Revenge of a Time Lord

Chapter 32

'Come on, let's go back to the TARDIS,' Donna said softly, taking the Doctor's hand.

The Doctor noticed immediately that her hand was too hot, she was still suffering from her mind overload. Her temperature was still too high for any human being.

'You need to rest, Donna,' the Doctor said sternly. 'Jackie should never have forced you away from the TARDIS.'

'I am not going anywhere until I know for one hundred percent sure that you are not going to do anything stupid! Until then, you are not putting me away again!' Donna snapped.

'If something goes wrong with you, I would never forgive myself. And I know who I can hold responsible then,' the Doctor said, glaring at Jackie, who was cowering back.

'Don't, Doctor. Nothing is going to happen to me. I will rest as soon as you can behave yourself,' Donna said, reassuring the Doctor.

'I'll go with you!' Mickey said determined, standing up. 'I want to keep an eye on Rose.'

'You're not coming,' the Doctor said curtly, a slight warning in his voice.

'But... She is my gir... she is my friend,' Mickey argued, quickly swallowing the word "girlfriend".

But the Doctor already noticed what Mickey had wanted to say, and he narrowed his eyes and he sighed annoyed. 'I get that you are concerned about Rose, but you are not coming with us. We don't discuss this,' the Time Lord said firmly.

'No, Mickey,' Rose said, shaking his head as Mickey wanted to open his mouth again. 'Don't make this difficult for yourself. I will be fine.'

Mickey decided to take Rose's advice for now, not wanting to ruin everything already. Although he wasn't very reassured with the fact that Rose was going back to the TARDIS again. And so wasn't Jackie, she didn't want her daughter to go either. But she had gone through enough with Rose and the Doctor to know that saying anything wasn't going to help. So Jackie kept silent and she tried to be as invisible as possible.

'Come on,' Donna whispered and she gently tried to drag the Doctor back to the TARDIS.

The Time Lord followed Donna and so did Rose, without saying anything to her mother and her ex when she left. This was really not the time to make the Doctor jealous. He had to see that his companions were there for him and before that, she should stay with him.

'You two need to know,' the Doctor said when the three had reached his ship, 'that you are not the boss of me. I am prepared to listen to you, but every decision made will still be mine. You do not get to order me around or to do anything without my permission. So the don't-wander-of rule still applies.'

Rose nodded, but Donna shot the Doctor an angry look.

'You are the one who needs to win our trust back, Time Boy. So you don't get to talk to us like this! You claimed that you loved us both, so if you want us to trust you completely, you will let us decide what we are going to do. Is that clear?' Donna said, her eyes fixed on the Doctor.

'You are still my companions. You are here in my ship. Your life is still, quite literally, in my hands. So whatever you want to do, you will need my permission to do it. And trust isn't a one-way process. You will have to win my trust as well. And if I were you... I would take winning my trust very seriously. Because if you don't...' the Doctor said, pausing to end his threat, 'I'll be forced to tickle you both to death. And don't think I won't do it.'

Donna raised an eyebrow. 'You better not if you want to keep your hands.'

'Then I will tie you down first.'