Some Go Mad

“Now you’re asking the right questions.” The Doctor grinned, an excited spark filling his eyes. Rose could only stare at him, still wanting an answer to her question. But before she could repeat her words, the Doctor had walked past her and exited the room.

Rose let out a long breath. She would rid her entire body of every single drop of oxygen to know just what the hell that man’s answer had meant. She hated it when people acted cryptic. It felt like everything they said was a lie and any attempt to get a serious answer from them was a useless waste of time and breath.

She jolted out of her brooding thoughts at the sound of a long screeching creak resounding through the house. She recognized it instantly as the sound of the third step protesting against the weight of a person being put on it. As a child, it had become instinct to avoid that particular step as her parents’ room was stationed right next to the house’s staircase, and neither of them was fond of midnight snacks being sneaked.

Afraid she wouldn’t be able to think of a clever lie explaining why a strange man was in their house if the noise were to wake Marshall or Elizabeth, Rose hurried out her door and down the hall. The creaking sounded two more times before she made it to the top step. The Doctor stood on the fourth step down, one foot placed weightlessly on the doomful third step. He pressed down with that foot and the creak sounded for a third time, its wailing cry seeming to magnify and echo a hundred times. Rose realized he was doing it on purpose.

“What are you doing?” she hissed, eyes glancing nervously at the closed door to her right. She took some, but little, comfort in the soft snoring that she could hear coming from behind the wooden barrier.

The Doctor looked up at Rose from his concentrated stare at the weak step. “Someone should fix this.” He put pressure on the step again.

“Stop that!” Rose snapped.

The Doctor took his foot away and raised both hands in surrender. He mouthed a silent apology, but something in his features told Rose that he had somehow won against her. He had come out victorious in some unknown battle against her that she was unaware of.

“What are you smiling at?”

“I’m not smiling.” He turned his curling lips downwards instantly; a forced frown.

Rose crossed her arms, her own lips frowning while her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Yes, you are. And what was that back there?”

“Time Lord.”

“No, you said – What?” Rose stopped short. She stared at the man in front of her who now looked positively giddy, his lips curling into a smile once more, and his eyes sparkling like browning pools of gold.

“You asked what I was. I’m a Time Lord.”

“That…it sounds – ”

“Baffling? Incomprehensible? Noble? Cool?” The Doctor’s smile grew with each suggestion, his ego growing even faster as every word left his mouth with a surety that made Rose feel almost bad about shooting him down.

Almost.

“Ridiculous.” Rose smirked as she saw the Doctor’s ego visibly deflate, his smile slowly disappearing, though there was still a fire of challenge in his eyes. He straightened up, shoulders squaring, turned on the spot, and made his way down the rest of the steps in a matter of seconds.

“Wait!” Rose called in a voice slightly louder than intended. But she was too busy catching up to the retreating man to worry about getting caught by her parents. The Doctor didn’t stop, but he slowed.

By the time Rose caught up to him, the Doctor was standing by the front door, holding it open so that the cool night air hit both of them sharply.

“What is it?” Rose asked, her eyes examining him closely, landing for a prolonged moment on the odd buttons adorning his jacket. Again, they seemed to glow with a light all their own. “A Time Lord,” she clarified her early statement as her attention fixed again on his young face. He had quirked a questioning eyebrow at her though she had a feeling he was too smart and too clever to not know what she was talking about.

“Can’t tell you,” he said with a secretive smile. “It’s all kept hush, hush,”

“So it’s an organization?”

“In a way.”

“A big one?”

“Used to be; there aren’t many of us left. Walk?” he added, motioning towards the still open door that continued to spill cold air into the house.

Without thinking, Rose moved to slip her shoes on and grab a light jacket that was hanging on a rack by the front door.

Both of them stepped through the open door. Rose glanced back only once to make sure the noise and cold air hadn’t woken anyone in the house. Doctor, finally seeming to be on the same page as the young girl whose house he had broken into, tenderly closed the heavy door with a small and final click. He grinned at Rose who couldn’t help but smile back.

“See? Everything works out fine when you’re with me.” His eyes stopped on Rose for just a moment before settling on a point at the end of the road over her shoulder. Rose turned her head. A small fearful chill ran through her as her eyes landed on the same blue box that she had seen the Doctor in before.

“Where are we going?” she asked with her eyes still glued on the seemingly harmless box. When she received no answer, Rose turned her attention around once more. The Doctor was already on his way in the opposite direction of Rose’s fears. She took this as answer enough.

“Well?” Doctor inquired when Rose had managed to fall into step beside him.

“Well?” Rose repeated in question.

“Don’t you have any questions?”

“Sure I do, but I doubt you would answer them directly.”

“You’re a smart one,” the Doctor stated with a smile that made Rose feel he was already very fond of her and her answers. “I like it when they’re smart. It usually means that there will be less to clean up.” He nodded to himself, shoving both hands in the pockets of his jacket.
Rose only followed him silently, step for step.

Maybe I should ask him some questions… she thought to herself.

“You seem really cocky. I don’t much like it when people act cocky about everything.” She stated instead.

“Well then, you’ll hate me.” Doctor replied. His words held no bitterness and no sarcasm. In fact, if Rose had to place exactly what emotion the simple words did express, she would have to name it as a time old excitement – exactly how she used to feel as a child when the weekend grew near.

And, looking at the man next to her, she realized that it was Friday.