast as he could before he burst out into the courtyard and skidded to a halt before the man.

“It is you!” he said, catching his breath. “Jumping-Jack-Flash!”

“Look, who is--?” Jack began, but Mickey interrupted again.

“My God, are you back?” he asked. “How long you bin back? Is Rose here, too? Is she all right?”

Jack held his hands up for silence. “Hey, slow down, Mr. Smith, she’s doing okay. I‘m surprised she hasn‘t got in touch.”

Mickey’s face darkened a little at this. “Yeah, well you know how busy she is with the Doctor.”

Jack paused for a moment before he said, placing his arm around Mickey’s shoulders and urging him to walk with him. “The Doc’ ain’t here anymore, Mickey.”

“What? He just dumped you, then?”

Jack waved a hand at him in denial. “No, not at all. We got into a spot of trouble and he ended up having to ransom us for his time machine. It’s not a pretty tale and the prospects weren't good, but he managed to get me and Rose to safety, and…" He paused for a second. "Well, we just don’t know what’s happened to him now. Or what might yet happen to us.”

Mickey didn’t really know how to react. “Oh right…” he settled on saying at length. “So, you two are stuck here?”

Jack didn’t really like how he’d said that, but it was the truth. “Yeah, looks like it.”

“Right… I’ll drop by and see Rose later, then.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, she’s --”

“She’s what?”

Jack was about to continue then decided against what he was going to say. “She’s got something to tell you,” he said instead.

Mickey frowned a little. “What about?”

“You’ll see,” he replied with a weak smile. He then patted the lad on the back and said, “Catch ya later, Mickey Smith.”

---

Rose’s test results had come back a couple of weeks ago, and it was all but confirmed - there was indeed a Baby-Tyler growing in her belly - but she still hadn’t quite come to terms with it. She found that she was determined to keep this baby, though. Perhaps this was now her reason to live, to raise the last of the Time Lords. It might be on a council estate in the rougher suburbs of twenty-first century London, but hey, it was something.

She’d been offered regular appointments to see the nurse at the local surgery, and to have the progress of her baby monitored, just like other expectant mothers, but part of her was unsure about this. If her baby was only part human, wouldn’t it also show part alien tendencies? Would it have bodily structures unlike a normal human? And, if someone else discovered this, what would happen to her child…?

Rose was currently finding herself on the end of one of her mum’s constant streams of gossip. Whilst Jackie’s voice floated out to her from the kitchen, she absentmindedly flicked through a copy of Heat magazine and wished she’d turned on the TV rather than give her mum a chance to talk for England…

“You know, Colleen’s getting big now,” Jackie said. “I won’t be surprised if her baby comes early.”

Rose sighed and turned the page.

“Don’t look likely that the kid’ll have a father, though. Man ran off with some buxom blonde from the pub. You remember that barmaid, Kirsty?”

“Kirsty Blake?”

“That’s the one.”

Rose shrugged to herself, but said no more.

“And I said to her, it’s all we get round here, bloody single mums. Said your fella wasn’t gonna be here, either.”

Rose felt her brow furrow. “You told her? I can’t believe you--”

“Well, there’s no use hiding it, Rose. You won’t be able to in a few weeks.”

“Well at least I know my fella didn’t run off with a buxom blonde.”

“How do you know that? All that travelling through time – he could have loads of you on the go.”

Rose turned the next page too forcefully and tore it. “That just shows that you don’t know him at all, mum. He’s not like that.”

“Oh, but he made an exception for you, did he?”

“Leave him alone.”

“I’ll leave him alone as soon as he shows his face again.”

“No you won’t, you’ll kill ‘im.”

“Yes, well, after that…”

Rose chucked the magazine aside and was about to take the dispute to the next level when there was a knock at the door.

“Oh, that bloody Jack… he might as well live here,” Jackie moaned as she walked out of the kitchen and went to open the door.

Rose knew that it wasn’t Jack by the fact that her mother didn’t say anything for a moment, and when she did finally speak, she only said, “Oh, it’s you. Well, come in, then. She’s in the

lounge.”

Rose angled her head about and felt suddenly nervous as she saw Mickey walk through the door.

“Hi,” she said, sitting up a little straighter.

Mickey gave her a faint smile before he scratched the back of his neck and resolved to sit in the armchair opposite her. “I saw that American friend of yours,” he explained. “He told me you were back and all.”

Rose smiled half-heartedly and nodded. “Yeah. Here I am. Home again.”

Mickey looked her up and down. “You don’t seem too happy ‘bout it.”

Rose shook her head, looking away. “I’m not.”

“Why didn’t you come and see me?”

She looked back at him and ran her tongue over her lips. “I’m sorry, Mickey, things are just really difficult right now.”

“Yeah, heard your Doctor took off.”

Rose’s countenance darkened. “No, he didn’t, he sent me and Jack back ‘ere to save us.”

“Same thing.”

“Yeah right. You weren’t even there so don’t pretend you know better.”

Mickey shook his head and waved a hand at her dismissively. “You’re obsessed, that’s what you are, Rose. And what is it you’ve gotta tell me, anyway?”

“Tell you?”

The phone suddenly began to ring and Jackie shot the room to answer it. “Keep your voices down, you two,” she said as she picked up the phone and held it to her ear. “Hello? Beth! Yes, it’s true. Well you ought to have seen my face when she told me! Fuming, I was, absolutely fuming…”

Rose kneaded her forehead and Mickey stared at Jackie until she walked off toward her bedroom, voice ringing out behind her. “She’s a fool, I told her. But do you think she listens?” Then she shut the door behind her.

“Well?” Mickey went on. “What’s up? Captain Cheesy said you had sommat to tell me.”

Rose ignored his jibe. “Wot about?”

“‘Bout you.”

Rose wanted to kill Jack all of a sudden. “You’re gonna go ballistic…”

“Oh, it’s to do with the Doctor, isn’t it?”

“Yes it is, Mickey. And just you remember Tricia Delaney before you say anything.”

“Me and Tricia aren’t anything anymore.”

“Yeah, well, just remember that you had been, and that we” –she gestured between herself and Mickey - “haven’t, all right?”

“All right!”

Rose sighed and stared at him. She felt sorry for Mickey; she’d really treated him badly, but she couldn’t be here for him anymore. The fact was, she didn’t want to be here, and her heart had long ago been taken by someone else, whether she had acknowledged it or not. “I’m having a baby,” she said.

Mickey stared at her for a while before he laughed. “No, tell me the truth.”

She stared at him, dumbfounded. “It’s not a lie - why would I lie about something like this?”

Mickey’s smile faded and he shook his head. “No way. I know you. You’re not that stupid…”

Rose felt herself flush a little and she turned away once more, really wishing she had the TV on now just to give her something else to look at. “I didn’t plan it, it just… happened.”

“Oh right, so there was some hanky-panky going on it that time machine, eh?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Why didn’t you just be honest with me, Rose? Why didn’t you just tell me that you didn’t want me anymore?”

“I… It just happened, Mickey.”

“Did it? Well I’m so glad I waited for you.”

Rose sighed heavily and tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t dig her into a deeper hole. “I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t realise how much I liked him, until the end.”

“Don’t give me that. You knew well enough.”

“Don’t think I’ve done this on purpose!”

“I bet this is why he’s dumped you, eh? Had his fun then toddled off coz he don’t want a kid in that little world of his. He’s left you, Rose, just admit it.”

“He doesn’t even know!” She got to her feet and Mickey did, too, before she opted to end this interview. “Look, just get out,” she snapped, pointing at the door. “You’re never going to understand.”

“No, you’re right,” he rejoined, “I’m too stupid, aren’t I?”

“Stop it! It’s not fair!”

“You’d rather be with more intelligent beings now, wouldn’t you Rose?” he continued, regardless.

She then physically pushed him towards the front door before he could say any more, quickly pulling back on the handle and shoving him through the doorway once they got there.

Mickey then got the door slammed in his face.

---

Jack caught Mickey at the entrance to the stairwell and could see the young man hadn’t taken the news well, having had a dose of the typical Tyler temper on top of that. Before Mickey could slip passed him, though, he hooked his arm round his shoulders and turned him back the way they had come. “Knew this would happen,” he said.

Mickey tried to get free. “Let go!”

“Look, Mr. Smith, she needs friends right now. Don’t be like this.”

“Friends don’t treat each other like she’s treated me. She’s got too big for her boots. She thinks she’s better than us ‘normal people’ now.”

“No she doesn’t.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Jack looked hard at Mickey and lifted his arm from his shoulders, whilst Mickey took a breath and, deflating a little, looked back at the Captain wretchedly. “It’s all just too much. It hurts.”

“It will hurt - it always does - but if you really care for her, then you won’t lose her friendship, will you?”

Mickey looked down and exhaled. “I need some time to think.”

“No problem. So does Rose. We all do.” He nodded at him. “Catch ya later.”

Mickey watched Jack return to the stairwell and take the next flight of steps up to his flat, before, with one final glance back toward Rose’s front door, he too went on his way.