A Truly New, New Doctor (part of the What If series)
Title: A Truly New, New Doctor (1/1)
Author: sinecure - My master fic list
Character/Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rating: Adult-ish
Genre: Humor, romance, fluff
Summary: Rose isn't dealing with the Doctor in the usual way... for what's turning out to be the usual reasons. Things are pear-shaped.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
Author's Notes: To momdaegmorgan for the beta.
Part of the What If series: A series of short, unconnected stories, drabbles, and ficlettes about all the what ifs that could happen in the new series.
"Oh, please, Rose," the Doctor pleaded, pointing at the console with one hand palm up and the other hand on his elbow. "Just do those thingies there, and we can be on our way."
He stopped for a moment, settling a hand on his hip and sticking the other hip out as he examined the controls in front of him.
A moment later, he stomped his foot on the metal grating. "He's not letting me see anything," he complained.
Her, Rose had to remind herself. Though when he acted like that, it was rather hard to forget. But seeing him like this, all... new, new Doctor-ish, in his brown suit and tie and glasses-- she really liked the glasses. Hiding a smirk, she scratched her neck, watching as Cassandra huffed and pouted inside the Doctor's body.
"Please, Rose," she cajoled, "you must've seen him work this... thing before. You've been traveling with him for so long. Simply ages. So, just turn the thingies you need to turn, spin the doohickeys, and voila!" She tossed the Doctor's hands up in the air and simpered, making it hard for Rose not to laugh.
Really, the Doctor's new body was just too well-suited for the things Cassandra was doing with it.
Managing to hold back her laughter, she shook her head. "No. Told you already, like five times, yeah? I'm not doin' anything. So you just get out of him."
Cassandra rolled the Doctor's eyes. "Oh, well, yes, I'll just do that then, shall I? I'll just pop right out of him and-- well," she finished sweetly, eyes landing on Rose. "I suppose I could jump into you again." She smirked for a moment before frowning and holding her hand to her head with a wince.
His head. His hand.
"He doesn't like that idea at all," she sighed, dropping her hand.
"Neither do I," Rose told her, backing away a bit, just in case. She'd had enough of the other woman riding her body, being in control while Rose was squished aside, pushed back to make room for Cassandra's considerable personality.
Considerably annoying. And the ego!
"He's rather disgustingly protective of you," Cassandra told her casually, moving around the console, flipping this and spinning that. "I wonder, though. Will he sit back, keeping his thoughts to himself, if I just randomly throw all the switches?" She manically went around the console, hitting switches and buttons, looking so much like the Doctor in that moment that Rose had to remind herself it wasn't him.
Then she stopped suddenly. "Oh, fine then. Keep your secrets, hypocrite."
Rose couldn't stop the smile from sliding up her lips this time. It was wiped off quickly enough when the Doctor's arm shot out and his hand grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around until her back was to his chest, his arms wrapped around her. "Let me go, Cassandra."
"Will he care if you're in danger, you sweet, little innocent human?" She leaned down and whispered harshly, "He cares for you. Can he stand idly by and watch me kill you? Knowing it was his hands that did the deed?"
Rose wasn't actually afraid of Cassandra, but she was beginning to feel a slight nervousness. Would she kill with her own-- well, the Doctor's own hands? She wasn't the sanest person in the universe. "Cassandra, let me g--"
Instead of letting her go though, Cassandra leant in closer, breathing words into Rose's ear, "Just as soon as the Doctor shows me how to use this ship to get out of here."
Rose went still. The Doctor's voice, warm breath ghosting over her skin, his hands on her stomach, one just under her breast... they were doing things to her body and her insides. Just as his other body and voice had done. She barely managed to suppress the shiver that went through her.
"Oh, my," Cassandra moaned delightedly, arms tightening. "Not just foxy, m'dear. This body has so much more than humans. I quite like it--"
"But you're supposed to be the last human," Rose blurted desperately, suddenly afraid. Afraid that Cassandra would stay in the Doctor forever.
Low and breathy, the Doctor's voice vibrated through her, rough, unshaven cheek scraping lightly against her neck. "I can smell you."
Rose glanced over her shoulder at Cassandra incredulously. "Yeah, well, you probably don't smell like roses yourself," she snapped. "Runnin' round the hospital from top to bottom."
Warm voice chuckling in a snooty way unfamiliar to Rose, the Doctor's cheek nuzzled hers. "Not what I meant," she sing-songed, leaning down, and suddenly her--his--hand slid higher, cupping Rose's breast softly, then more firmly. "I was in your head, human. Oh, I saw so many delightful things. What do you think? Should I share them with the Doctor?"
Rose swallowed hard, wanting to tell her no, wanting to keep all of her secrets to herself, but a bigger part of her scoffed at that, refusing to be used as a bargaining tool. She shrugged, pretending it wasn't a big deal. That she wasn't cowering and squirming at the thought of the Doctor knowing how she felt.
Exactly how she felt.
"Go on, then. Still not gonna help you fly the TARDIS." Grabbing the Doctor's hand--Cassandra's--she shoved it from her breast, fighting a groan when Cassandra slid it right back in place.
"Not so fast, child."
The demeaning way Cassandra referred to her helped Rose fight the desire rising in her, but, unfortunately, it didn't quell it completely. "Cassandra, stop--"
"I can taste you," she breathed, shifting against Rose's back.
Rose went still, eyes darting around the room, trying to figure out what Cassandra was talking about. Trying to understand her words.
"The Doctor has so many more senses than a human," Cassandra continued idly, as if sharing her favorite biscuit recipe. Her hand slid down to Rose's stomach. "When I do this--" she gasped in pleasure and Rose bit back a groan.
The Doctor's voice should not be making those sounds while touching her; it was giving her body ideas. "I--"
"Mmm, Rose, you such have a delicious scent. And you taste fantastic!" Then her voice lowered again to that pitch that drove Rose mental when the Doctor used it. "The Doctor likes it too, but for some reason, his barely used parts--" she rubbed the Doctor's bits against Rose's bum, and Rose reached for the console to keep her shaking legs from completely giving out on her. "--are still barely used."
Rose held herself still, unable and unwilling to let Cassandra know how affected she was.
"And, when I say barely used," she breathed, the Doctor's breath tickling Rose's neck, "I mean he has used them a few times." Her voice lowered even more, until it was just a whisper. "To thoughts of you."
Panting now, Rose fought the effect the Doctor's voice, carrying Cassandra's words, had on her. She was lying to get what she wanted, that was all. The Doctor didn't... do things like that. He was better than that. Swallowing hard, she forced out a chuckle. "You're wasting your time, Cassandra. I've only ever helped him pilot the TARDIS, never flown it myself." Turning her head, she grinned smugly at her. "I can't help you. And even if I could, I wouldn't."
Crossing her arms over her chest, she waited for Cassandra to give up and release her, but she didn't.
"He lets you help because he likes watching you bounce excitedly from place to place. Eyes eager. Oh, my," she chuckled, voice deep and teasing. "He gets so hard watching you. But such control. Wait for him," she told Rose, "wait for your precious Doctor..." she shoved Rose's crossed arms out of her way and cupped a breast again, more fully than before, while the other dropped down between her legs, eliciting a startled gasp from Rose, "and you'll be waiting a very long time." Her mouth pressed close to Rose's ear, lips and tongue sliding against her flesh as she whispered huskily, "I can give you what you want, and all I ask in return is one trip off of this horrid, wretched planet."
It took Rose almost ten seconds to respond, and half of that time was spent shaping her reply into a negative. And she still had to swallow thickly and clear her throat before the words would come out. "No, Cassandra." Then she kept going, and she could've smacked herself for it. "Besides, there's nothing you could give me that I'd want." Groaning when she heard the near-challenge in her own words, she tried to push herself away from Cassandra, because this was all going so wrong.
So very, very wrong. And... not right.
But the Doctor was so much stronger than her. His grip tightened, and then, inexplicably loosened. But she wasn't freed.
Cassandra spun her around and pressed her back against the console. "Are you sure about that?"
Face to face with the Doctor now, with Cassandra using his voice to push out sultry words, and with her pushing his body tight against Rose's, it was much harder to say no. Though she tried so hard to do so. "Yeah," she got out, unconvincingly. So, she tried again. "Yeah, I'm sure."
Cassandra smirked, then lowered her eyes, taking in Rose's chest in the same blue and purple blouse she herself had unzipped to show off her bouncy new assets.
Rose knew her nipples were pressing firmly against the fabric. Could feel them responding to the Doctor's tone, his low voice, his nearness.
"Being inside you was like being inside a bouncy castle." She licked her lips, eyes slowly lifting to Rose's mouth. "I wonder what it would feel like to be inside you while inside the Doctor?"
Rose swallowed again, trying not to imagine it as well. Trying so hard not to wonder what it'd be like to have the Doctor's cock in her. Hard. Oh, god.
Cassandra was right. If she waited for something to happen between her and the Doctor, she'd probably be old and gray and too fragile to do anything strenuous enough to enjoy.
Gripping the console behind her, she shook her head; it was the only response she was capable of at the moment.
The Doctor's eyes were watching her, sharp and piercing, and her lie was dismissed almost immediately. "But you forget, dear. I was inside you quite a lot today already, and I know what you want." She pulled back, loosening the knot on the Doctor's tie. "Who you want. It's been months since he changed his face, Rose. Months of you watching him. Wanting him."
Rose didn't answer. Couldn't.
The Doctor's hands pulled on one side of his tie until it came free, then looped it around Rose's neck, drawing her closer. "I saw your fantasies of him." She pressed her hand, fingers down, against Rose's stomach, eyes fixed on hers as she slid her hand down, down, lower, until she was cupping Rose's throbbing flesh. Cheek to Rose's, she whispered, "I saw you touch yourself to thoughts of him."
Then suddenly, she pulled away, all business again.
Rose slumped against the console in relief, but worried what the Doctor was thinking of all of this. What he was thinking of her feelings for him, the way she could barely find it in her to resist him.
Was he disappointed in her?
"The Doctor plays at being an innocent, plays at being a prude," Cassandra told her, one hip out, hand at her lip, biting it. "But it's all a lie--" she doubled over suddenly, crying out, panic on her face, and Rose took a step forward, intending to make sure the Doctor was all right, but it was Cassandra who straightened up with a grin. "The Doctor doesn't want me telling you his secrets."
Rose wanted to tell Cassandra to stop, she really did, but there wasn't a single bit of protestation from her when Cassandra continued. Guilt washed over her as she listened for what else Cassandra had to say.
Cassandra leaned forward with a sly smile. "When you're in bed at night, he watches you." She rolled her eyes and shrugged lightly. "Only while you sleep, mind. When you do... other things, well, that's when he has to be extra careful, because if you knew he was outside your door, listening to you--"
Rose pushed away from the console like a shot. "Liar. Why're you doing this? Why're you saying these things? I already told you I can't pilot the TARDIS."
"No," Cassandra laughed, "but perhaps the Doctor will. He is fighting so very hard right now, Rose, fighting for control of this body, because he doesn't like his secrets being told."
"Lies, you mean," she sniffed, not buying any of it for a moment. Unable to think of the Doctor standing in her room, watching her. Outside her door, listening to her. Her stomach dropped when she caught sight of Cassandra's smirk.
Lies. All of it.
None of it was true. Why would the Doctor let Cassandra see and hear those thoughts if he didn't want her telling them? Definitely lies.
But another look at Cassandra, and she wasn't so sure. Her smirk was knowing, her eyes filled with knowledge.
"He's not going to take you anywhere, Cassandra, you might well give up now, 'cause this Doctor? He's a no second chances kind of guy."
Cassandra's smile slipped a bit, and Rose wondered if she'd finally got to her, but then a flash of panic crossed her face and she went still, eyes going blank. Glassy.
Fearing this was another trick, Rose took a cautious, hesitant step forward. "Cassandra?"
The Doctor's eyes blinked once, and his hand reached into his pocket, pulling free the sonic screwdriver. Head down, Cassandra fiddled with it and Rose jumped forward.
"What d'you think you're doing?" she snapped, clutching the Doctor's arm, trying to grab the sonic screwdriver from him, but Cassandra was too fast for her. She jerked free, pushing Rose away. Aiming the tool at herself, she pressed the button, and blue light and a familiar whirring sound filled the console room.
Rose tried again, succeeding in snatching the Doctor's arm. He grinned at her, wide and unrestrained, then wrapped her up in a tight hug.
"Let go," she bit out, fighting against Cassandra's hold.
He made a happy sound in the back of his throat and tightened his hold, making her struggle harder. "You did it," Cassandra told her.
Frowning, going limp, she wondered at this new plan of attack. Flattery?
Pulling back, he cupped her face, searching her eyes. "It's me, Rose. It's the Doctor."
Rolling her eyes, she nodded once before pulling free of his grip. "Yeah, that'll work." Dropping to the jump seat, she watched him with bored eyes. "I can wait you out."
His smile slipped a little. "But. You don't have to." He gave her a small encouraging smile. "It's really me."
She chewed on her thumbnail. "Pull the other one."
"You-- but." He frowned, staring at her for a moment, taking a single step toward her before halting and looking completely lost. But then he clapped his hands with a loud, "Aha!" Moving quickly around the console, he did a pretty good imitation of himself before flight. Stopping, hand hovering over a button, grin teasing at his lips, he waggled his fingers at her--with that hand--and hit the button.
The rotor began moving, slowly wheezing up and down, and Rose's eyes followed it, hands dropping to her sides.
Was it really him? Was he really back? The Doctor, the actual, real Doctor? "Cassandra--"
"Safe in the sonic screwdriver," he smirked, tossing the tool into the air with a wink.
Running to him, she jumped into his arms, laughing and squeezing him tight, inhaling his scent and erasing all images and thoughts of Cassandra and her teasing. All of her lies. None of it mattered anymore. He was the Doctor again, and that's all she cared about. Maybe later, she'd mourn the loss of the single chance she'd had to experience something with the Doctor that she'd never get a chance to do again.
But it wouldn't have been him, and that made all the difference in the world.
It wasn't his body she loved. Well, not just his body, she thought, smirking against his neck. Realizing her legs were practically wrapped around him in her eagerness, and mindful of some of the things Cassandra had told her--maybe not all of them were lies--she dropped to the floor and backed up, straightening her shirt nervously.
"Welcome back."
He chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets as the TARDIS shook a bit, rocking lightly.
"How'd ya do it?" She sat back down on the jump seat, watching as he moved forward, eyes on the grating.
"Tricked her. You kept her busy, quite nicely, I might add, while I fed her things; memories, thoughts, actions, just enough to let her think she was in control. But I was actually gaining more control myself." He grinned wider, proud of himself.
Nearly blinded by his smile, but still focused on what he'd said, she blinked at him. "Oh." Was he saying that all of the stuff Cassandra had said was true? Or it could've just been false memories he'd made up in order to--
"I'm sorry."
Frowning at him, afraid he was about to confirm her fears, she slid her hands under her thighs and shrugged. "It was a good plan."
"No," he countered, frowning right back at her. Reaching out, he pulled her up to stand in front of him. "It wasn't a plan-- well, it was a plan. A clever plan. Brilliant even. But it was all true, and I-- well, I sort of used Cassandra to tell you." He smiled down at her, finger sliding under her chin. "Coward, every time."
Hope rose in her, but she tamped it down. Every time she thought he felt something for her, every time she thought he wanted to be more than just mates, every time she thought... she was let down. Eyes on his brown sleeve, still expecting black leather, but not quite disappointed, she licked her lips. "You--" scoffing at herself, she raised her eyes and faced him head on. "D'you really watch m-- stand outside... I mean," chuckling nervously, she bit her lip and drew in a deep breath. "When I--"
His lips pressed to hers, firm and smooth, opening the slightest bit. His hand left her chin to cradle the back of her head as his body settled against hers.
And that was all the answer she needed.
Author: sinecure - My master fic list
Character/Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rating: Adult-ish
Genre: Humor, romance, fluff
Summary: Rose isn't dealing with the Doctor in the usual way... for what's turning out to be the usual reasons. Things are pear-shaped.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
Author's Notes: To momdaegmorgan for the beta.
Part of the What If series: A series of short, unconnected stories, drabbles, and ficlettes about all the what ifs that could happen in the new series.
"Oh, please, Rose," the Doctor pleaded, pointing at the console with one hand palm up and the other hand on his elbow. "Just do those thingies there, and we can be on our way."
He stopped for a moment, settling a hand on his hip and sticking the other hip out as he examined the controls in front of him.
A moment later, he stomped his foot on the metal grating. "He's not letting me see anything," he complained.
Her, Rose had to remind herself. Though when he acted like that, it was rather hard to forget. But seeing him like this, all... new, new Doctor-ish, in his brown suit and tie and glasses-- she really liked the glasses. Hiding a smirk, she scratched her neck, watching as Cassandra huffed and pouted inside the Doctor's body.
"Please, Rose," she cajoled, "you must've seen him work this... thing before. You've been traveling with him for so long. Simply ages. So, just turn the thingies you need to turn, spin the doohickeys, and voila!" She tossed the Doctor's hands up in the air and simpered, making it hard for Rose not to laugh.
Really, the Doctor's new body was just too well-suited for the things Cassandra was doing with it.
Managing to hold back her laughter, she shook her head. "No. Told you already, like five times, yeah? I'm not doin' anything. So you just get out of him."
Cassandra rolled the Doctor's eyes. "Oh, well, yes, I'll just do that then, shall I? I'll just pop right out of him and-- well," she finished sweetly, eyes landing on Rose. "I suppose I could jump into you again." She smirked for a moment before frowning and holding her hand to her head with a wince.
His head. His hand.
"He doesn't like that idea at all," she sighed, dropping her hand.
"Neither do I," Rose told her, backing away a bit, just in case. She'd had enough of the other woman riding her body, being in control while Rose was squished aside, pushed back to make room for Cassandra's considerable personality.
Considerably annoying. And the ego!
"He's rather disgustingly protective of you," Cassandra told her casually, moving around the console, flipping this and spinning that. "I wonder, though. Will he sit back, keeping his thoughts to himself, if I just randomly throw all the switches?" She manically went around the console, hitting switches and buttons, looking so much like the Doctor in that moment that Rose had to remind herself it wasn't him.
Then she stopped suddenly. "Oh, fine then. Keep your secrets, hypocrite."
Rose couldn't stop the smile from sliding up her lips this time. It was wiped off quickly enough when the Doctor's arm shot out and his hand grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around until her back was to his chest, his arms wrapped around her. "Let me go, Cassandra."
"Will he care if you're in danger, you sweet, little innocent human?" She leaned down and whispered harshly, "He cares for you. Can he stand idly by and watch me kill you? Knowing it was his hands that did the deed?"
Rose wasn't actually afraid of Cassandra, but she was beginning to feel a slight nervousness. Would she kill with her own-- well, the Doctor's own hands? She wasn't the sanest person in the universe. "Cassandra, let me g--"
Instead of letting her go though, Cassandra leant in closer, breathing words into Rose's ear, "Just as soon as the Doctor shows me how to use this ship to get out of here."
Rose went still. The Doctor's voice, warm breath ghosting over her skin, his hands on her stomach, one just under her breast... they were doing things to her body and her insides. Just as his other body and voice had done. She barely managed to suppress the shiver that went through her.
"Oh, my," Cassandra moaned delightedly, arms tightening. "Not just foxy, m'dear. This body has so much more than humans. I quite like it--"
"But you're supposed to be the last human," Rose blurted desperately, suddenly afraid. Afraid that Cassandra would stay in the Doctor forever.
Low and breathy, the Doctor's voice vibrated through her, rough, unshaven cheek scraping lightly against her neck. "I can smell you."
Rose glanced over her shoulder at Cassandra incredulously. "Yeah, well, you probably don't smell like roses yourself," she snapped. "Runnin' round the hospital from top to bottom."
Warm voice chuckling in a snooty way unfamiliar to Rose, the Doctor's cheek nuzzled hers. "Not what I meant," she sing-songed, leaning down, and suddenly her--his--hand slid higher, cupping Rose's breast softly, then more firmly. "I was in your head, human. Oh, I saw so many delightful things. What do you think? Should I share them with the Doctor?"
Rose swallowed hard, wanting to tell her no, wanting to keep all of her secrets to herself, but a bigger part of her scoffed at that, refusing to be used as a bargaining tool. She shrugged, pretending it wasn't a big deal. That she wasn't cowering and squirming at the thought of the Doctor knowing how she felt.
Exactly how she felt.
"Go on, then. Still not gonna help you fly the TARDIS." Grabbing the Doctor's hand--Cassandra's--she shoved it from her breast, fighting a groan when Cassandra slid it right back in place.
"Not so fast, child."
The demeaning way Cassandra referred to her helped Rose fight the desire rising in her, but, unfortunately, it didn't quell it completely. "Cassandra, stop--"
"I can taste you," she breathed, shifting against Rose's back.
Rose went still, eyes darting around the room, trying to figure out what Cassandra was talking about. Trying to understand her words.
"The Doctor has so many more senses than a human," Cassandra continued idly, as if sharing her favorite biscuit recipe. Her hand slid down to Rose's stomach. "When I do this--" she gasped in pleasure and Rose bit back a groan.
The Doctor's voice should not be making those sounds while touching her; it was giving her body ideas. "I--"
"Mmm, Rose, you such have a delicious scent. And you taste fantastic!" Then her voice lowered again to that pitch that drove Rose mental when the Doctor used it. "The Doctor likes it too, but for some reason, his barely used parts--" she rubbed the Doctor's bits against Rose's bum, and Rose reached for the console to keep her shaking legs from completely giving out on her. "--are still barely used."
Rose held herself still, unable and unwilling to let Cassandra know how affected she was.
"And, when I say barely used," she breathed, the Doctor's breath tickling Rose's neck, "I mean he has used them a few times." Her voice lowered even more, until it was just a whisper. "To thoughts of you."
Panting now, Rose fought the effect the Doctor's voice, carrying Cassandra's words, had on her. She was lying to get what she wanted, that was all. The Doctor didn't... do things like that. He was better than that. Swallowing hard, she forced out a chuckle. "You're wasting your time, Cassandra. I've only ever helped him pilot the TARDIS, never flown it myself." Turning her head, she grinned smugly at her. "I can't help you. And even if I could, I wouldn't."
Crossing her arms over her chest, she waited for Cassandra to give up and release her, but she didn't.
"He lets you help because he likes watching you bounce excitedly from place to place. Eyes eager. Oh, my," she chuckled, voice deep and teasing. "He gets so hard watching you. But such control. Wait for him," she told Rose, "wait for your precious Doctor..." she shoved Rose's crossed arms out of her way and cupped a breast again, more fully than before, while the other dropped down between her legs, eliciting a startled gasp from Rose, "and you'll be waiting a very long time." Her mouth pressed close to Rose's ear, lips and tongue sliding against her flesh as she whispered huskily, "I can give you what you want, and all I ask in return is one trip off of this horrid, wretched planet."
It took Rose almost ten seconds to respond, and half of that time was spent shaping her reply into a negative. And she still had to swallow thickly and clear her throat before the words would come out. "No, Cassandra." Then she kept going, and she could've smacked herself for it. "Besides, there's nothing you could give me that I'd want." Groaning when she heard the near-challenge in her own words, she tried to push herself away from Cassandra, because this was all going so wrong.
So very, very wrong. And... not right.
But the Doctor was so much stronger than her. His grip tightened, and then, inexplicably loosened. But she wasn't freed.
Cassandra spun her around and pressed her back against the console. "Are you sure about that?"
Face to face with the Doctor now, with Cassandra using his voice to push out sultry words, and with her pushing his body tight against Rose's, it was much harder to say no. Though she tried so hard to do so. "Yeah," she got out, unconvincingly. So, she tried again. "Yeah, I'm sure."
Cassandra smirked, then lowered her eyes, taking in Rose's chest in the same blue and purple blouse she herself had unzipped to show off her bouncy new assets.
Rose knew her nipples were pressing firmly against the fabric. Could feel them responding to the Doctor's tone, his low voice, his nearness.
"Being inside you was like being inside a bouncy castle." She licked her lips, eyes slowly lifting to Rose's mouth. "I wonder what it would feel like to be inside you while inside the Doctor?"
Rose swallowed again, trying not to imagine it as well. Trying so hard not to wonder what it'd be like to have the Doctor's cock in her. Hard. Oh, god.
Cassandra was right. If she waited for something to happen between her and the Doctor, she'd probably be old and gray and too fragile to do anything strenuous enough to enjoy.
Gripping the console behind her, she shook her head; it was the only response she was capable of at the moment.
The Doctor's eyes were watching her, sharp and piercing, and her lie was dismissed almost immediately. "But you forget, dear. I was inside you quite a lot today already, and I know what you want." She pulled back, loosening the knot on the Doctor's tie. "Who you want. It's been months since he changed his face, Rose. Months of you watching him. Wanting him."
Rose didn't answer. Couldn't.
The Doctor's hands pulled on one side of his tie until it came free, then looped it around Rose's neck, drawing her closer. "I saw your fantasies of him." She pressed her hand, fingers down, against Rose's stomach, eyes fixed on hers as she slid her hand down, down, lower, until she was cupping Rose's throbbing flesh. Cheek to Rose's, she whispered, "I saw you touch yourself to thoughts of him."
Then suddenly, she pulled away, all business again.
Rose slumped against the console in relief, but worried what the Doctor was thinking of all of this. What he was thinking of her feelings for him, the way she could barely find it in her to resist him.
Was he disappointed in her?
"The Doctor plays at being an innocent, plays at being a prude," Cassandra told her, one hip out, hand at her lip, biting it. "But it's all a lie--" she doubled over suddenly, crying out, panic on her face, and Rose took a step forward, intending to make sure the Doctor was all right, but it was Cassandra who straightened up with a grin. "The Doctor doesn't want me telling you his secrets."
Rose wanted to tell Cassandra to stop, she really did, but there wasn't a single bit of protestation from her when Cassandra continued. Guilt washed over her as she listened for what else Cassandra had to say.
Cassandra leaned forward with a sly smile. "When you're in bed at night, he watches you." She rolled her eyes and shrugged lightly. "Only while you sleep, mind. When you do... other things, well, that's when he has to be extra careful, because if you knew he was outside your door, listening to you--"
Rose pushed away from the console like a shot. "Liar. Why're you doing this? Why're you saying these things? I already told you I can't pilot the TARDIS."
"No," Cassandra laughed, "but perhaps the Doctor will. He is fighting so very hard right now, Rose, fighting for control of this body, because he doesn't like his secrets being told."
"Lies, you mean," she sniffed, not buying any of it for a moment. Unable to think of the Doctor standing in her room, watching her. Outside her door, listening to her. Her stomach dropped when she caught sight of Cassandra's smirk.
Lies. All of it.
None of it was true. Why would the Doctor let Cassandra see and hear those thoughts if he didn't want her telling them? Definitely lies.
But another look at Cassandra, and she wasn't so sure. Her smirk was knowing, her eyes filled with knowledge.
"He's not going to take you anywhere, Cassandra, you might well give up now, 'cause this Doctor? He's a no second chances kind of guy."
Cassandra's smile slipped a bit, and Rose wondered if she'd finally got to her, but then a flash of panic crossed her face and she went still, eyes going blank. Glassy.
Fearing this was another trick, Rose took a cautious, hesitant step forward. "Cassandra?"
The Doctor's eyes blinked once, and his hand reached into his pocket, pulling free the sonic screwdriver. Head down, Cassandra fiddled with it and Rose jumped forward.
"What d'you think you're doing?" she snapped, clutching the Doctor's arm, trying to grab the sonic screwdriver from him, but Cassandra was too fast for her. She jerked free, pushing Rose away. Aiming the tool at herself, she pressed the button, and blue light and a familiar whirring sound filled the console room.
Rose tried again, succeeding in snatching the Doctor's arm. He grinned at her, wide and unrestrained, then wrapped her up in a tight hug.
"Let go," she bit out, fighting against Cassandra's hold.
He made a happy sound in the back of his throat and tightened his hold, making her struggle harder. "You did it," Cassandra told her.
Frowning, going limp, she wondered at this new plan of attack. Flattery?
Pulling back, he cupped her face, searching her eyes. "It's me, Rose. It's the Doctor."
Rolling her eyes, she nodded once before pulling free of his grip. "Yeah, that'll work." Dropping to the jump seat, she watched him with bored eyes. "I can wait you out."
His smile slipped a little. "But. You don't have to." He gave her a small encouraging smile. "It's really me."
She chewed on her thumbnail. "Pull the other one."
"You-- but." He frowned, staring at her for a moment, taking a single step toward her before halting and looking completely lost. But then he clapped his hands with a loud, "Aha!" Moving quickly around the console, he did a pretty good imitation of himself before flight. Stopping, hand hovering over a button, grin teasing at his lips, he waggled his fingers at her--with that hand--and hit the button.
The rotor began moving, slowly wheezing up and down, and Rose's eyes followed it, hands dropping to her sides.
Was it really him? Was he really back? The Doctor, the actual, real Doctor? "Cassandra--"
"Safe in the sonic screwdriver," he smirked, tossing the tool into the air with a wink.
Running to him, she jumped into his arms, laughing and squeezing him tight, inhaling his scent and erasing all images and thoughts of Cassandra and her teasing. All of her lies. None of it mattered anymore. He was the Doctor again, and that's all she cared about. Maybe later, she'd mourn the loss of the single chance she'd had to experience something with the Doctor that she'd never get a chance to do again.
But it wouldn't have been him, and that made all the difference in the world.
It wasn't his body she loved. Well, not just his body, she thought, smirking against his neck. Realizing her legs were practically wrapped around him in her eagerness, and mindful of some of the things Cassandra had told her--maybe not all of them were lies--she dropped to the floor and backed up, straightening her shirt nervously.
"Welcome back."
He chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets as the TARDIS shook a bit, rocking lightly.
"How'd ya do it?" She sat back down on the jump seat, watching as he moved forward, eyes on the grating.
"Tricked her. You kept her busy, quite nicely, I might add, while I fed her things; memories, thoughts, actions, just enough to let her think she was in control. But I was actually gaining more control myself." He grinned wider, proud of himself.
Nearly blinded by his smile, but still focused on what he'd said, she blinked at him. "Oh." Was he saying that all of the stuff Cassandra had said was true? Or it could've just been false memories he'd made up in order to--
"I'm sorry."
Frowning at him, afraid he was about to confirm her fears, she slid her hands under her thighs and shrugged. "It was a good plan."
"No," he countered, frowning right back at her. Reaching out, he pulled her up to stand in front of him. "It wasn't a plan-- well, it was a plan. A clever plan. Brilliant even. But it was all true, and I-- well, I sort of used Cassandra to tell you." He smiled down at her, finger sliding under her chin. "Coward, every time."
Hope rose in her, but she tamped it down. Every time she thought he felt something for her, every time she thought he wanted to be more than just mates, every time she thought... she was let down. Eyes on his brown sleeve, still expecting black leather, but not quite disappointed, she licked her lips. "You--" scoffing at herself, she raised her eyes and faced him head on. "D'you really watch m-- stand outside... I mean," chuckling nervously, she bit her lip and drew in a deep breath. "When I--"
His lips pressed to hers, firm and smooth, opening the slightest bit. His hand left her chin to cradle the back of her head as his body settled against hers.
And that was all the answer she needed.