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butterflyStory Title: A Most Noble Undertaking (1/6)
Series Title: part of the Realignment universe
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
butterfly
Summary: Some reunions are just meant to be.
Pairing: Doctor/Rose
Rating: PG-13.
Warning: AU after Doctor Who 3x13 - "Last of the Time Lords".
A Most Noble Undertaking
“And then I press down on that bit over there.”
The Doctor looked over when he heard Rose mumbling and he saw her glance up at the notes that he'd scribbled down for her earlier. He grinned and leaned back against the railing, hands in his pockets, swaying with the motion of the TARDIS. Rose was managing to hold the ship fairly steady, which was especially impressive considering that this was her first attempt at driving without him hovering over her.
“That'll anchor us to the right here and now,” she continued, sounding determined and, he was pleased to note, absolutely correct.
She leaned forward over the railing, her dark burgundy shirt pulling up in the back to reveal a strip of creamy skin that stood out clearly against her black trousers. She was still muttering reminders to herself under her breath – he'd probably be able to understand her words if he concentrated, but he was enjoying this particular moment just as it was too well to bother.
Her hair was hanging loose and he could see the hints of brunette creeping back into the roots – she'd likely want to go to a store soon, then, so that she could have her preferred coloring. Long ago, he'd got used to the slight peroxide scent her hair often carried, but he was willing to admit to a measure of curiosity about what her hair looked like in its natural state.
Still, it was Rose's hair, not his. There was a good chance that he'd never know.
She'd started to swear, now, but she was still on the right track. She might not land exactly on the day she'd been aiming for, but he didn't think she'd miss it by more than a week and they weren't in any sort of hurry. They hadn't phoned ahead, after all.
Rose let out a relieved sigh and, a moment later, the TARDIS shuddered to a stop.
“Well done,” he said, taking his hands out of his pockets so that he could wrap Rose up in a hug – she flung herself at him and he held her tightly, her warmth radiating through him. He stroked a gentle hand over her back and pressed his mouth just below the curve of her earlobe, feeling the cooler metal of her earring press against his skin. He was delighted to feel her shiver in pleased reaction – neither of them had fully adjusted to having each other back again. She'd come home only two weeks earlier, by personal subjective reckoning.
He'd spent so long without her and she'd been without him even longer, so he wasn't ashamed to admit that it was still something of a relief to have her this close. Her presence had always shaken him more than it should have, even in the beginning. “Next time, we'll do something a bit more fancy than London,” he whispered into her ear.
“I'd like that,” Rose said as she pulled away, joy sparkling in her eyes. “I mean, I'm glad to visit Sarah Jane and all, but I'd love to take us to an alien world.” Her mouth curved in a tender smile. “You've given me so much and I-”
“Have more than returned the favour,” the Doctor said, bending down so that he could capture her mouth with a kiss. His pulse quickened, the pace of both of his hearts accelerating as he drank in her taste and scent, catching the barest hint of her surface thoughts – as he'd suspected, her mind was full of the two of them, coupled in the traditional human fashion. He hadn't yet shared that with her, still wasn't entirely certain where to start after he'd gone so long without exploring human sexuality, but he wanted to, just as soon as he was sure that he would do it correctly.
He was pretty certain she thought he was worth a little bit of a wait.
Her hand was tugging at his collar and he let her adjust the angle of his body, parting his lips when he felt the brush of her tongue. His mind fluttered backwards, cataloguing the way Rose felt and comparing it to every other person he'd kissed – she was warmer than his wife had been, of course, or...
Ah, so much less forceful than Reinette – Rose moved his body to her purpose, but coaxed rather than pushed. She was softer than Joan's widow-hard shell but firmer than Martha, who had submitted to his genetic transfer disguised as a kiss with a surprising willingness. Rose's mouth was smaller than Jack's or Jamie's but wider than Astrid's or Cleo's.
They were simply data points, all of them, and utterly useless.
She was hot to the touch, controlled the kiss without forcing him. Her hips pressed snugly against him and she fit into his body as if she'd been made specifically for that purpose.
Though, of course, it had been the other way 'round – his old self burning away and the last remnants of his conscious thoughts desperately trying to forge him into a man who would please her.
There had been a time, during the long days without her, when he had hated that. His hand would reach out for hers and she wouldn't be there. He would spin Martha around in a hug and she wouldn't quite fit into the lines that had been created for another woman's body. Every atom of his new self had cried out for Rose and there had been moments when he'd wanted to regenerate purely so that he could escape that aching, hollow need that was etched into his bones.
These days, he could barely remember the way he'd looked when he'd first met her. Acceptable, he supposed. Big ears, he recalled. But it hadn't mattered, that particular change – he'd been planning on dying with the rest of his people. Waking up had been something of a shock. His physical appearance had been the least of his concerns... and then he'd run into a young shopgirl and started worrying about the details again.
She'd been attracted to him, even then, and he'd been aware of it in a somewhat distant and pointless fashion – she'd had Mickey, after all, and she'd shown signs of attraction to Adam and Jack as well. Her continued friendship had meant more than any possible physical connection ever could have, especially if there had been a chance that it wouldn't be exclusive. He'd had a sharp, possessive edge to his feelings, back then, and it had cut at him every time Rose had so much as glanced at another bloke.
And then... then his regeneration had come and every moment of his initial change was as fresh in his mind now as it had been that day, before regeneration sickness had overtaken him. He particularly remembered a sick sensation of fear crawling over him – a fear that he wouldn't be able to keep the intensity of what he'd previously felt for Rose with him in this new body.
Then he'd opened his eyes and he saw her.
The world had been clean and beautiful and she... she had been this alien, gorgeous creature in his brand-new universe, with her brilliantly wide mouth and her shining, lovely eyes.
Getting her to accept him had been what mattered most to him, even saving the Earth turning into a secondary consideration. As always with Rose, he needed to prove himself and when he did, she graced him with that unforgettable smile of hers, the one that hid no secrets but promised a million days of sunshine.
That was what he could taste in her mouth that he'd never known before – that breath of hope buried in her sunlight. He hadn't needed it before... before he'd woken up alone in his TARDIS with his mind hollow and empty of his people and burning chunks of rock floating where his planet used to orbit.
There was a power in hope – he'd always known that. It was the primary currency that he'd dealt with in his long years of travel. She'd reminded him of that power in their first kiss. She'd given it back to him.
His mind had been empty and she had filled it – not... not in the same way as his people had, of course, and yet...
Here he was, kissing her and meaning it as more than a 'thank you' or a trick or a game. Once again, Rose Tyler had taken the impossible and shown it to be merely somewhat unlikely. She was here and thrice cursed hope bubbled up inside him again.
His hand slipped underneath the soft fabric of her shirt and brushed against bare skin, making both of them shiver, and he gave a thought to giving in to her now, of allowing this to be the moment when they first engaged in sexual intimacy.
She was so warm...
But then his mind recalled where they were and Sarah Jane surely would have noticed the TARDIS by now. He allowed himself one last stroke against Rose's skin and then he gathered in his desire and pushed it to the back of his mind, letting his kiss with Rose end gently as he straightened up.
Her pupils had dilated, making her eyes look darker, almost a true brown, and he was tempted to reconsider his decision... but then she shifted against his hold and he felt her thoughts pushing back the slightest sensation of pain, which dulled his libido as surely as Jackie Tyler finding her way to their door would have done.
She was still hurting from her stomach wound. He'd suspected it, but she'd been trying so hard to show him a brave face that he hadn't been entirely certain. Well, it was good for him to know – it reaffirmed his decision for them to come here. They could stay with Sarah Jane for a time... perhaps a week or two, as they had with Martha and her family... and when they were ready to leave, Rose would be fully healed and undoubtably prepared to heedlessly throw herself into peril once more.
“We should go out there or she'll wonder what's keeping us,” Rose said. She sounded a bit disappointed. The Doctor wondered, cautiously, if what he'd just done would be considered teasing. He did plan on doing all those things in Rose's head, he just...
Well, they certainly couldn't do it while she was still injured.
“I wonder what sort of neighborhood it is,” Rose said, reaching down to tug slightly at her shirt as she backed away. He wasn't entirely sure of the purpose behind what she was doing, as her outfit looked perfectly orderly to him. “How do we know for sure that it was Sarah Jane's trace that we were tracking, anyway?”
“There's a DNA-link in the protocol,” the Doctor said. “Well, I say 'there is', but though the basics of it existed, I'm the one who built it up and put it into the system. Wasn't very hard, not for me. Anyone else would have had more problems, of course. I may have trailed near the bottom of most of my classes, but no one came anywhere near me in hands-on repair work. I put it in after you and I ran into Sarah Jane the last time. You seem to take a liking to her, so I-”
“Seriously?” Rose asked, mouth curling up in a smile. “You did it for me?”
The Doctor shrugged, not entirely willing to admit to the fact.
“You did it for me,” she said, quietly. There was a contentment in her face that was impossible to resist. She reached out and took his hand in hers, pulling him along as she started toward the door.
Her hand was touching the handle when a loud chiming noise sounded.
“What's that?” she asked, turning to stare at the control column which was... yes, one of the monitors attached to it was flashing a warning now.
The 'dangerous radiation' warning, to be precise. By Rassilon and all the bloody useless ministers of the High Council, something like this would have to happen now. Rose had dropped his hand and hurried back to the monitor and it looked like she was trying to work out what words were up on the screen, but he hadn't had occasion to show her anything to do with 'radiation' yet.
For that matter, he hadn't showed her what 'danger' looked like in Gallifreyan, which was clearly an oversight when he gave it some thought. She found more trouble than the rest of his companions all put-together.
Well, perhaps not more than Jo. Sweet scattered-brained Jo and her ability to find danger at the drop of a hat. Would she still be alive on this particular day in Earth's history? She hadn't been all that much older than Sarah Jane, so it was possible.
Still, she'd gone off to get married, so she was probably busy. Some sort of forest-y type of bloke, as he recalled, or perhaps she'd been planning to go to a forest. Something of that nature. And Jo was the sort to throw herself into a life and not look back. She didn't need an interfering old alien mucking up her happiness.
The Doctor pulled out his glasses and slid them on, looking at the warning closely and... hmm, the radiation was far enough away that Sarah Jane wasn't in any danger, but the type of radiation wasn't coming up on the screen. He pressed a couple of buttons, trying to clear up the signal, but it was refusing to cooperate.
“Hmm,” he said.
“What is it?” Rose asked, pressing up against his side. “What've you found?”
“I'm not entirely certain,” he said, twisting the lever that would boost the power levels in the sensor. The radiation was reading to be close to Huon particles, but it also showed some base similarities to the readings that were given off by a Time Lord during regeneration, which was patently absurd. “The results don't make any sense. I'm going to need to check it out in person.”
“Right,” Rose said. “Should we let Sarah Jane know that we can't stay? She'll have noticed the TARDIS by now.”
The Doctor glanced over at Rose – determined and fearless, as always – and then back at the monitor. “I don't think that would be a good idea.”
Rose got a mulish expression on her face, so he needed to hurry now, before she decided she would go with him no matter what he said.
“Do you see this number here?” he asked her, pointing. She nodded, uncertainly. “That says that the energy being given off resembles a kind of particle known as a Huon. Enough of that will kill a human.”
“It won't hurt you?”
The Doctor hesitated. Much as Rose's concern for him always warmed him, it wasn't really the best time for it. Still, he couldn't lie to her.
“It won't hurt me as much,” he said, finally. “It'll take longer for it to begin to affect me and even after that, it'll permeate my cells more slowly than it would yours.”
“I don't like letting you go off on your own,” Rose said, frowning, her eyebrows drawn together in worry. He waited for her to continue, not wanting to rush her on this particular issue. This would all be so much easier if she came to the correct conclusion on her own. He'd realized recently that all of the orders and pleading and asking in the world couldn't keep Rose Tyler in a place where she'd decided not to stay.
She was giving him an uncertain look now, her eyes wide and her mind not projecting the slightest hint of what she was thinking. One of her hands came up and clasped her wrist, rubbing, and he realized that she was tracing her fingertips over the promise bracelet that he'd given to her.
“I almost lost you,” he said, softly, reaching out and stilling her nervous hand. “Not quite two weeks ago, Rose.”
“I don't want this to become a habit,” she said, wrapped her fingers around his. “Just this once, all right?”
“I promise,” he said, lifting up her hand to place a tender kiss on her palm, sealing his words to her.
“Doctor, I...” she seemed uncertain, still. It reminded him too much of early days, of fights on space stations and of wondering when she would demand to go home.
Not that she could, anymore. He'd made certain of that, with his matchmaking scheme. She had no home left but the TARDIS.
“I've still got that mobile that I picked up in Cardiff,” he said, absently patting at his coat with his free hand. It was in there somewhere. He knew that he'd transferred it over from the pockets of his old leather jacket. Odd that he'd never given that number to Martha. Well, she hadn't really needed it. And if she wanted to contact him, she'd left him another phone which... was also somewhere in his coat. He really needed to go through his pockets at some point. “Ring me if you need anything and I'll contact you in the event of... well, if there's anything eventful that you need to know about.”
“Full points for being vague,” Rose said. At least she was feeling well enough to tease him. “But aren't you coming in for a cup of tea?”
“Oh, you can do that for me,” the Doctor said cheerfully. “This shouldn't take more than a day. Well, maybe two. It depends on what's causing that radiation. The sooner I start looking, the more quickly the problem can get solved.”
“Sarah Jane would appreciate it more if you came in,” Rose said, sounding reproachful.
“Was that me being rude?” the Doctor asked, blinking. It didn't seem quite that rude to him – having Rose was just as good as having him, after all. Sarah Jane, of all people, would understand that. She'd met Rose, so she knew what it was like.
“Yes,” Rose said, tucking his hand around her elbow. Apparently, he was going to go in for a cup of tea with Sarah Jane no matter what else he might have been planning. “That was you being almost unforgivably rude. Luckily, Sarah Jane isn't here or she might give you a good smacking. And you'd deserve it, too.”
“Are you going to give it to me for her?” the Doctor asked archly, as he and Rose headed back to the TARDIS door.
“I should,” she said, but violence did not seem to be imminent. He opened the door and escorted her through and...
ah, yes, there Sarah Jane was, standing in the middle of what must be her backyard, looking at them with impatience, though he didn't think anyone else would pick up on it. He'd spent years with Sarah, though, so he was keenly aware of her moods. Well, most of them, anyway. Well, at least half. He definitely knew at least half of Sarah Jane's moods.
“Not that I don't appreciate the visit,” she said, briskly but not without warmth. “But a bit of warning would have been nice.”
“But this way, it's a surprise,” Rose said, unhooking herself from him and going over to wrap Sarah Jane up in a hug. She was nearly clinging to the woman and then it clicked for him – yes, she hadn't just been missing him. She hadn't seen Sarah Jane in almost nine years. Sarah Jane herself seemed a bit taken back by Rose's enthusiasm, but soon melted into the hug. She lifted her head up a bit to meet the Doctor's gaze, and her eyes were filled with curiosity. “Are you all right if I stay for a bit?”
“As long as you need to,” Sarah Jane said, but she didn't seem very happy.
“I should be back in a day or so,” the Doctor said, sticking his hands in his pockets. Sarah Jane pulled away from Rose and took a step toward him. She was staring at him with an expression that he didn't recognize at all, which he thought was terribly unfair of her.
“You're leaving Rose here?” Sarah Jane asked, her voice higher than normal.
“It's not safe,” he said, patiently, glancing over at Rose to see how she was doing. All well over there. “Not for humans. You can-” he waved a hand distractedly “-show her around your home. Introduce her to your cat.”
“I haven't got a cat,” Sarah Jane protested.
“Oh, that's odd,” he said. “You always seemed like such a cat person to me. That's a shame. Well, all this standing around isn't good for Rose's health. I'll get out of the way so that you two can go relax and I'll see both of you in a couple of days.”
“Have fun, Doctor,” Rose said, a smile tugging at her mouth. He smiled back, delighted, and winked at her, his grin broadening when she blushed. He turned to Sarah Jane and tipped an imaginary hat to her. She still seemed a bit perplexed by their sudden arrival, but he really didn't have the time for more chit-chat, so he darted back into the TARDIS and shut the door, determined to focus on completing his investigation as quickly as possible so that he could be back with Rose before she had a chance to start missing him.
He double-checked on the radiation numbers – still there, still dangerous, still ridiculously easy to follow – and plugged the destination into the controls, trying to figure out what Sarah Jane's strange little look had been about. She liked Rose, so it couldn't be that she was upset about Rose staying with her for a while. And if she was angry that he hadn't stayed longer, well, he'd said that he would be coming back, so it wasn't like she wouldn't have the chance to spend some time with him.
Well, Sarah Jane had always had her little quirks that he'd never quite figured out. She was probably fussing about one of her female-centric issues. Though, looking back, it seemed obvious that she'd actually been rather right about most of those things. Huh. Strange that he hadn't picked up on that at the time.
Still, no time to worry about such things at the moment – the TARDIS was soon shuddering into place near where the radiation leak was occurring. The Doctor pulled up the outside view on the monitor.
He was on a street – definitely still London, and the signal was pointing toward one of the small flats crammed up in the neighborhood, one with a bright-blue door. Almost the color of the TARDIS, he noticed. There was a sign out front that simply read “Renova”.
A small, family-owned business was sending out this much radiation? Curiosier and curiosier.
Hmm. He wondered if Rose would like to meet good ol' Charles. He couldn't recall if she'd ever mentioned reading Alice or any of his other work, but she must have done. Well, she'd have at least seen an adaptation at some point.
He'd have to ask her when he got back.
He slipped out of the TARDIS and strode up to the door of the company, pressing the bell button firmly. The door was opened by a young man – probably about twenty-three or four – who was dressed in something of a business suit.
“How can I help you?” he asked, sounding rather strained.
“Oh, I'm just here to carry out an inspection,” the Doctor said, whipping out his psychic paper and waving it about in front of the man's face.
“Health and safety?” the man squeaked, eyes widening. “But we should be checked off as passing.”
“If you can't handle a surprise inspection, I'll need to mark that down,” the Doctor said amiably, flipping the paper shut and putting it away. “I shouldn't need to tell you that things like that look bad in our records.”
“Sorry, it's just...” he looked behind him nervously and the Doctor could hear a female voice being raised. It sounded somehow familiar. “It's not the best time. We're in the middle of sacking a temp who wasn't working out well. You know how it is.”
“Why wasn't... she?... working out?” the Doctor asked, taking a step toward the door. The man blushed and stepped back so that he could come inside. The yelling was clearer now – whoever the woman was, she sounded very annoyed at being let go.
“Nothing to do with Health or Safety,” the man assured him quickly.
“I can promise you, I wouldn't work here again if this were the last place on EARTH!” The owner of the very loud voice came around the corner of the hallway and the Doctor blinked.
She had dark, wavy red hair and a figure that quivered with outrage, and when she saw him, she stopped for a moment, and he saw her breath catch in her throat.
He could understand exactly how she felt.
This had been the last place he'd been expecting to run into Donna Noble.
Continue on to part two.
Series Title: part of the Realignment universe
Author:
butterflySummary: Some reunions are just meant to be.
Pairing: Doctor/Rose
Rating: PG-13.
Warning: AU after Doctor Who 3x13 - "Last of the Time Lords".
“And then I press down on that bit over there.”
The Doctor looked over when he heard Rose mumbling and he saw her glance up at the notes that he'd scribbled down for her earlier. He grinned and leaned back against the railing, hands in his pockets, swaying with the motion of the TARDIS. Rose was managing to hold the ship fairly steady, which was especially impressive considering that this was her first attempt at driving without him hovering over her.
“That'll anchor us to the right here and now,” she continued, sounding determined and, he was pleased to note, absolutely correct.
She leaned forward over the railing, her dark burgundy shirt pulling up in the back to reveal a strip of creamy skin that stood out clearly against her black trousers. She was still muttering reminders to herself under her breath – he'd probably be able to understand her words if he concentrated, but he was enjoying this particular moment just as it was too well to bother.
Her hair was hanging loose and he could see the hints of brunette creeping back into the roots – she'd likely want to go to a store soon, then, so that she could have her preferred coloring. Long ago, he'd got used to the slight peroxide scent her hair often carried, but he was willing to admit to a measure of curiosity about what her hair looked like in its natural state.
Still, it was Rose's hair, not his. There was a good chance that he'd never know.
She'd started to swear, now, but she was still on the right track. She might not land exactly on the day she'd been aiming for, but he didn't think she'd miss it by more than a week and they weren't in any sort of hurry. They hadn't phoned ahead, after all.
Rose let out a relieved sigh and, a moment later, the TARDIS shuddered to a stop.
“Well done,” he said, taking his hands out of his pockets so that he could wrap Rose up in a hug – she flung herself at him and he held her tightly, her warmth radiating through him. He stroked a gentle hand over her back and pressed his mouth just below the curve of her earlobe, feeling the cooler metal of her earring press against his skin. He was delighted to feel her shiver in pleased reaction – neither of them had fully adjusted to having each other back again. She'd come home only two weeks earlier, by personal subjective reckoning.
He'd spent so long without her and she'd been without him even longer, so he wasn't ashamed to admit that it was still something of a relief to have her this close. Her presence had always shaken him more than it should have, even in the beginning. “Next time, we'll do something a bit more fancy than London,” he whispered into her ear.
“I'd like that,” Rose said as she pulled away, joy sparkling in her eyes. “I mean, I'm glad to visit Sarah Jane and all, but I'd love to take us to an alien world.” Her mouth curved in a tender smile. “You've given me so much and I-”
“Have more than returned the favour,” the Doctor said, bending down so that he could capture her mouth with a kiss. His pulse quickened, the pace of both of his hearts accelerating as he drank in her taste and scent, catching the barest hint of her surface thoughts – as he'd suspected, her mind was full of the two of them, coupled in the traditional human fashion. He hadn't yet shared that with her, still wasn't entirely certain where to start after he'd gone so long without exploring human sexuality, but he wanted to, just as soon as he was sure that he would do it correctly.
He was pretty certain she thought he was worth a little bit of a wait.
Her hand was tugging at his collar and he let her adjust the angle of his body, parting his lips when he felt the brush of her tongue. His mind fluttered backwards, cataloguing the way Rose felt and comparing it to every other person he'd kissed – she was warmer than his wife had been, of course, or...
Ah, so much less forceful than Reinette – Rose moved his body to her purpose, but coaxed rather than pushed. She was softer than Joan's widow-hard shell but firmer than Martha, who had submitted to his genetic transfer disguised as a kiss with a surprising willingness. Rose's mouth was smaller than Jack's or Jamie's but wider than Astrid's or Cleo's.
They were simply data points, all of them, and utterly useless.
She was hot to the touch, controlled the kiss without forcing him. Her hips pressed snugly against him and she fit into his body as if she'd been made specifically for that purpose.
Though, of course, it had been the other way 'round – his old self burning away and the last remnants of his conscious thoughts desperately trying to forge him into a man who would please her.
There had been a time, during the long days without her, when he had hated that. His hand would reach out for hers and she wouldn't be there. He would spin Martha around in a hug and she wouldn't quite fit into the lines that had been created for another woman's body. Every atom of his new self had cried out for Rose and there had been moments when he'd wanted to regenerate purely so that he could escape that aching, hollow need that was etched into his bones.
These days, he could barely remember the way he'd looked when he'd first met her. Acceptable, he supposed. Big ears, he recalled. But it hadn't mattered, that particular change – he'd been planning on dying with the rest of his people. Waking up had been something of a shock. His physical appearance had been the least of his concerns... and then he'd run into a young shopgirl and started worrying about the details again.
She'd been attracted to him, even then, and he'd been aware of it in a somewhat distant and pointless fashion – she'd had Mickey, after all, and she'd shown signs of attraction to Adam and Jack as well. Her continued friendship had meant more than any possible physical connection ever could have, especially if there had been a chance that it wouldn't be exclusive. He'd had a sharp, possessive edge to his feelings, back then, and it had cut at him every time Rose had so much as glanced at another bloke.
And then... then his regeneration had come and every moment of his initial change was as fresh in his mind now as it had been that day, before regeneration sickness had overtaken him. He particularly remembered a sick sensation of fear crawling over him – a fear that he wouldn't be able to keep the intensity of what he'd previously felt for Rose with him in this new body.
Then he'd opened his eyes and he saw her.
The world had been clean and beautiful and she... she had been this alien, gorgeous creature in his brand-new universe, with her brilliantly wide mouth and her shining, lovely eyes.
Getting her to accept him had been what mattered most to him, even saving the Earth turning into a secondary consideration. As always with Rose, he needed to prove himself and when he did, she graced him with that unforgettable smile of hers, the one that hid no secrets but promised a million days of sunshine.
That was what he could taste in her mouth that he'd never known before – that breath of hope buried in her sunlight. He hadn't needed it before... before he'd woken up alone in his TARDIS with his mind hollow and empty of his people and burning chunks of rock floating where his planet used to orbit.
There was a power in hope – he'd always known that. It was the primary currency that he'd dealt with in his long years of travel. She'd reminded him of that power in their first kiss. She'd given it back to him.
His mind had been empty and she had filled it – not... not in the same way as his people had, of course, and yet...
Here he was, kissing her and meaning it as more than a 'thank you' or a trick or a game. Once again, Rose Tyler had taken the impossible and shown it to be merely somewhat unlikely. She was here and thrice cursed hope bubbled up inside him again.
His hand slipped underneath the soft fabric of her shirt and brushed against bare skin, making both of them shiver, and he gave a thought to giving in to her now, of allowing this to be the moment when they first engaged in sexual intimacy.
She was so warm...
But then his mind recalled where they were and Sarah Jane surely would have noticed the TARDIS by now. He allowed himself one last stroke against Rose's skin and then he gathered in his desire and pushed it to the back of his mind, letting his kiss with Rose end gently as he straightened up.
Her pupils had dilated, making her eyes look darker, almost a true brown, and he was tempted to reconsider his decision... but then she shifted against his hold and he felt her thoughts pushing back the slightest sensation of pain, which dulled his libido as surely as Jackie Tyler finding her way to their door would have done.
She was still hurting from her stomach wound. He'd suspected it, but she'd been trying so hard to show him a brave face that he hadn't been entirely certain. Well, it was good for him to know – it reaffirmed his decision for them to come here. They could stay with Sarah Jane for a time... perhaps a week or two, as they had with Martha and her family... and when they were ready to leave, Rose would be fully healed and undoubtably prepared to heedlessly throw herself into peril once more.
“We should go out there or she'll wonder what's keeping us,” Rose said. She sounded a bit disappointed. The Doctor wondered, cautiously, if what he'd just done would be considered teasing. He did plan on doing all those things in Rose's head, he just...
Well, they certainly couldn't do it while she was still injured.
“I wonder what sort of neighborhood it is,” Rose said, reaching down to tug slightly at her shirt as she backed away. He wasn't entirely sure of the purpose behind what she was doing, as her outfit looked perfectly orderly to him. “How do we know for sure that it was Sarah Jane's trace that we were tracking, anyway?”
“There's a DNA-link in the protocol,” the Doctor said. “Well, I say 'there is', but though the basics of it existed, I'm the one who built it up and put it into the system. Wasn't very hard, not for me. Anyone else would have had more problems, of course. I may have trailed near the bottom of most of my classes, but no one came anywhere near me in hands-on repair work. I put it in after you and I ran into Sarah Jane the last time. You seem to take a liking to her, so I-”
“Seriously?” Rose asked, mouth curling up in a smile. “You did it for me?”
The Doctor shrugged, not entirely willing to admit to the fact.
“You did it for me,” she said, quietly. There was a contentment in her face that was impossible to resist. She reached out and took his hand in hers, pulling him along as she started toward the door.
Her hand was touching the handle when a loud chiming noise sounded.
“What's that?” she asked, turning to stare at the control column which was... yes, one of the monitors attached to it was flashing a warning now.
The 'dangerous radiation' warning, to be precise. By Rassilon and all the bloody useless ministers of the High Council, something like this would have to happen now. Rose had dropped his hand and hurried back to the monitor and it looked like she was trying to work out what words were up on the screen, but he hadn't had occasion to show her anything to do with 'radiation' yet.
For that matter, he hadn't showed her what 'danger' looked like in Gallifreyan, which was clearly an oversight when he gave it some thought. She found more trouble than the rest of his companions all put-together.
Well, perhaps not more than Jo. Sweet scattered-brained Jo and her ability to find danger at the drop of a hat. Would she still be alive on this particular day in Earth's history? She hadn't been all that much older than Sarah Jane, so it was possible.
Still, she'd gone off to get married, so she was probably busy. Some sort of forest-y type of bloke, as he recalled, or perhaps she'd been planning to go to a forest. Something of that nature. And Jo was the sort to throw herself into a life and not look back. She didn't need an interfering old alien mucking up her happiness.
The Doctor pulled out his glasses and slid them on, looking at the warning closely and... hmm, the radiation was far enough away that Sarah Jane wasn't in any danger, but the type of radiation wasn't coming up on the screen. He pressed a couple of buttons, trying to clear up the signal, but it was refusing to cooperate.
“Hmm,” he said.
“What is it?” Rose asked, pressing up against his side. “What've you found?”
“I'm not entirely certain,” he said, twisting the lever that would boost the power levels in the sensor. The radiation was reading to be close to Huon particles, but it also showed some base similarities to the readings that were given off by a Time Lord during regeneration, which was patently absurd. “The results don't make any sense. I'm going to need to check it out in person.”
“Right,” Rose said. “Should we let Sarah Jane know that we can't stay? She'll have noticed the TARDIS by now.”
The Doctor glanced over at Rose – determined and fearless, as always – and then back at the monitor. “I don't think that would be a good idea.”
Rose got a mulish expression on her face, so he needed to hurry now, before she decided she would go with him no matter what he said.
“Do you see this number here?” he asked her, pointing. She nodded, uncertainly. “That says that the energy being given off resembles a kind of particle known as a Huon. Enough of that will kill a human.”
“It won't hurt you?”
The Doctor hesitated. Much as Rose's concern for him always warmed him, it wasn't really the best time for it. Still, he couldn't lie to her.
“It won't hurt me as much,” he said, finally. “It'll take longer for it to begin to affect me and even after that, it'll permeate my cells more slowly than it would yours.”
“I don't like letting you go off on your own,” Rose said, frowning, her eyebrows drawn together in worry. He waited for her to continue, not wanting to rush her on this particular issue. This would all be so much easier if she came to the correct conclusion on her own. He'd realized recently that all of the orders and pleading and asking in the world couldn't keep Rose Tyler in a place where she'd decided not to stay.
She was giving him an uncertain look now, her eyes wide and her mind not projecting the slightest hint of what she was thinking. One of her hands came up and clasped her wrist, rubbing, and he realized that she was tracing her fingertips over the promise bracelet that he'd given to her.
“I almost lost you,” he said, softly, reaching out and stilling her nervous hand. “Not quite two weeks ago, Rose.”
“I don't want this to become a habit,” she said, wrapped her fingers around his. “Just this once, all right?”
“I promise,” he said, lifting up her hand to place a tender kiss on her palm, sealing his words to her.
“Doctor, I...” she seemed uncertain, still. It reminded him too much of early days, of fights on space stations and of wondering when she would demand to go home.
Not that she could, anymore. He'd made certain of that, with his matchmaking scheme. She had no home left but the TARDIS.
“I've still got that mobile that I picked up in Cardiff,” he said, absently patting at his coat with his free hand. It was in there somewhere. He knew that he'd transferred it over from the pockets of his old leather jacket. Odd that he'd never given that number to Martha. Well, she hadn't really needed it. And if she wanted to contact him, she'd left him another phone which... was also somewhere in his coat. He really needed to go through his pockets at some point. “Ring me if you need anything and I'll contact you in the event of... well, if there's anything eventful that you need to know about.”
“Full points for being vague,” Rose said. At least she was feeling well enough to tease him. “But aren't you coming in for a cup of tea?”
“Oh, you can do that for me,” the Doctor said cheerfully. “This shouldn't take more than a day. Well, maybe two. It depends on what's causing that radiation. The sooner I start looking, the more quickly the problem can get solved.”
“Sarah Jane would appreciate it more if you came in,” Rose said, sounding reproachful.
“Was that me being rude?” the Doctor asked, blinking. It didn't seem quite that rude to him – having Rose was just as good as having him, after all. Sarah Jane, of all people, would understand that. She'd met Rose, so she knew what it was like.
“Yes,” Rose said, tucking his hand around her elbow. Apparently, he was going to go in for a cup of tea with Sarah Jane no matter what else he might have been planning. “That was you being almost unforgivably rude. Luckily, Sarah Jane isn't here or she might give you a good smacking. And you'd deserve it, too.”
“Are you going to give it to me for her?” the Doctor asked archly, as he and Rose headed back to the TARDIS door.
“I should,” she said, but violence did not seem to be imminent. He opened the door and escorted her through and...
ah, yes, there Sarah Jane was, standing in the middle of what must be her backyard, looking at them with impatience, though he didn't think anyone else would pick up on it. He'd spent years with Sarah, though, so he was keenly aware of her moods. Well, most of them, anyway. Well, at least half. He definitely knew at least half of Sarah Jane's moods.
“Not that I don't appreciate the visit,” she said, briskly but not without warmth. “But a bit of warning would have been nice.”
“But this way, it's a surprise,” Rose said, unhooking herself from him and going over to wrap Sarah Jane up in a hug. She was nearly clinging to the woman and then it clicked for him – yes, she hadn't just been missing him. She hadn't seen Sarah Jane in almost nine years. Sarah Jane herself seemed a bit taken back by Rose's enthusiasm, but soon melted into the hug. She lifted her head up a bit to meet the Doctor's gaze, and her eyes were filled with curiosity. “Are you all right if I stay for a bit?”
“As long as you need to,” Sarah Jane said, but she didn't seem very happy.
“I should be back in a day or so,” the Doctor said, sticking his hands in his pockets. Sarah Jane pulled away from Rose and took a step toward him. She was staring at him with an expression that he didn't recognize at all, which he thought was terribly unfair of her.
“You're leaving Rose here?” Sarah Jane asked, her voice higher than normal.
“It's not safe,” he said, patiently, glancing over at Rose to see how she was doing. All well over there. “Not for humans. You can-” he waved a hand distractedly “-show her around your home. Introduce her to your cat.”
“I haven't got a cat,” Sarah Jane protested.
“Oh, that's odd,” he said. “You always seemed like such a cat person to me. That's a shame. Well, all this standing around isn't good for Rose's health. I'll get out of the way so that you two can go relax and I'll see both of you in a couple of days.”
“Have fun, Doctor,” Rose said, a smile tugging at her mouth. He smiled back, delighted, and winked at her, his grin broadening when she blushed. He turned to Sarah Jane and tipped an imaginary hat to her. She still seemed a bit perplexed by their sudden arrival, but he really didn't have the time for more chit-chat, so he darted back into the TARDIS and shut the door, determined to focus on completing his investigation as quickly as possible so that he could be back with Rose before she had a chance to start missing him.
He double-checked on the radiation numbers – still there, still dangerous, still ridiculously easy to follow – and plugged the destination into the controls, trying to figure out what Sarah Jane's strange little look had been about. She liked Rose, so it couldn't be that she was upset about Rose staying with her for a while. And if she was angry that he hadn't stayed longer, well, he'd said that he would be coming back, so it wasn't like she wouldn't have the chance to spend some time with him.
Well, Sarah Jane had always had her little quirks that he'd never quite figured out. She was probably fussing about one of her female-centric issues. Though, looking back, it seemed obvious that she'd actually been rather right about most of those things. Huh. Strange that he hadn't picked up on that at the time.
Still, no time to worry about such things at the moment – the TARDIS was soon shuddering into place near where the radiation leak was occurring. The Doctor pulled up the outside view on the monitor.
He was on a street – definitely still London, and the signal was pointing toward one of the small flats crammed up in the neighborhood, one with a bright-blue door. Almost the color of the TARDIS, he noticed. There was a sign out front that simply read “Renova”.
A small, family-owned business was sending out this much radiation? Curiosier and curiosier.
Hmm. He wondered if Rose would like to meet good ol' Charles. He couldn't recall if she'd ever mentioned reading Alice or any of his other work, but she must have done. Well, she'd have at least seen an adaptation at some point.
He'd have to ask her when he got back.
He slipped out of the TARDIS and strode up to the door of the company, pressing the bell button firmly. The door was opened by a young man – probably about twenty-three or four – who was dressed in something of a business suit.
“How can I help you?” he asked, sounding rather strained.
“Oh, I'm just here to carry out an inspection,” the Doctor said, whipping out his psychic paper and waving it about in front of the man's face.
“Health and safety?” the man squeaked, eyes widening. “But we should be checked off as passing.”
“If you can't handle a surprise inspection, I'll need to mark that down,” the Doctor said amiably, flipping the paper shut and putting it away. “I shouldn't need to tell you that things like that look bad in our records.”
“Sorry, it's just...” he looked behind him nervously and the Doctor could hear a female voice being raised. It sounded somehow familiar. “It's not the best time. We're in the middle of sacking a temp who wasn't working out well. You know how it is.”
“Why wasn't... she?... working out?” the Doctor asked, taking a step toward the door. The man blushed and stepped back so that he could come inside. The yelling was clearer now – whoever the woman was, she sounded very annoyed at being let go.
“Nothing to do with Health or Safety,” the man assured him quickly.
“I can promise you, I wouldn't work here again if this were the last place on EARTH!” The owner of the very loud voice came around the corner of the hallway and the Doctor blinked.
She had dark, wavy red hair and a figure that quivered with outrage, and when she saw him, she stopped for a moment, and he saw her breath catch in her throat.
He could understand exactly how she felt.
This had been the last place he'd been expecting to run into Donna Noble.
Continue on to part two.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-08 11:10 pm (UTC)Obviously I knew it was coming, but this fills me with absurd amounts of glee.
Although I'm now officially worried about all the references to huon particles and dangerous radiation!
The kiss with Rose in the TARDIS was just lovely! I really like how you always weave in mentions to previous companions - even if he doesn't talk about them, it's nice to remember that they're not forgotten.
And I feel sort of sorry for Sarah Jane!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-08 11:40 pm (UTC)Donna is love!
The kiss with Rose in the TARDIS was just lovely! I really like how you always weave in mentions to previous companions - even if he doesn't talk about them, it's nice to remember that they're not forgotten.
Thank you! I'm glad that you liked the kiss. And I really do like to mention the past companions, probably because his long history is one of the things that I find so interesting about the Doctor. But also because characters are so very made up of their past, even if they would never talk about it, and the Doctor is no exception.
And I feel sort of sorry for Sarah Jane!
Yes, the Doctor (and Rose) are making more than one assumption there.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-09 12:36 pm (UTC)And Donna is back!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-09 04:27 pm (UTC)Donna is fully made of yay!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-09 07:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-09 07:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-09 10:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-10 01:00 am (UTC)