20CHAPTER 1: WHERE TO?
Jack's internal musings were interrupted as the Doctor and Rose collapsed into a laughing heap of arms and legs off the side of the central platform. Rushing over to lend a hand, he couldn't help but quip sarcastically, "Well, that certainly doesn't look like dancing."
And Rose—blooming and beautiful Rose—audaciously winked up at him, gave him her arm, and added between laughs, "It doesn't feel like dancing either." Whether it was the light in her eyes or the unreality of the situation in which he found himself, Jack didn't know, but he did know that he was helpless to resist and began laughing with the pair of them.
When Rose was back up on her feet, she turned and stretched her free hand out to the Doctor and pulled him up as well. "You alright?" She asked quickly.
"Fine as a feather. That's me." The Doctor replied, broad grin fixed in place. Then, apprising her carefully, he responded, "You?"
"Me. I'm great. Not graceful, apparently, but great." She answered, and then she was laughing again, her infectious laughter.
And suddenly, there they all were, the three of them holding hands in the Tardis laughing like lunatics for the dancing and the falling, laughing out of relief that the world was saved and their lives spared, but mostly laughing and sharing in the joy of being alive.
The Doctor was the first of the three to pull himself together. He looked at Jack and Rose and then at the column of the ship's central console and back. "So then, Mr. Former Time Agent," he began brusquely. "Where in the whole of time and space would you like to go?"
The Doctor's question sobered Jack and Rose immediately. Jack raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," the Doctor began in a tone that reminded one of a patient adult explaining something to a very small child, "Where and when would you like to go?"
"Oh," Jack's eyes lit up, as he surveyed the panels of the Tardis's controls. "I get to choose?"
"Why not?" The Doctor replied and paused as if considering, "I can't think of a reason why not. Anyplace in particular that you'd like to see?"
Rose had subtly and probably subconsciously moved to stand next to the Doctor so that they both faced Jack, though she still held both men's hands. She smiled encouragingly and added, "Well, you did just risk your life saving us from a bomb, so, yeah, you choose."
Jack shook his head in amazement at the situation, then addressed the Doctor, "It was her idea to bring me on board, wasn't it?"
"Yes, well," the Doctor replied, nearly rolling his eyes, "She has a weak spot for strays."
"Hey," Rose interjected, "That's not fair." But, the two men ignored her.
"And, you?" Jack inquired.
The Doctor let go of Rose's hand, crossed his arms, and studied Jack keenly, "I haven't quite made up my mind, yet. But, lucky for you, I've got a weak spot for Rose's weak spots, and that's why you're here."
That comment made Jack smirk, "Yeah, I got that." He glanced down at his hand still holding Rose's and then up at her slightly furrowed expression, an ideal destination forming in his mind. "So, Rose, you ever been to Camelot?"
Rose looked from Jack to the Doctor and back, her eyes growing wide. "You mean, Camelot? The Camelot? Arthur? Guinevere? You're not joking? You mean all that Camelot?"
Jack released her hand and assumed the same pose as the Doctor arms crossed, weight back on his heels, self-satisfied smile: "That's the one."
"Camelot," The Doctor repeated, his face extending into a smile. "Fantastic!"