Breaking Point

Self Hatred

"Where the hell have you been?" Rose asked the Doctor who had just shown up.

"Well." He scratched the back of his neck. "It took a bit longer than expected to get the authorities to come. Then I got down here as soon as possible. And you seem to be a bit ahead of schedule."

Rose looked behind him. There were no police in sight. She raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, who then explaained, "They'll be here in a moment." A pause. "Well, soon." An ear tug. "Welll, maybe I'd better check on their progress. Back in a tick!" He then rushed off.

While he was gone, the part human Doctor and Rose started opening up the cell doors of the people who had been kidnapped before them. One person rushed out at Rose, but she was able to get her subdued before she could cause any harm to herself or anyone else. Everyone else though, was thankful that they would be able to be returned home. Just as they were opening the last cell, the original Doctor returned with the local police in tow.

The trio then explained everything to the authorities (keeping all mentions of telepathy and of not being from around there out of the explanation), showed them which cells the five kidnappers/ slavers were tucked away in, and then slipped away.

While they were walking through the underground passages, Rose laughed and said, "Oh, our life, I love it. First trip back, already helped a little girl find her mother, saved several people from kidnappers, been locked up, escaped, and bought a gorgeous outfit!"

"I'm sorry," apologized the fully Time Lord Doctor from behind her.

Rose stopped, turned around, and looked at him. He looked like he'd been kicked. "What? Why're you saying sorry?" She paused to let him answer, then told him, "For one, you weren't even there for most of it. Two, dinnit I mention the gorgeous outfit? And three, this is the first time I've felt alive in years!" She grinned, then realization hit her. "Oh, you thought I was being sarcastic, dinnit you? 'Cause I wasn't you know, I really do love this."

The Doctor looked at her incredulously. "Rose, I saw those blasters. You could have been killed! You're not safe!"

So he wanted to keep her safe, she understood and wanted the reverse as well, but he needed to understand something she had learned for herself. "Oh Doctor, anyone, even you, could die at any moment at any day, no matter what they're doing. No one is ever safe," Rose calmly replied, trying to make him see things from her point of view, but she could see that what she said didn't make it any better.

She began pacing back and forth. "Look, 's simple. When I was over there," she referred to Pete's World. "I did a lot of things, handled a couple of invasions, even helped broker a few peace deals. One of which went a bit wrong when the guard of one of the ambassadors decided that blowing everyone up was better than peace. Which I stopped, by the way."

Both Doctors were looking at her with a bit of pride, but she didn't notice as she continued her pacing and explanation. "The worst burn I ever received was from saving Tony from getting burned. One of the worst cuts came from being a little overzealous with a knife. And I wound up in a coma once, it was only for a day, but you know wha' happened to put me into it?" She stopped pacing and looked at both of the Doctors, who were standing right next to each other. Both men had identical looks of horror on their faces at the thought of her being injured badly enough to be in a coma.

"I was walking back to my flat late one night after catching up on some paperwork. Paperwork! 'M telling you, forget whatever Dante said, the 7th circle of hell is endless, mind numbing paperwork. Anyway, I was walking back to the flat, and a driver ran off the road and hit me. A 14 year old kid snuck out of his house, stole his dad's car and went for a joyride. I had a concussion, 3 broken ribs, a broken arm, and some internal bleeding."