Fic: Home Comforts (1/1)
Title: Home Comforts
Author: karenor
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Rose
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: light angst, hurt/comfort, romance/fluff
Spoilers: Up to the Age of Steel (a bit of The Idiot’s Lantern)
Betas/Cheerleaders: faythbrady and missperkigoth
Summary: The Doctor brings Rose home after Mickey stays behind in the alt!verse. What happens before they are happy-go-lucky would-be Elvis seeing time travellers again? Alternating POV’s (and a little Jackie for good measure).
A/N: for the prompt: “a missing scene from somewhere in S2.” I wrote, um, a lot of missing scenes, but all missing from that one significant gap between those two episodes. Written for the oh_she_knows ficathon, gift for joely_joe
The Doctor prepared the TARDIS for its return to the vortex. As his movements took him by the monitor, he witnessed Mickey and Rose’s last goodbye. He couldn’t hear the words, but he could see the anguish written on her face and the determination, bravery and pride written on his. And the love. Mickey loved Rose with a blind devotion that the Doctor was finally beginning to understand. He deserved all the more credit for taking the plunge and staying behind where he was needed. Mickey the Idiot had grown up since he’d met him. The Doctor took a small measure of pride in that himself. Rose, though; she’d take this hard.
She entered the TARDIS, and the Doctor could tell she was trying to hold in the sobs that were threatening to overtake her. She made it fully inside, watched him complete the dematerialization sequence. He smiled at her as they safely entered the vortex and that, apparently, was her undoing. She collapsed into the jump seat and let the grief pull her under.
The Doctor was at her side in an instant, gathering her up in his arms and holding tight.
He rubbed her back soothingly and whispered her name into her hair, trying to calm her down.
He expected some grief from her over Mickey’s choice to stay behind. He himself was fairly broken up about it. Had there been more time to debate with the kid, he would have tried to change his mind. But he knew Mickey would do good in the world they left him in. Rose, apparently saw only the loss. And who could blame her? This was thrust upon her suddenly, on the heels of seeing the image of her mother cyberised, and rejection from that world’s Pete, as well. She’d known Mickey her whole life. Loved him. So she’d cry and he would comfort her and they’d move on together like they’d always done.
Rose’s body was shaking with the force of her sobs, snivelling on his borrowed tux. He was gently rocking her, and he’d probably never admit it to anyone, but having her in his arms comforted him immensely, as well. They did nothing but cling to each other as she cried for several long minutes. Then quite suddenly she yelled, “No!” and shoved hard at him, untangling herself from him and scrambling to put distance between them.
“Rose? Rose, what is it?”
She was standing framed by the doorway to the interior of the TARDIS, arms wrapped around herself defensively. Her eyes were wide, wet from her tears, but they burned with something that looked to the Doctor like anger.
“Rose?” He enquired again, tentatively stepping towards her again. “Are you all right?”
She said nothing.
“Stupid question. Course you’re not all right. Look, Rose-”
“Doctor, Mickey-”
“I know Rose, but-”
“Mickey AND Pete. They’ve got no one now. We don’t-I don’t deserve this.”
“Deserve?”
“You! Comforting me. Holding me.”
“Rose, that’s ridiculous.”
“You heard him Doctor. He said it’s just you and me. That’s why he left. Because I was awful to him. I always gave him hope. God, I was a tease. I gave him hope and he saw us, the way we are, and he knew there’s no hope for me an’ him. And he left because of it.”
“Maybe partly, Rose, but-”
“And you know what the worst part of it is?”
Rose was approaching hysterics and he was afraid to ask, but the look on her face demanded he do so.
“What,” he said calmly. “What’s the worst part?”
“I’m so bloody selfish!”
“What?” He was genuinely confused. Rose was about the most selfless person he knew.
“I said to him, ‘What if I need you.’ Not ‘I need you.’ Still stringing him along. And what else, I kept thinking, while I was hugging him goodbye, that it’s all for nothing. He’s leaving for nothing. Because we’re-” she gestured frantically to herself then him, “-we’re nothing.”
“Nothing?” A flash of pain washed over him at the words, but he kept his emotions in check, he still wasn’t sure what she was getting at.
“I mean,” she said slowly, “we’re not…like that. Together. Like Mickey thinks. Thought.”
“He isn’t dead, Rose. Present tense is fine.” He winced internally even as he congratulated himself on sidestepping the issue.
“We’re in the vortex! He’s dead as much as he’s alive. And you’re changing the subject!”
“Yes, sorry. You were saying?”
“Mickey. He thought we were shagging! And we’re not. So it’s all for nothing. And that’s a fucking horrible thought for me to have.” The last was mumbled through her tears as she turned against the TARDIS wall and began sobbing in earnest again.
The Doctor took a deep steadying breath. He knew it would eventually come to something like this. He knew the way he and Rose were around Mickey, and worse yet, was aware of Mickey’s jealousy, and he couldn’t bring himself to stop touching or hugging her whenever the fancy took him. Even though when he’d asked Mickey to come along, it was partially to add some space between him and Rose. He’d needed that buffer. After what he’d nearly said to her outside that chippy when they’d met Sarah Jane, it seemed the sensible thing to do to invite Mickey along.
He’d been a fool. Driving Mickey away and hurting Rose in the process. His whole ingenious plan, backfired. Still, there was no helping that now. It was done. What he could do was fix the problem in front of him. And maybe it wouldn’t be as easy as he’d thought to get this sorted, if he was understanding Rose correctly. The precarious harmony of their enigmatic relationship was being seriously threatened. She seemed to have said, in a nutshell, that it would have been worth losing Mickey if their relationship had been a romantic one. And that’s why she was beating herself up for being selfish. Why she was a sobbing mess barely being held up by the TARDIS wall a few feet in front of him.
His internal dialogue only took a matter of seconds and he was holding her again. She fought him at first, batting at his arms weakly-the tussle sending them both to the hallway floor. But the Doctor held on until she relaxed, sobs turning to hiccups, turning into sniffles, all the while leaning up against the wall and cradling her in his lap, her head pressed into his shoulder.
“It will be all right, you know,” he ventured, when she seemed to have calmed. “You and me, we’ll work it out.”
She looked at him, all red eyes and splotchy makeup and his hearts constricted for her.
“You sure of that, Doctor?”
“’Course I am Rose. I know nearly everything, you know. Bit of rest, bit of reflection, everything will be right as rain. Ooooh, right as rain,” he pulled a face, “what a silly expression. Why’s rain, right? Can rain be wrong? What about on Za1bona 7 where the rain comes in completely sideways, that can’t be right-”
“Doctor,” Rose warned, a ghost of a smile flashing over her face.
“Right, talk too much, we went over this earlier.” He disentangled himself from her and stood, offering her his hand. “C’mon, up you get. Time we changed, yeah? Don’t think these staff uniforms quite suit us.”
“Yeah,” she agreed sniffling. This wasn’t over, he realized. A bit of a silly ramble wouldn’t shake Rose from her grief.
She turned to shuffle down the hall, but he caught her arm before she got far and stood her right in front of him, placing a hand on each of her shoulders and keeping her at arm’s length. She was looking at her toes so he softly commanded, “Rose, look at me.”
When she reluctantly did, he focused directly at her wet eyes and spoke slowly and with all the intensity he could muster, willing her to believe. “Rose. This isn’t your fault.”
Surprisingly, she smiled a little at that. She stepped forward, dislodging his arms from about her and reached one hand up to cup his cheek.
“You’re wrong,” she whispered before leaning up on tiptoes and placing a brief, yet lingering kiss on his lips. “But thank you for saying so.”
With that, she turned again and started down the hall to her room, leaving the Doctor more than a little bewildered.
>>
Rose was reeling. The images of the events of the last couple hours flooded over her in a torrent matching the pounding hot shower she stood beneath. Alternate Jackie cyberised, the Doctor and Mickey saving the world with her mobile, calling Pete “Dad” and having him walk away, Mickey, oh Mickey. Her last conversation with him, which is what she’d been thinking when she pushed the Doctor away earlier. It's just you and him, isn't it? Then, stupid git that she is, in the haze of her grief she’d admitted to the Doctor just how much she fancies him. All right, she hadn’t come out and said it, but it was pretty well implied. And then, to make matters worse (Better? She wasn’t sure anymore.), she’d gone and kissed him. She still wasn’t sure why she’d done that.
Still, Rose thought, out of the shower and drying her hair, Pandora’s Box had been opened, and she wasn’t sure she wanted it closed. Sure, the Doctor was prone to ignoring things he didn’t want to deal with; she knew this well enough. But he had said rest and reflection, hadn’t he. Where were they heading? She wasn’t ready for another adventure just yet, she needed time to process, and yeah, to grieve. Didn’t matter what the Doctor said, she’d never see Mickey again-he was as good as dead. She could do with a day on the beach maybe, or throwing back a couple in a pub, maybe at home to see her mates. Or her mum, God she should see her mum. After everything that had happened. She wanted her mum.
She felt the change in the TARDIS that signalled materialization as she was tying her shoes. Rushing to the console room, she saw the Doctor, also changed back into his regular clothes. He smiled mildly at her.
“Doctor,” she started, coming closer to the console. “Not sure I’m up for a run just now. We landing somewhere safe?”
“’Course we are. Weeeeelll, safe for you, at any rate. Here,” he said, moving aside so she could look at the monitor as the TARDIS landed with atypical grace, “have a look.”
Rose immediately recognized the brash colours and clutter of her mum’s living room and threw the Doctor a look of tremendous thanks before running to the TARDIS door.
>>
He sat with Rose on the couch, quietly watching something inane with her on the telly. Jackie was out shopping for dinner. He’d suggested he could go pick something up for them but Jackie wouldn’t have it. Said they both deserved a home cooked meal after what they’d been through.
He’d moved the TARDIS earlier, just enough so that you could manoeuvre around the living room and the TV wasn’t blocked. It was agreed they’d be staying a few days, and Rose had made it clear she wanted neither him, nor the TARDIS to go far.
They weren’t far apart at all, but Rose sidled up close to him and took his hand, drawing his eyes from the television.
“You did a good thing, bringing me here, Doctor.”
He smiled at her. “You say it like I saved the world. Only thought you might like to see your mum, is all.”
“You saved me. A little. Seeing mum was exactly what I needed after…after…seeing what she’d become there.” The tears began again and he withdrew his hand from her grasp and wrapped it around her pulling her close.
“And I don’t just mean the metal machine. You didn’t hear her earlier, at the party. She was cold and awful. Stupid me, I thought I could play matchmaker. Get my parents to love each other again. ‘Course they weren’t my parents. You were right. I shouldn’t have ever tried to find him. We’d have been in and out of there without running into trouble. We’d still have Mickey…”
“Hey, Rose, c’mon, none of that. Even if we’d managed to somehow avoid them while waiting for the TARDIS to charge, that world would have been overrun by Cybermen. Your cute puppy eyes, getting me to help you find him? That saved that world. You saved the world, Rose Tyler. So stop those tears, all right?” To punctuate, he kissed her gently on the forehead, hoping to further comfort her.
The tears lessened but didn’t stop. But she wasn’t burrowing into herself or the couch, or his coat. Her eyes were wide and bright and looking at him with something like wonder, even as the tears still oozed out.
“Doctor, I’m sorry I’m such a mess,” she began, a sob creeping into her voice, “blubbering all over you when you’re just trying to help-”
“No. Shhh,” he whispered and took his arm from around her. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing, but he couldn’t bear to see Rose cry anymore today. Not if he could help it. He turned slightly towards her and cradled her head with his hands, leaning down to place a kiss on her cheek, right in the path of tears. “Shhh,” he whispered again, repeating the motion on the other cheek.
He pulled back a fraction, enough to see her eyes, and tasted the salt on his lips. Then a moment later he was tasting her lips, having been possessed of some ridiculous voice that just told him to go for it. She’d kissed him earlier, after all. Not like this, though.
Their mouths moved together as she responded, and when she parted her lips in invitation he deepened the kiss and let his tongue delve in to lightly massage hers. He made sure the kiss stayed gentle, though. This was no wild snog. They were, the both of them, giving and receiving much needed comfort. And when they heard Jackie’s key in the door, they didn’t jump apart like randy teenagers caught in the act. Just let the kiss stop and pulled slight away from each other. She gave him an adorable sheepish grin and buried her head in his shoulder, apparently to hide the flush in her cheeks, as her mother entered the flat.
“Oi, you two lazing about, a little help would be nice!”
>>
The next few days were spent on rest and reflection, as per Doctor’s orders. Rose spent a good amount of time each night and late into each morning sleeping in her own pink bed in the flat. It was a bit disconcerting, at first…it’d been so long since she slept without the TARDIS humming around her. But she could feel her just down the hall, and it was enough. And it pleased her mum to have her so close.
They spent the days catching up with some of Rose’s mates. Spinning the appropriate half-truths about Mickey when necessary. Rose broke a little, each time she had to tell a lie, but the Doctor was right there to put her back together every time. Lots of lazing around the flat, quality time with mum, and more than once, a quick stolen kiss when Jackie’s eyes were another way. They played at this new courtship like enamoured youths. Flinging meaningful glances at each other across the room, sneaking in a quick kiss here and there while Jackie was doing the washing up, or distracted on the phone or making tea.
And even though they were alone frequently, nothing physical progressed more than that. Rose dutifully retired to her bedroom in the flat every night, and the Doctor kept to himself in the TARDIS. It suited them both fine, really. There was no urgency. No schedule to keep. No firm plans made even for when to leave.
And with every passing hour, Rose felt more like herself. The Doctor, on the other hand, seemed to be discovering that he wasn’t really sure who himself was these days. But he was quite interested in figuring it out.
>>
Rose was eavesdropping in the hall. She hadn’t meant to, but it was a natural reaction, when you approach a room to hear people talking about you without the knowledge that you can hear them. Nothing wrong with that, was there? Not like the Doctor and her mum had secrets they were keeping from her or anything.
“No, I’m serious, Doctor. She seems loads better than just the other day when you brought her back to me. I know being around her mum can do a girl a world of good, but I’m not stupid. I know you have something to do with it too.”
“All I did was bring the girl home, Jackie.”
“You’ve done more than that.”
It was quiet for a moment and Rose wondered what sort of silent communication was passing through them just then.
“Anyway, thanks, all right? For keeping her safe and bringing her home.”
“It’s the least I could do for Rose. And more than I’d do for anyone else.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, we keep coming back, don’t we? Never been that way for me before. It’s either time and space travel, or it’s stay at home and live the everyday normal life.”
Rose smiled as he drew out the word “normal,” colouring it with so much, disgust and admiration all at once.
“What do you mean? None of your other companions had families?”
“Oh, sure they did, I just never bothered with them. But I sort of accepted that about Rose, straight from the beginning. Well, sort of. Take Rose, take her family. A package deal, if you like. And I don’t mind. Rather like your tea, after all.”
“Bit of the change from the old you, then.”
“Yeah, s’pose so. A lot of things have changed since then.”
Rose’s heart was soaring at the Doctor’s words. Such a simple conversation, but it told her so much. Even after meeting Sarah Jane, the Doctor hadn’t opened up much about his past companions. She never knew how she measured up, and never really wanted to think about comparing. Made her feel petty and jealous, and she didn’t like that about herself. Still she liked to think she was special. Not to you he’d said then. Now, she was hearing just how singular she was.
Oh, it was a little thing, bringing her home now and then. But he hadn’t done it for the others. She knew he’d never say it, and maybe she was exaggerating as her highstrung emotions the past few days had made her prone to do, but she didn’t think it was a stretch to infer from the conversation that he indeed loved her, as she suspected.
Why else would he have brought her here, to hang about in one time and place for days, letting her drag him here and there, doing things and seeing people he cared little for if not for her.
The realization nearly brought tears to her eyes, but she was tired of crying, and anyhow, there was a much stronger impulse suddenly creeping through her. Desire. Plain, wanton need. Something about letting herself realize the truth that had been right in front of her all this time unlocked something inside of her. A door she’d held shut for years. Sure, she fancied the Doctor. Always had, even when he was all big ears and intense blue stare. Even indulged in some fantasies now and again. But she’d never felt this keen, immediate need before. Maybe it was that that door between them had been cracked open by the few kisses they’d shared. She wasn’t sure, but she knew if she didn’t act on it, and soon, she might well explode.
She took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair, to calm her racing heart and hopefully stunt the rising colour in her cheeks, and tiptoed back towards her bedroom door. She slammed it, pretending she’d been in there all along and then breezed into the living room, doing her best to seem calm and collected.
“Doctor, can I speak to you in the TARDIS for a minute?”
He looked at her curiously for a moment, raised an eyebrow just slightly, shrugged, and rose to follow her.
“Oh fine, don’t mind your me. Have your secrets. I’ll just make more tea, then.” Jackie said, rising too, and heading for the kitchen.
Rose couldn’t really spare a thought as to whether or not her mother was actually offended; she was entirely focused on the Doctor. He had his hand casually placed on her hip, waiting for her to unlock the door to the TARDIS. She unlocked it quickly with a hand slightly trembling. When she got the door open she stumbled forward, then swiftly turned around and grabbed the Doctor by his lapels and hauled him in after her.
* * *
“Rose?” he questioned as she kicked the door shut. He wasn’t sure what this was about, what was so urgent that she couldn’t say in front of Jackie. But his questions were promptly answered when he saw the look in her eye and she launched herself at him to assault his mouth with hers.
He was shoved back against the closed TARDIS doors under the heavenly onslaught of Rose’s body firmly plastered to his. Her kiss was passionate, possessive and more heated than any they’d shared thus far. He recovered quickly from his surprise and responded in kind, opening to her seeking tongue and quickly taking control of their movements. He wasn’t sure why she’d chosen this moment to attempt to snog him senseless, but slightly addled as he was by the taste of Rose flooding his mouth, and the feel of the warm smooth skin of her back under his hands, he decided he didn’t care.
Rose thrust her hands into his hair pulling it in every direction. He added it to the growing list of sensations he loved. Also on the list was the feel of her breasts crushed against him, warm through the several layers between them. Her velvet tongue dancing around his. Those barely audible sounds she was making deep in her throat, telling him how much she was enjoying this. The grind of her hips just there.
Very soon she’d know just how much he was enjoying this as well. Warning bells went off in his head as his body responded to hers almost of its own volition. Sure they’d enjoyed a few lovely kisses up until this point. But they had been going about things slowly, like children, almost like they were unaware there was anything else they could be doing with their mouths. And hands. And other parts.
Now it was like they running at it full tilt. He gave a mental shrug and gave himself over to the sensations with abandon. He slipped his hands down to her bum and flipped them around so it was her sandwiched by his pressing body and the door. He wrenched his mouth from hers to explore more of her with his mouth, enjoying the sound of her laboured breath.
He was, after all, complete rubbish at denying Rose anything she wanted. And oh, she wanted.
* * *
Dragging the Doctor into the TARDIS and ravaging him was beginning to seem like the best idea Rose had ever had. She shocked him, sure, and herself, but he got over it. Fast. The ripples of pleasure zinged through her like electricity; every considerable point of contact with his lean frame was a spark zone, and she rippled and writhed beneath him.
She felt a wicked delight when she realized how ready he was to finish this here and now. A few adjustments of clothing and she could have what she was positively aching for. His mouth was sucking at her neck, one hand beneath her shirt gripping her side, the other tugging at the neckline of her shirt to expose more skin. It was only the thin, invading, persistent thought of her mum right outside the doors that kept her from ripping his clothes off.
Her mum. Oh God.
“Doctor.”
Her only answer was to hear her t-shirt rip and feel his warm tongue caress the top of a breast. She moaned, loudly, but tried not to let it distract her.
“Doctor. We can’t.”
“Hmmm?” he murmured against her heated skin.
“Doctor. My mum!” He froze, then slowly lifted his head, his face the perfect picture of confusion and frustration.
“What?”
“My mum, Doctor. She’s right outside,” she breathed out by way of explanation. “We can’t do this.”
“Oh.”
As reality dawned on him, he seemed to be slightly embarrassed. He stepped a few paces up the ramp and away from her, straightened his clothes, and glanced nervously about.
“There’s plenty of rooms just back that way, far from your mum, you know.”
She smiled at his last ditch effort. “She’s making tea.”
“Right. Tea. Of course.” He looked delightfully dishevelled and it took all of her self-restraint not to go to him again.
He walked round to the other side of the console, rubbing his neck in concentration. “Just, uh…give me a minute, yeah?”
“Um. Sure. I’ll just…” she trailed off as she went to open the doors and leave.
“Rose, wait.” She did, for several long seconds. Then he walked back to her and took her hand, seemingly completely unaffected now by what they were doing just moments ago.
“Time Lord physiology?”
“Something like that, yeah. Oh! Look at your shirt. Sorry!” He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and deftly repaired the tear. “There. Good as new.”
His grin, she swore, could light the whole country.
She started for the door again, but he tugged on her hand.
“Rose, what just happened…I-”
“Later.”
“Later?”
She gave him her best sultry look she hoped he would recognize as a promise. She tugged her hand from his, straightened his tie for him, and exited the TARDIS.
>>
Their voices carried down the hall.
“So what do you say about Elvis?”
“Elvis?”
“Yes, for our next foray into time in space. Your world, not far off, relatively, from your own time. A concert. What do you think?”
“And what, Doctor, would you say, are the chances of us getting to this concert?”
“Excellent. Good. Pretty good? Oi! You doubting me?”
“Never!”
“Good.” He tapped her on the nose, accidentally covering it in pizza sauce. Which he promptly leant across the table to lick off, causing Rose to giggle.
Jackie, unfortunately chose that moment to return to the kitchen.
“Oi! Two of you! I told you, keep the kinky stuff in the TARDIS”
“Mum!”
“Practically making love at the table, pair of you.”
“Mum!”
“Jackie, we’re, we’re not like that.”
“Course you are. Doesn’t matter if you’re not shagging. Never seen two people so wrapped up in each other.”
“Mum we were just discussing where to go next.”
“Oh.” Jackie prided herself for only allowing a small bit of disappointment to colour her words. “Ready to go then?”
“Getting there,” Rose beamed. “Tomorrow or the next day. We’re going to try for a concert. Again.”
Rose gave the Doctor her best mocking grin. Jackie thought she’d never seen her look so happy. If the Doctor could work such magic in just a few days, maybe her only daughter hadn’t made such a poor choice shacking up with a lunatic alien in the first place.
>>
Rose quietly entered the TARDIS. She supposed it didn’t matter now. Her mum was sleeping soundly and anyway she apparently already thought they’d been at it like bunnies for some time now. Still she saw no reason to announce that she was sneaking out of her bedroom and into the TARDIS to be with the Doctor.
Stepping into the cool green-lit interior, she shivered slightly, suddenly very aware of how little she was wearing-a tiny pyjama set of a thin t-shirt and shorts. He was there, on the far side of the room, close to the hallway leading to the interior, fiddling with something mechanical, ever present sonic in his hand. He hadn’t looked up at her yet, and for some reason this filled her with some trepidation.
“Didn’t think you’d come,” he said when she was within a couple feet. Still not looking at her.
“Said I would.”
“Not in so many words. No, you said-” and he looked up then, finally seeing her. And cleared his throat. “-later. Could mean lots of thing, that. Especially in a time machine.”
“I meant now.”
“Oh.”
“That all right?” She asked, carefully removing the sonic screwdriver, setting it aside and, taking one of his hands in both of hers.
“Yes,” he answered, his voice low.
And Rose’s stomach did a little flip. She brought his hand up to her lips and placed a wet warm kiss on his palm. He closed his eyes and hissed in pleasure as if it were a far more intimate place she was kissing.
She was about to see what other lovely responses she could get out of him when he pulled his hand down and away.
“Hang on.”
“Why?” She pouted at him, pulled the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth.
He pulled his hand free of hers and pointed at her face. “And stop doing that, or I won’t be held responsible for grate marks on your bum.”
Rose immediately flushed at his words.
“Doctor!” she gasped, “you’re awfully confident.”
He kissed her quickly and grabbed her hand again. “Follow me.”
“Um. ‘kay,” she squeaked out.
Rose felt suddenly weak with the desire flooding her and had a hard time keeping up with the Doctor’s rushing her, silently through the halls. It was only minutes but the path seemed to her to drag on for ages. Finally he threw open a door and motioned her inside.
“Your bedroom?” she asked, breaking the silence.
“Yes.”
“Didn’t think you had one.”
“I do sleep, on occasion, you know.”
“Hmm,” she murmured, taking in her surroundings. The room was sparse and elegant, just like him. A large bed done in linens of burgundy dominated. And on one wall seemed to be a large window. She heard rustling behind her as she went towards it and looked out at a night sky with a bright moon.
“Is that-that can’t be a window, can it?”
“Mmm. Very perceptive, Rose,” he said sliding up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. At some point he’d shucked the top half of his clothing. The arms around her were delightfully bare, and she could feel the cool length of his chest against her back.
“It isn’t a window. It’s a monitor, like the one on the console. Shows me what I need to see in an emergency. What I want to see-” he placed a kiss on the back of her neck, “-when it isn’t.”
Rose shuddered in his grasp and placed her arms on his. “It’s lovely. That’s my moon? Earth’s, I mean?”
“Yes, and the stars as you’d see them today, if you could see through the muck of the London sky.” He began to move their hands together under her shirt.
“But the TARDIS could show you anything?” Rose dropped her hands and let his continue touching her on his own. She arched into him as his hands slipped up her stomach to each cover a breast, massaging gently.
“Yes,” he whispered, lips touching the shell of her ear.
“Why Earth, then?” Rose was frankly amazed she was able to carry on this conversation while he was pressed so intimately against her, lips grazing her neck and the exposed bits of her shoulders, while his hands roamed, bringing shivers to her heated skin.
“If you haven’t noticed, I have a bit of a thing for Earth.”
The Doctor then reached for the hem of her pyjama top and quickly pulled it off her. Rose raised her arms instinctively, barely realizing what was happening. Then she felt his skin against her back with no barriers between them. He began trailing kisses on her naked back. A flood of heat shot through at that and what came out next was a little less coherent.
“Yes, I’ve noticed, your, uh… thing.”
He chuckled against her back. A hand from her breast trailed down her stomach to tease at the waistline of her shorts.
“Rose. Tell me what you want.” His hand slid beneath her shorts and into her knickers, just ghosting over her most sensitive spot.
She whispered his name on a gasp. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was asking. Surely he knew what she wanted.
“Tell me,” he commanded sliding his hand more firmly against her making her buck her hips into his palm.
“This. This is good,” she choked out.
“Be. Specific,” he growled sliding a finger inside her.
She moaned loudly. “Oh, whatever you want.”
“Really?” He let her go and moved quickly in front of her, glancing quickly over her before dropping to his knees. “Because I could worship this tiny freckle just above your hip for hours.” He demonstrated by grabbing on to her waist and licking said freckle. Then kissing and sucking at the spot.
Rose couldn’t speak and wasn’t sure whether to laugh or scream. Surely he meant to kill her before he actually shagged her.
“Really, what would you say if that’s what I wanted to do for hours?” He looked up at her with eyes glittering in amusement and darkened by arousal at the same time. It occurred to her that they’d barely kissed since this all began tonight and she needed that from him now.
“I’d say,” she said recovering her voice, “that for a Time Lord, you poorly prioritise your time.”
“Good answer.”
This little exchange refreshed her confidence in her ability gain control.
“Stand up, Doctor.”
He raised an eyebrow at her commanding tone but complied without question.
“Kiss me.”
“Oh, yes! Sort of skipped that bit, didn’t we?” With that he fused his lips to hers, immediately thrusting his tongue within, seeking out every corner of her mouth.
This kiss quickly became urgent and fevered, both sets of hands sliding everywhere there was bare skin to touch. A moan rumbled through them and Rose was unsure as to who originated it, and didn’t care as the Doctor walked her back towards the bed.
The mattress hit the back of her knees causing her to stumble onto it and break the kiss. He was still standing at the foot of the bed. His gaze was hooded, marked by passion, and she was awed that she had caused the expression. She crawled up the bed and leaned against the headboard, displayed before him, all modesty well and truly shattered.
“Trousers,” she said simply. It was all he had on and she was desperate to see all of him.
He crossed his arms at his chest defiantly, recovering some bravado. “What about you?”
She gave a sigh of mock annoyance as she lifted her hips and quickly shed the rest of her clothing. On impulse, she balled up her shorts and knickers and tossed them at him.
“Oi! Cheeky!”
“Trousers,” she repeated.
“Whatever my lady wants,” he said quickly dropping them and kicking them aside.
Rose’s eyes widened, taking in his whole lean frame. He was thin without being too wiry, lean but oh, she knew, so strong. Powerful legs, chiselled hips, she thought she’d maybe like to fully explore, possibly with lips and teeth, later. As for the rest newly revealed to her, well there was no question of compatibility of the species. He looked as human as any other man she’d seen. She didn’t realize till right this moment that she actually had some doubts about this. Seemed silly now, and she giggled lightly at herself.
“Your lady wants you.” She held out a hand in invitation.
He accepted it and climbed over her, resting on his elbows. “You giggled. Why?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Tell me.” He placed a kiss between her breasts.
“I thought, I dunno, maybe since you were an alien…you’d be…different? You know…?” She glanced pointedly between their bodies, hoping she hadn’t offended him.
“Rose, you felt me earlier today, and just now-Hang on! If you’ve never…? Who dressed me in Howard’s jim jams Christmas day? Tell me it wasn’t Jackie?”
Rose laughed outright at this. Grabbing his head, she pulled him down for a kiss. “One.” She said in her best lecture tone, “When you’re naked, on top of someone, it’s bad form to mention her mother. Two. Relax, it was Mickey. Protecting my modesty, all that.”
“Oh. Good.” He licked a path across the top of her right breast.
“Oh,” she said. “Back to business then, are we?”
“Oh yes,” he said, taking her nipple between his lips and sucking.
“Yes,” she repeated, arching her hips sharply against him. And there ended any sense of control she thought she had. She was on fire for him. Every part of her ached to have him inside her. Waiting all afternoon for this had been a struggle, even after waiting for nearly two years. If she waited another two minutes, she might surely die.
“Doctor?”
“Tell me.”
“Please?”
“What?”
“Now.”
“We have to work on this vocabulary of yours Rose, you really-”
“Doctor!”
He gave a short laugh, slid himself into place between her thighs, threw one of her legs across his hip and plunged fully into her in one quick stroke.
She gasped, and it morphed into a groan as he began to steadily drive into her. She quickly became lost in their dance. Barely coherent thought eventually returned to her through the haze of their exquisite movements.
Oh, this feels like heaven, she thought.
“Oh, I’m going to hell,” she said.
“What?” he panted between thrusts.
She could only moan in response.
He had only a few steady long strokes in him after that before he started moving more erratically above her.
“Rose, I’m…” he tried, desperately, and she realized just how thin the mask of his control had been.
She was close too, if he’d just…do that. He pushed her knees so they folded nearly to her chest, leveraged himself up on his hands and pounded in fast deep, arrhythmic pulses.
The slight change in angle was all she needed and she was done for, arching into him a final time, digging her nails roughly into his shoulders as she felt so much pent up tension leave her body in spasming waves.
He made a sound that could have been “Ow,” or maybe just “Oh,” buried his face in between her neck and shoulder and bit down as she felt him find his own release. He collapsed above her and she welcomed his now very warm weight.
“Your nails are sharp,” he said after a few minutes, breathing into her moist skin.
“So are your teeth.”
He chuckled and moved off of her on to his side and gathered her back to him to spoon behind her.
“Sorry. Gentler next time?”
“Hmm, maybe,” she considered sleepily.
He growled at her gently and kissed her neck possessively. She found herself quite exhausted-completely physically and emotionally sated.
It was a far cry from how they’d begun this trip home.
She was too tired to dwell much on that thought, and so incredibly content in his arms that she quickly dropped off to sleep.
>>
He was on his back, contemplating the ceiling, and enjoying the soft weight of Rose pillowed on his chest. She was frowning in her sleep. And making small soft noises of discontent. He ran his hand soothingly down her back beneath the sheet, to try to calm her. He was curious about the dream-nightmare, most likely, and wondered if he should wake her out of it.
Then, quite suddenly, as if in answer to his question, she suddenly jerked awake against him. Her small fists tensing and curling up against his chest and a breathy “No…” escaped her lips.
“It’s all right, I’ve got you,” he whispered, petting her hair.
She tensed further as she came a bit more awake. She slowly lifted her head and met his eyes, and he saw the confusion of sleep easing out of hers.
“Doctor. I was… running. No, being chased. I don’t remember…”
“Just a dream. You can go back to sleep. It’s a couple hours till dawn yet.”
“No, it’s all right,” she said stretching against his side. “I don’t want to go back there.”
All was quiet for a few moments. He thought she might have been about to drop back off to sleep when she spoke again.
“Mickey was there. In my dream.”
He weighed the pros and cons of making a joke about being jealous about her dreaming of other men while in bed with him, but before he could say anything she continued.
“Do you think he’s okay, Doctor?”
“Oh yes,” he answered immediately. “Mickey will be all right. He’s a born fighter, like you.”
“My Mickey?”
“The same, yes. You were blaming yourself before, being selfish and all. Forgive me for saying so, but I think you may have done him a world of good.”
“How do you mean?”
“I won’t deny he was jealous of us. I knew it. I didn’t care. I think, though, that sort of…oh I dunno, spurred him into action? Made him realize his potential?”
“His jealousy?”
“Mmm,” he affirmed. “He’d been defining himself through you. He always saw ‘Mickey and Rose.’ Didn’t know how to be just Mickey. It took travelling with us, seeing that he really couldn’t have you anymore, to figure that out. And when he did? Off to save the world, leaving everything he knew behind. Sound familiar?”
She smiled up at him, seeing the comparison. Then she lowered her head to his chest again, let out a small sad sigh and began to move her hand lazily over his stomach.
He caught her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it. “We don’t have to leave tomorrow, you know. If you’re not ready. Time and space will wait for us. We can stay here as long as you like.”
“Here?” she asked suggestively, pressing close against him.
“In the flat, I mean, you minx.”
She gave him a small laugh, but was serious again when she spoke. “No, I’m ready. Been lazing about mum’s flat long enough. I’m sure she’ll be glad to get this box out of her way. And I…I want to go. It’s time. If you think you could me show a place there aren’t monsters, for a change.” She poked him in the chest.
“Oh, Rose, where’s the fun in that?”
An idea struck him and he suddenly sprung for the bed, finding his trousers and hauling them on. She stared at him questioningly from the bed.
“C’mon, Rose, get up.” He tugged on her hand till she reluctantly slid from the sheets, and began finding her own clothing.
“What is it?”
“Wardrobe room!”
“What for?”
“For you. For our next stop, silly.”
“Oh. We’ll say goodbye to mum first, won’t we?” she asked as he pulled her out of the room and down the hall.
“Of course, of course, we won’t leave till much later.”
“What’s the rush then, Doctor?”
The image of her in the fluffy pink get up the TARDIS saw fit to place in front of him last time he was in the Wardrobe Room fixing a circuit with the racks, appeared fully formed in his head.
Oh, this was going to be fantastic. He might even do up his hair. Nothing like a bit of fancy dress to get the old adventure juices flowing again.
“Oh,” he grinned over his shoulder at her, “you’ll see.”
FIN
Author: karenor
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Rose
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: light angst, hurt/comfort, romance/fluff
Spoilers: Up to the Age of Steel (a bit of The Idiot’s Lantern)
Betas/Cheerleaders: faythbrady and missperkigoth
Summary: The Doctor brings Rose home after Mickey stays behind in the alt!verse. What happens before they are happy-go-lucky would-be Elvis seeing time travellers again? Alternating POV’s (and a little Jackie for good measure).
A/N: for the prompt: “a missing scene from somewhere in S2.” I wrote, um, a lot of missing scenes, but all missing from that one significant gap between those two episodes. Written for the oh_she_knows ficathon, gift for joely_joe
The Doctor prepared the TARDIS for its return to the vortex. As his movements took him by the monitor, he witnessed Mickey and Rose’s last goodbye. He couldn’t hear the words, but he could see the anguish written on her face and the determination, bravery and pride written on his. And the love. Mickey loved Rose with a blind devotion that the Doctor was finally beginning to understand. He deserved all the more credit for taking the plunge and staying behind where he was needed. Mickey the Idiot had grown up since he’d met him. The Doctor took a small measure of pride in that himself. Rose, though; she’d take this hard.
She entered the TARDIS, and the Doctor could tell she was trying to hold in the sobs that were threatening to overtake her. She made it fully inside, watched him complete the dematerialization sequence. He smiled at her as they safely entered the vortex and that, apparently, was her undoing. She collapsed into the jump seat and let the grief pull her under.
The Doctor was at her side in an instant, gathering her up in his arms and holding tight.
He rubbed her back soothingly and whispered her name into her hair, trying to calm her down.
He expected some grief from her over Mickey’s choice to stay behind. He himself was fairly broken up about it. Had there been more time to debate with the kid, he would have tried to change his mind. But he knew Mickey would do good in the world they left him in. Rose, apparently saw only the loss. And who could blame her? This was thrust upon her suddenly, on the heels of seeing the image of her mother cyberised, and rejection from that world’s Pete, as well. She’d known Mickey her whole life. Loved him. So she’d cry and he would comfort her and they’d move on together like they’d always done.
Rose’s body was shaking with the force of her sobs, snivelling on his borrowed tux. He was gently rocking her, and he’d probably never admit it to anyone, but having her in his arms comforted him immensely, as well. They did nothing but cling to each other as she cried for several long minutes. Then quite suddenly she yelled, “No!” and shoved hard at him, untangling herself from him and scrambling to put distance between them.
“Rose? Rose, what is it?”
She was standing framed by the doorway to the interior of the TARDIS, arms wrapped around herself defensively. Her eyes were wide, wet from her tears, but they burned with something that looked to the Doctor like anger.
“Rose?” He enquired again, tentatively stepping towards her again. “Are you all right?”
She said nothing.
“Stupid question. Course you’re not all right. Look, Rose-”
“Doctor, Mickey-”
“I know Rose, but-”
“Mickey AND Pete. They’ve got no one now. We don’t-I don’t deserve this.”
“Deserve?”
“You! Comforting me. Holding me.”
“Rose, that’s ridiculous.”
“You heard him Doctor. He said it’s just you and me. That’s why he left. Because I was awful to him. I always gave him hope. God, I was a tease. I gave him hope and he saw us, the way we are, and he knew there’s no hope for me an’ him. And he left because of it.”
“Maybe partly, Rose, but-”
“And you know what the worst part of it is?”
Rose was approaching hysterics and he was afraid to ask, but the look on her face demanded he do so.
“What,” he said calmly. “What’s the worst part?”
“I’m so bloody selfish!”
“What?” He was genuinely confused. Rose was about the most selfless person he knew.
“I said to him, ‘What if I need you.’ Not ‘I need you.’ Still stringing him along. And what else, I kept thinking, while I was hugging him goodbye, that it’s all for nothing. He’s leaving for nothing. Because we’re-” she gestured frantically to herself then him, “-we’re nothing.”
“Nothing?” A flash of pain washed over him at the words, but he kept his emotions in check, he still wasn’t sure what she was getting at.
“I mean,” she said slowly, “we’re not…like that. Together. Like Mickey thinks. Thought.”
“He isn’t dead, Rose. Present tense is fine.” He winced internally even as he congratulated himself on sidestepping the issue.
“We’re in the vortex! He’s dead as much as he’s alive. And you’re changing the subject!”
“Yes, sorry. You were saying?”
“Mickey. He thought we were shagging! And we’re not. So it’s all for nothing. And that’s a fucking horrible thought for me to have.” The last was mumbled through her tears as she turned against the TARDIS wall and began sobbing in earnest again.
The Doctor took a deep steadying breath. He knew it would eventually come to something like this. He knew the way he and Rose were around Mickey, and worse yet, was aware of Mickey’s jealousy, and he couldn’t bring himself to stop touching or hugging her whenever the fancy took him. Even though when he’d asked Mickey to come along, it was partially to add some space between him and Rose. He’d needed that buffer. After what he’d nearly said to her outside that chippy when they’d met Sarah Jane, it seemed the sensible thing to do to invite Mickey along.
He’d been a fool. Driving Mickey away and hurting Rose in the process. His whole ingenious plan, backfired. Still, there was no helping that now. It was done. What he could do was fix the problem in front of him. And maybe it wouldn’t be as easy as he’d thought to get this sorted, if he was understanding Rose correctly. The precarious harmony of their enigmatic relationship was being seriously threatened. She seemed to have said, in a nutshell, that it would have been worth losing Mickey if their relationship had been a romantic one. And that’s why she was beating herself up for being selfish. Why she was a sobbing mess barely being held up by the TARDIS wall a few feet in front of him.
His internal dialogue only took a matter of seconds and he was holding her again. She fought him at first, batting at his arms weakly-the tussle sending them both to the hallway floor. But the Doctor held on until she relaxed, sobs turning to hiccups, turning into sniffles, all the while leaning up against the wall and cradling her in his lap, her head pressed into his shoulder.
“It will be all right, you know,” he ventured, when she seemed to have calmed. “You and me, we’ll work it out.”
She looked at him, all red eyes and splotchy makeup and his hearts constricted for her.
“You sure of that, Doctor?”
“’Course I am Rose. I know nearly everything, you know. Bit of rest, bit of reflection, everything will be right as rain. Ooooh, right as rain,” he pulled a face, “what a silly expression. Why’s rain, right? Can rain be wrong? What about on Za1bona 7 where the rain comes in completely sideways, that can’t be right-”
“Doctor,” Rose warned, a ghost of a smile flashing over her face.
“Right, talk too much, we went over this earlier.” He disentangled himself from her and stood, offering her his hand. “C’mon, up you get. Time we changed, yeah? Don’t think these staff uniforms quite suit us.”
“Yeah,” she agreed sniffling. This wasn’t over, he realized. A bit of a silly ramble wouldn’t shake Rose from her grief.
She turned to shuffle down the hall, but he caught her arm before she got far and stood her right in front of him, placing a hand on each of her shoulders and keeping her at arm’s length. She was looking at her toes so he softly commanded, “Rose, look at me.”
When she reluctantly did, he focused directly at her wet eyes and spoke slowly and with all the intensity he could muster, willing her to believe. “Rose. This isn’t your fault.”
Surprisingly, she smiled a little at that. She stepped forward, dislodging his arms from about her and reached one hand up to cup his cheek.
“You’re wrong,” she whispered before leaning up on tiptoes and placing a brief, yet lingering kiss on his lips. “But thank you for saying so.”
With that, she turned again and started down the hall to her room, leaving the Doctor more than a little bewildered.
>>
Rose was reeling. The images of the events of the last couple hours flooded over her in a torrent matching the pounding hot shower she stood beneath. Alternate Jackie cyberised, the Doctor and Mickey saving the world with her mobile, calling Pete “Dad” and having him walk away, Mickey, oh Mickey. Her last conversation with him, which is what she’d been thinking when she pushed the Doctor away earlier. It's just you and him, isn't it? Then, stupid git that she is, in the haze of her grief she’d admitted to the Doctor just how much she fancies him. All right, she hadn’t come out and said it, but it was pretty well implied. And then, to make matters worse (Better? She wasn’t sure anymore.), she’d gone and kissed him. She still wasn’t sure why she’d done that.
Still, Rose thought, out of the shower and drying her hair, Pandora’s Box had been opened, and she wasn’t sure she wanted it closed. Sure, the Doctor was prone to ignoring things he didn’t want to deal with; she knew this well enough. But he had said rest and reflection, hadn’t he. Where were they heading? She wasn’t ready for another adventure just yet, she needed time to process, and yeah, to grieve. Didn’t matter what the Doctor said, she’d never see Mickey again-he was as good as dead. She could do with a day on the beach maybe, or throwing back a couple in a pub, maybe at home to see her mates. Or her mum, God she should see her mum. After everything that had happened. She wanted her mum.
She felt the change in the TARDIS that signalled materialization as she was tying her shoes. Rushing to the console room, she saw the Doctor, also changed back into his regular clothes. He smiled mildly at her.
“Doctor,” she started, coming closer to the console. “Not sure I’m up for a run just now. We landing somewhere safe?”
“’Course we are. Weeeeelll, safe for you, at any rate. Here,” he said, moving aside so she could look at the monitor as the TARDIS landed with atypical grace, “have a look.”
Rose immediately recognized the brash colours and clutter of her mum’s living room and threw the Doctor a look of tremendous thanks before running to the TARDIS door.
>>
He sat with Rose on the couch, quietly watching something inane with her on the telly. Jackie was out shopping for dinner. He’d suggested he could go pick something up for them but Jackie wouldn’t have it. Said they both deserved a home cooked meal after what they’d been through.
He’d moved the TARDIS earlier, just enough so that you could manoeuvre around the living room and the TV wasn’t blocked. It was agreed they’d be staying a few days, and Rose had made it clear she wanted neither him, nor the TARDIS to go far.
They weren’t far apart at all, but Rose sidled up close to him and took his hand, drawing his eyes from the television.
“You did a good thing, bringing me here, Doctor.”
He smiled at her. “You say it like I saved the world. Only thought you might like to see your mum, is all.”
“You saved me. A little. Seeing mum was exactly what I needed after…after…seeing what she’d become there.” The tears began again and he withdrew his hand from her grasp and wrapped it around her pulling her close.
“And I don’t just mean the metal machine. You didn’t hear her earlier, at the party. She was cold and awful. Stupid me, I thought I could play matchmaker. Get my parents to love each other again. ‘Course they weren’t my parents. You were right. I shouldn’t have ever tried to find him. We’d have been in and out of there without running into trouble. We’d still have Mickey…”
“Hey, Rose, c’mon, none of that. Even if we’d managed to somehow avoid them while waiting for the TARDIS to charge, that world would have been overrun by Cybermen. Your cute puppy eyes, getting me to help you find him? That saved that world. You saved the world, Rose Tyler. So stop those tears, all right?” To punctuate, he kissed her gently on the forehead, hoping to further comfort her.
The tears lessened but didn’t stop. But she wasn’t burrowing into herself or the couch, or his coat. Her eyes were wide and bright and looking at him with something like wonder, even as the tears still oozed out.
“Doctor, I’m sorry I’m such a mess,” she began, a sob creeping into her voice, “blubbering all over you when you’re just trying to help-”
“No. Shhh,” he whispered and took his arm from around her. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing, but he couldn’t bear to see Rose cry anymore today. Not if he could help it. He turned slightly towards her and cradled her head with his hands, leaning down to place a kiss on her cheek, right in the path of tears. “Shhh,” he whispered again, repeating the motion on the other cheek.
He pulled back a fraction, enough to see her eyes, and tasted the salt on his lips. Then a moment later he was tasting her lips, having been possessed of some ridiculous voice that just told him to go for it. She’d kissed him earlier, after all. Not like this, though.
Their mouths moved together as she responded, and when she parted her lips in invitation he deepened the kiss and let his tongue delve in to lightly massage hers. He made sure the kiss stayed gentle, though. This was no wild snog. They were, the both of them, giving and receiving much needed comfort. And when they heard Jackie’s key in the door, they didn’t jump apart like randy teenagers caught in the act. Just let the kiss stop and pulled slight away from each other. She gave him an adorable sheepish grin and buried her head in his shoulder, apparently to hide the flush in her cheeks, as her mother entered the flat.
“Oi, you two lazing about, a little help would be nice!”
>>
The next few days were spent on rest and reflection, as per Doctor’s orders. Rose spent a good amount of time each night and late into each morning sleeping in her own pink bed in the flat. It was a bit disconcerting, at first…it’d been so long since she slept without the TARDIS humming around her. But she could feel her just down the hall, and it was enough. And it pleased her mum to have her so close.
They spent the days catching up with some of Rose’s mates. Spinning the appropriate half-truths about Mickey when necessary. Rose broke a little, each time she had to tell a lie, but the Doctor was right there to put her back together every time. Lots of lazing around the flat, quality time with mum, and more than once, a quick stolen kiss when Jackie’s eyes were another way. They played at this new courtship like enamoured youths. Flinging meaningful glances at each other across the room, sneaking in a quick kiss here and there while Jackie was doing the washing up, or distracted on the phone or making tea.
And even though they were alone frequently, nothing physical progressed more than that. Rose dutifully retired to her bedroom in the flat every night, and the Doctor kept to himself in the TARDIS. It suited them both fine, really. There was no urgency. No schedule to keep. No firm plans made even for when to leave.
And with every passing hour, Rose felt more like herself. The Doctor, on the other hand, seemed to be discovering that he wasn’t really sure who himself was these days. But he was quite interested in figuring it out.
>>
Rose was eavesdropping in the hall. She hadn’t meant to, but it was a natural reaction, when you approach a room to hear people talking about you without the knowledge that you can hear them. Nothing wrong with that, was there? Not like the Doctor and her mum had secrets they were keeping from her or anything.
“No, I’m serious, Doctor. She seems loads better than just the other day when you brought her back to me. I know being around her mum can do a girl a world of good, but I’m not stupid. I know you have something to do with it too.”
“All I did was bring the girl home, Jackie.”
“You’ve done more than that.”
It was quiet for a moment and Rose wondered what sort of silent communication was passing through them just then.
“Anyway, thanks, all right? For keeping her safe and bringing her home.”
“It’s the least I could do for Rose. And more than I’d do for anyone else.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, we keep coming back, don’t we? Never been that way for me before. It’s either time and space travel, or it’s stay at home and live the everyday normal life.”
Rose smiled as he drew out the word “normal,” colouring it with so much, disgust and admiration all at once.
“What do you mean? None of your other companions had families?”
“Oh, sure they did, I just never bothered with them. But I sort of accepted that about Rose, straight from the beginning. Well, sort of. Take Rose, take her family. A package deal, if you like. And I don’t mind. Rather like your tea, after all.”
“Bit of the change from the old you, then.”
“Yeah, s’pose so. A lot of things have changed since then.”
Rose’s heart was soaring at the Doctor’s words. Such a simple conversation, but it told her so much. Even after meeting Sarah Jane, the Doctor hadn’t opened up much about his past companions. She never knew how she measured up, and never really wanted to think about comparing. Made her feel petty and jealous, and she didn’t like that about herself. Still she liked to think she was special. Not to you he’d said then. Now, she was hearing just how singular she was.
Oh, it was a little thing, bringing her home now and then. But he hadn’t done it for the others. She knew he’d never say it, and maybe she was exaggerating as her highstrung emotions the past few days had made her prone to do, but she didn’t think it was a stretch to infer from the conversation that he indeed loved her, as she suspected.
Why else would he have brought her here, to hang about in one time and place for days, letting her drag him here and there, doing things and seeing people he cared little for if not for her.
The realization nearly brought tears to her eyes, but she was tired of crying, and anyhow, there was a much stronger impulse suddenly creeping through her. Desire. Plain, wanton need. Something about letting herself realize the truth that had been right in front of her all this time unlocked something inside of her. A door she’d held shut for years. Sure, she fancied the Doctor. Always had, even when he was all big ears and intense blue stare. Even indulged in some fantasies now and again. But she’d never felt this keen, immediate need before. Maybe it was that that door between them had been cracked open by the few kisses they’d shared. She wasn’t sure, but she knew if she didn’t act on it, and soon, she might well explode.
She took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair, to calm her racing heart and hopefully stunt the rising colour in her cheeks, and tiptoed back towards her bedroom door. She slammed it, pretending she’d been in there all along and then breezed into the living room, doing her best to seem calm and collected.
“Doctor, can I speak to you in the TARDIS for a minute?”
He looked at her curiously for a moment, raised an eyebrow just slightly, shrugged, and rose to follow her.
“Oh fine, don’t mind your me. Have your secrets. I’ll just make more tea, then.” Jackie said, rising too, and heading for the kitchen.
Rose couldn’t really spare a thought as to whether or not her mother was actually offended; she was entirely focused on the Doctor. He had his hand casually placed on her hip, waiting for her to unlock the door to the TARDIS. She unlocked it quickly with a hand slightly trembling. When she got the door open she stumbled forward, then swiftly turned around and grabbed the Doctor by his lapels and hauled him in after her.
* * *
“Rose?” he questioned as she kicked the door shut. He wasn’t sure what this was about, what was so urgent that she couldn’t say in front of Jackie. But his questions were promptly answered when he saw the look in her eye and she launched herself at him to assault his mouth with hers.
He was shoved back against the closed TARDIS doors under the heavenly onslaught of Rose’s body firmly plastered to his. Her kiss was passionate, possessive and more heated than any they’d shared thus far. He recovered quickly from his surprise and responded in kind, opening to her seeking tongue and quickly taking control of their movements. He wasn’t sure why she’d chosen this moment to attempt to snog him senseless, but slightly addled as he was by the taste of Rose flooding his mouth, and the feel of the warm smooth skin of her back under his hands, he decided he didn’t care.
Rose thrust her hands into his hair pulling it in every direction. He added it to the growing list of sensations he loved. Also on the list was the feel of her breasts crushed against him, warm through the several layers between them. Her velvet tongue dancing around his. Those barely audible sounds she was making deep in her throat, telling him how much she was enjoying this. The grind of her hips just there.
Very soon she’d know just how much he was enjoying this as well. Warning bells went off in his head as his body responded to hers almost of its own volition. Sure they’d enjoyed a few lovely kisses up until this point. But they had been going about things slowly, like children, almost like they were unaware there was anything else they could be doing with their mouths. And hands. And other parts.
Now it was like they running at it full tilt. He gave a mental shrug and gave himself over to the sensations with abandon. He slipped his hands down to her bum and flipped them around so it was her sandwiched by his pressing body and the door. He wrenched his mouth from hers to explore more of her with his mouth, enjoying the sound of her laboured breath.
He was, after all, complete rubbish at denying Rose anything she wanted. And oh, she wanted.
* * *
Dragging the Doctor into the TARDIS and ravaging him was beginning to seem like the best idea Rose had ever had. She shocked him, sure, and herself, but he got over it. Fast. The ripples of pleasure zinged through her like electricity; every considerable point of contact with his lean frame was a spark zone, and she rippled and writhed beneath him.
She felt a wicked delight when she realized how ready he was to finish this here and now. A few adjustments of clothing and she could have what she was positively aching for. His mouth was sucking at her neck, one hand beneath her shirt gripping her side, the other tugging at the neckline of her shirt to expose more skin. It was only the thin, invading, persistent thought of her mum right outside the doors that kept her from ripping his clothes off.
Her mum. Oh God.
“Doctor.”
Her only answer was to hear her t-shirt rip and feel his warm tongue caress the top of a breast. She moaned, loudly, but tried not to let it distract her.
“Doctor. We can’t.”
“Hmmm?” he murmured against her heated skin.
“Doctor. My mum!” He froze, then slowly lifted his head, his face the perfect picture of confusion and frustration.
“What?”
“My mum, Doctor. She’s right outside,” she breathed out by way of explanation. “We can’t do this.”
“Oh.”
As reality dawned on him, he seemed to be slightly embarrassed. He stepped a few paces up the ramp and away from her, straightened his clothes, and glanced nervously about.
“There’s plenty of rooms just back that way, far from your mum, you know.”
She smiled at his last ditch effort. “She’s making tea.”
“Right. Tea. Of course.” He looked delightfully dishevelled and it took all of her self-restraint not to go to him again.
He walked round to the other side of the console, rubbing his neck in concentration. “Just, uh…give me a minute, yeah?”
“Um. Sure. I’ll just…” she trailed off as she went to open the doors and leave.
“Rose, wait.” She did, for several long seconds. Then he walked back to her and took her hand, seemingly completely unaffected now by what they were doing just moments ago.
“Time Lord physiology?”
“Something like that, yeah. Oh! Look at your shirt. Sorry!” He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and deftly repaired the tear. “There. Good as new.”
His grin, she swore, could light the whole country.
She started for the door again, but he tugged on her hand.
“Rose, what just happened…I-”
“Later.”
“Later?”
She gave him her best sultry look she hoped he would recognize as a promise. She tugged her hand from his, straightened his tie for him, and exited the TARDIS.
>>
Their voices carried down the hall.
“So what do you say about Elvis?”
“Elvis?”
“Yes, for our next foray into time in space. Your world, not far off, relatively, from your own time. A concert. What do you think?”
“And what, Doctor, would you say, are the chances of us getting to this concert?”
“Excellent. Good. Pretty good? Oi! You doubting me?”
“Never!”
“Good.” He tapped her on the nose, accidentally covering it in pizza sauce. Which he promptly leant across the table to lick off, causing Rose to giggle.
Jackie, unfortunately chose that moment to return to the kitchen.
“Oi! Two of you! I told you, keep the kinky stuff in the TARDIS”
“Mum!”
“Practically making love at the table, pair of you.”
“Mum!”
“Jackie, we’re, we’re not like that.”
“Course you are. Doesn’t matter if you’re not shagging. Never seen two people so wrapped up in each other.”
“Mum we were just discussing where to go next.”
“Oh.” Jackie prided herself for only allowing a small bit of disappointment to colour her words. “Ready to go then?”
“Getting there,” Rose beamed. “Tomorrow or the next day. We’re going to try for a concert. Again.”
Rose gave the Doctor her best mocking grin. Jackie thought she’d never seen her look so happy. If the Doctor could work such magic in just a few days, maybe her only daughter hadn’t made such a poor choice shacking up with a lunatic alien in the first place.
>>
Rose quietly entered the TARDIS. She supposed it didn’t matter now. Her mum was sleeping soundly and anyway she apparently already thought they’d been at it like bunnies for some time now. Still she saw no reason to announce that she was sneaking out of her bedroom and into the TARDIS to be with the Doctor.
Stepping into the cool green-lit interior, she shivered slightly, suddenly very aware of how little she was wearing-a tiny pyjama set of a thin t-shirt and shorts. He was there, on the far side of the room, close to the hallway leading to the interior, fiddling with something mechanical, ever present sonic in his hand. He hadn’t looked up at her yet, and for some reason this filled her with some trepidation.
“Didn’t think you’d come,” he said when she was within a couple feet. Still not looking at her.
“Said I would.”
“Not in so many words. No, you said-” and he looked up then, finally seeing her. And cleared his throat. “-later. Could mean lots of thing, that. Especially in a time machine.”
“I meant now.”
“Oh.”
“That all right?” She asked, carefully removing the sonic screwdriver, setting it aside and, taking one of his hands in both of hers.
“Yes,” he answered, his voice low.
And Rose’s stomach did a little flip. She brought his hand up to her lips and placed a wet warm kiss on his palm. He closed his eyes and hissed in pleasure as if it were a far more intimate place she was kissing.
She was about to see what other lovely responses she could get out of him when he pulled his hand down and away.
“Hang on.”
“Why?” She pouted at him, pulled the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth.
He pulled his hand free of hers and pointed at her face. “And stop doing that, or I won’t be held responsible for grate marks on your bum.”
Rose immediately flushed at his words.
“Doctor!” she gasped, “you’re awfully confident.”
He kissed her quickly and grabbed her hand again. “Follow me.”
“Um. ‘kay,” she squeaked out.
Rose felt suddenly weak with the desire flooding her and had a hard time keeping up with the Doctor’s rushing her, silently through the halls. It was only minutes but the path seemed to her to drag on for ages. Finally he threw open a door and motioned her inside.
“Your bedroom?” she asked, breaking the silence.
“Yes.”
“Didn’t think you had one.”
“I do sleep, on occasion, you know.”
“Hmm,” she murmured, taking in her surroundings. The room was sparse and elegant, just like him. A large bed done in linens of burgundy dominated. And on one wall seemed to be a large window. She heard rustling behind her as she went towards it and looked out at a night sky with a bright moon.
“Is that-that can’t be a window, can it?”
“Mmm. Very perceptive, Rose,” he said sliding up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. At some point he’d shucked the top half of his clothing. The arms around her were delightfully bare, and she could feel the cool length of his chest against her back.
“It isn’t a window. It’s a monitor, like the one on the console. Shows me what I need to see in an emergency. What I want to see-” he placed a kiss on the back of her neck, “-when it isn’t.”
Rose shuddered in his grasp and placed her arms on his. “It’s lovely. That’s my moon? Earth’s, I mean?”
“Yes, and the stars as you’d see them today, if you could see through the muck of the London sky.” He began to move their hands together under her shirt.
“But the TARDIS could show you anything?” Rose dropped her hands and let his continue touching her on his own. She arched into him as his hands slipped up her stomach to each cover a breast, massaging gently.
“Yes,” he whispered, lips touching the shell of her ear.
“Why Earth, then?” Rose was frankly amazed she was able to carry on this conversation while he was pressed so intimately against her, lips grazing her neck and the exposed bits of her shoulders, while his hands roamed, bringing shivers to her heated skin.
“If you haven’t noticed, I have a bit of a thing for Earth.”
The Doctor then reached for the hem of her pyjama top and quickly pulled it off her. Rose raised her arms instinctively, barely realizing what was happening. Then she felt his skin against her back with no barriers between them. He began trailing kisses on her naked back. A flood of heat shot through at that and what came out next was a little less coherent.
“Yes, I’ve noticed, your, uh… thing.”
He chuckled against her back. A hand from her breast trailed down her stomach to tease at the waistline of her shorts.
“Rose. Tell me what you want.” His hand slid beneath her shorts and into her knickers, just ghosting over her most sensitive spot.
She whispered his name on a gasp. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was asking. Surely he knew what she wanted.
“Tell me,” he commanded sliding his hand more firmly against her making her buck her hips into his palm.
“This. This is good,” she choked out.
“Be. Specific,” he growled sliding a finger inside her.
She moaned loudly. “Oh, whatever you want.”
“Really?” He let her go and moved quickly in front of her, glancing quickly over her before dropping to his knees. “Because I could worship this tiny freckle just above your hip for hours.” He demonstrated by grabbing on to her waist and licking said freckle. Then kissing and sucking at the spot.
Rose couldn’t speak and wasn’t sure whether to laugh or scream. Surely he meant to kill her before he actually shagged her.
“Really, what would you say if that’s what I wanted to do for hours?” He looked up at her with eyes glittering in amusement and darkened by arousal at the same time. It occurred to her that they’d barely kissed since this all began tonight and she needed that from him now.
“I’d say,” she said recovering her voice, “that for a Time Lord, you poorly prioritise your time.”
“Good answer.”
This little exchange refreshed her confidence in her ability gain control.
“Stand up, Doctor.”
He raised an eyebrow at her commanding tone but complied without question.
“Kiss me.”
“Oh, yes! Sort of skipped that bit, didn’t we?” With that he fused his lips to hers, immediately thrusting his tongue within, seeking out every corner of her mouth.
This kiss quickly became urgent and fevered, both sets of hands sliding everywhere there was bare skin to touch. A moan rumbled through them and Rose was unsure as to who originated it, and didn’t care as the Doctor walked her back towards the bed.
The mattress hit the back of her knees causing her to stumble onto it and break the kiss. He was still standing at the foot of the bed. His gaze was hooded, marked by passion, and she was awed that she had caused the expression. She crawled up the bed and leaned against the headboard, displayed before him, all modesty well and truly shattered.
“Trousers,” she said simply. It was all he had on and she was desperate to see all of him.
He crossed his arms at his chest defiantly, recovering some bravado. “What about you?”
She gave a sigh of mock annoyance as she lifted her hips and quickly shed the rest of her clothing. On impulse, she balled up her shorts and knickers and tossed them at him.
“Oi! Cheeky!”
“Trousers,” she repeated.
“Whatever my lady wants,” he said quickly dropping them and kicking them aside.
Rose’s eyes widened, taking in his whole lean frame. He was thin without being too wiry, lean but oh, she knew, so strong. Powerful legs, chiselled hips, she thought she’d maybe like to fully explore, possibly with lips and teeth, later. As for the rest newly revealed to her, well there was no question of compatibility of the species. He looked as human as any other man she’d seen. She didn’t realize till right this moment that she actually had some doubts about this. Seemed silly now, and she giggled lightly at herself.
“Your lady wants you.” She held out a hand in invitation.
He accepted it and climbed over her, resting on his elbows. “You giggled. Why?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Tell me.” He placed a kiss between her breasts.
“I thought, I dunno, maybe since you were an alien…you’d be…different? You know…?” She glanced pointedly between their bodies, hoping she hadn’t offended him.
“Rose, you felt me earlier today, and just now-Hang on! If you’ve never…? Who dressed me in Howard’s jim jams Christmas day? Tell me it wasn’t Jackie?”
Rose laughed outright at this. Grabbing his head, she pulled him down for a kiss. “One.” She said in her best lecture tone, “When you’re naked, on top of someone, it’s bad form to mention her mother. Two. Relax, it was Mickey. Protecting my modesty, all that.”
“Oh. Good.” He licked a path across the top of her right breast.
“Oh,” she said. “Back to business then, are we?”
“Oh yes,” he said, taking her nipple between his lips and sucking.
“Yes,” she repeated, arching her hips sharply against him. And there ended any sense of control she thought she had. She was on fire for him. Every part of her ached to have him inside her. Waiting all afternoon for this had been a struggle, even after waiting for nearly two years. If she waited another two minutes, she might surely die.
“Doctor?”
“Tell me.”
“Please?”
“What?”
“Now.”
“We have to work on this vocabulary of yours Rose, you really-”
“Doctor!”
He gave a short laugh, slid himself into place between her thighs, threw one of her legs across his hip and plunged fully into her in one quick stroke.
She gasped, and it morphed into a groan as he began to steadily drive into her. She quickly became lost in their dance. Barely coherent thought eventually returned to her through the haze of their exquisite movements.
Oh, this feels like heaven, she thought.
“Oh, I’m going to hell,” she said.
“What?” he panted between thrusts.
She could only moan in response.
He had only a few steady long strokes in him after that before he started moving more erratically above her.
“Rose, I’m…” he tried, desperately, and she realized just how thin the mask of his control had been.
She was close too, if he’d just…do that. He pushed her knees so they folded nearly to her chest, leveraged himself up on his hands and pounded in fast deep, arrhythmic pulses.
The slight change in angle was all she needed and she was done for, arching into him a final time, digging her nails roughly into his shoulders as she felt so much pent up tension leave her body in spasming waves.
He made a sound that could have been “Ow,” or maybe just “Oh,” buried his face in between her neck and shoulder and bit down as she felt him find his own release. He collapsed above her and she welcomed his now very warm weight.
“Your nails are sharp,” he said after a few minutes, breathing into her moist skin.
“So are your teeth.”
He chuckled and moved off of her on to his side and gathered her back to him to spoon behind her.
“Sorry. Gentler next time?”
“Hmm, maybe,” she considered sleepily.
He growled at her gently and kissed her neck possessively. She found herself quite exhausted-completely physically and emotionally sated.
It was a far cry from how they’d begun this trip home.
She was too tired to dwell much on that thought, and so incredibly content in his arms that she quickly dropped off to sleep.
>>
He was on his back, contemplating the ceiling, and enjoying the soft weight of Rose pillowed on his chest. She was frowning in her sleep. And making small soft noises of discontent. He ran his hand soothingly down her back beneath the sheet, to try to calm her. He was curious about the dream-nightmare, most likely, and wondered if he should wake her out of it.
Then, quite suddenly, as if in answer to his question, she suddenly jerked awake against him. Her small fists tensing and curling up against his chest and a breathy “No…” escaped her lips.
“It’s all right, I’ve got you,” he whispered, petting her hair.
She tensed further as she came a bit more awake. She slowly lifted her head and met his eyes, and he saw the confusion of sleep easing out of hers.
“Doctor. I was… running. No, being chased. I don’t remember…”
“Just a dream. You can go back to sleep. It’s a couple hours till dawn yet.”
“No, it’s all right,” she said stretching against his side. “I don’t want to go back there.”
All was quiet for a few moments. He thought she might have been about to drop back off to sleep when she spoke again.
“Mickey was there. In my dream.”
He weighed the pros and cons of making a joke about being jealous about her dreaming of other men while in bed with him, but before he could say anything she continued.
“Do you think he’s okay, Doctor?”
“Oh yes,” he answered immediately. “Mickey will be all right. He’s a born fighter, like you.”
“My Mickey?”
“The same, yes. You were blaming yourself before, being selfish and all. Forgive me for saying so, but I think you may have done him a world of good.”
“How do you mean?”
“I won’t deny he was jealous of us. I knew it. I didn’t care. I think, though, that sort of…oh I dunno, spurred him into action? Made him realize his potential?”
“His jealousy?”
“Mmm,” he affirmed. “He’d been defining himself through you. He always saw ‘Mickey and Rose.’ Didn’t know how to be just Mickey. It took travelling with us, seeing that he really couldn’t have you anymore, to figure that out. And when he did? Off to save the world, leaving everything he knew behind. Sound familiar?”
She smiled up at him, seeing the comparison. Then she lowered her head to his chest again, let out a small sad sigh and began to move her hand lazily over his stomach.
He caught her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it. “We don’t have to leave tomorrow, you know. If you’re not ready. Time and space will wait for us. We can stay here as long as you like.”
“Here?” she asked suggestively, pressing close against him.
“In the flat, I mean, you minx.”
She gave him a small laugh, but was serious again when she spoke. “No, I’m ready. Been lazing about mum’s flat long enough. I’m sure she’ll be glad to get this box out of her way. And I…I want to go. It’s time. If you think you could me show a place there aren’t monsters, for a change.” She poked him in the chest.
“Oh, Rose, where’s the fun in that?”
An idea struck him and he suddenly sprung for the bed, finding his trousers and hauling them on. She stared at him questioningly from the bed.
“C’mon, Rose, get up.” He tugged on her hand till she reluctantly slid from the sheets, and began finding her own clothing.
“What is it?”
“Wardrobe room!”
“What for?”
“For you. For our next stop, silly.”
“Oh. We’ll say goodbye to mum first, won’t we?” she asked as he pulled her out of the room and down the hall.
“Of course, of course, we won’t leave till much later.”
“What’s the rush then, Doctor?”
The image of her in the fluffy pink get up the TARDIS saw fit to place in front of him last time he was in the Wardrobe Room fixing a circuit with the racks, appeared fully formed in his head.
Oh, this was going to be fantastic. He might even do up his hair. Nothing like a bit of fancy dress to get the old adventure juices flowing again.
“Oh,” he grinned over his shoulder at her, “you’ll see.”
FIN