Untitled - TARDIS Big Bang

not because he did things like that but because he was supposed to be there, should've been there, he
was always there. She kept turning until Jackie said "Rose--" in a low, sad voice.
"Where is he?" Rose asked. "He didn't—did he?"
"He decided to stay behind," Jackie said, in the same gentle voice she used for breaking news like
Granddad's died or I'm out of a job again. "He—said he'd done all he meant to, here. You know, with his
gran and all."
"Why didn't he say anything to me?" Rose asked, mind still flying to every empty space where Mickey
could've been, jamming up on his absence. "Why—how could he just leave like that?"
The Doctor squeezed her shoulder, and Rose suddenly had a very good idea why, and it made her a little
sick. "I'm sorry," he said. "I...it was a good thing, that he came, you know. I was glad to see him."
She shook her head but leaned into his hand, so she'd have at least one point of reference when
everything briefly seemed to spin around her. "Why didn't he say anything to me?" she asked.
"Maybe he thought it was better this way?" Jackie offered, but Rose shook her head again, thinking evil
thoughts at any many who'd rather run away than talk about feelings. Two in one day was a little bit
much to take, and while the other Doctor was frustrating, Mickey hurt, somewhere deep and close to
her heart.
The Doctor rubbed her shoulders without saying anything—he probably knew there wasn't anything to
say. Eventually the cool, damp breeze reminded Rose that they were trying to get home, and she
managed to shake off her shock long enough to fish her Torchwood-issued phone out of her pocket. "I'll
just," she said, "I'll call us a ride, hold on."
Jackie nodded, but the Doctor watched her fumble with the phone with interest. "Why'd you get a signal
when she can't?" he asked.
"Hyperwave technology," Rose said. "Cribbed it off the Cybermen. Only thing that works across the Void,
so they gave me a modified phone while I went looking for your universe."
"That's brilliant," he said warmly. "Can I have a look?"
"Later," Rose said, and finally managed to dial the right number. "Control, are you there?"
"Affirmative," came a bland, anonymous voice, probably some technician or mechanic that she'd seen
but had no time to get to know. She had no idea where the rest of her team were, though after the day
she'd been having she wouldn't blame them if they'd all run off to catch some sleep. "It's been a while,
ma'am."
"Yeah, well, adventures are like that," she said. "Say, is the idiot there who let my mum jump into the
cannon after me?"
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