Rose and The Doctor run through a rainy evening to find shelter and discover a new way of keeping warm.
Rating: K+
“What happened to the TARDIS?” Rose yelled after The Doctor, her boots splashing in the puddles. Rain splattered against the gravel, the clouds above them split and bursting like overstuffed pillows.
“Relocated! Must’ve,” The Doctor panted, scanning the area with his Sonic Screwdriver. “Sometimes does it if she’s in danger—”
“What, is the rain dangerous now?” The Doctor grabbed her hand and they scrambled through the street until they reached an empty bus stop. The cover was hardly perfect—rivulets streamed from the holes in the canvas, but at least it was something.
“Very dangerous,” The Doctor confirmed, stowing his Screwdriver away. “It puts me close to you.”
Rose’s mouth twitched in an attempt to smile as she shivered the rain from her arms. Droplets wormed their way past her hair into her shirt collar, cold pinpricks pushed into her skin. The Doctor took off his coat.
“Let me help with that,” he offered quietly. He shook out the fabric and draped it over the two of them, huddling against the wind. Rose smiled. She knew what to do with this.
She put her hands on his shoulders, her breathing still tinged with the shortness of a run. He gathered her hair in his hands and abandoned it as she slid her hands to his chest. She could feel a blush spread from her cheeks to where she and his hands intersected. His fingertips traced the curve of her neck.
“Rose Tyler,” he said, stopping with his hands resting on her shoulders.
“Hm?”
“Feeling better?” She grinned.
“Much better, thanks.”
The bus pulled up to the stop, wheezing against the rain’s cold whispers. Rose looked at her Doctor. She took his hand.
“Shall we?” He smiled. Their TARDIS could’ve been anywhere—Africa, the South Pole, the moon—but nothing was going to stop them from a little exploring. He took her hand and helped her past the folding doors.
There was always something new to find, even if it was just a different way of travelling.
Searching for sunsets is a game for Rose and The Doctor, but this chase takes a surprising turn.
Rating: K+
The Doctor circled the controls, snapping levers and pressing buttons on impulse as Rose followed him.
“Of all the planets and all the galaxies, what are we looking for?” He pointed at Rose.
“A sunset!”
“A sunset! And not just any kind of sunset.” He pointed at her again, the flick of his wrist revealing how he was enjoying this a little too much.
“Mm…A blue one.”
“A blue one! Well, that’s different.” He turned a knob and raised his eyebrows as it beeped at him. “Touchy, touchy.”
“It’s one I haven’t seen before. Can I help this time?” She held her hand above the console, waiting for The Doctor’s approval as he muttered to himself.
“Hm?” He snapped his head up. “Yeah, put your hand right there. Good.” He brushed his hand against her shoulder. She loved it when he did that, reassurance blossoming from his fingertips. “We’re almost there!” The TARDIS jerked to the side, dislodging The Doctor from his dance around the controls.
“You sure about that?”
“Forgot! There’s a solar flare!”
“You couldn’t have remembered that earlier?”
“Nope!” He twisted a knob. Rose’s fingers slipped from her button. Without thinking, she grabbed onto a lever—and the TARDIS stopped.
Rose let go, laughing as she fell back. The Doctor caught her, a smile spreading across his face.
“That was…impressive, Rose. What’d you do?”
“Pressed that lever there.” He examined it, his eyes widening.
“But that lever doesn’t work.”
“For me it does!” She stuck her tongue out, just barely peeking past her teeth.
“The TARDIS must like you then.” He rubbed the center column fondly. “She’ll trust you with just about anything if she trusts you with herself.” He pulled away. Rose stood proudly, her hands curling through her hair.
“Maybe I should fly, then.” She walked closer to him, slowly.
“Maybe you should.” He took a sauntering step, copying her.
“Maybe you should teach me,” she whispered, tracing his jawline with her fingertips.
“Maybe I should.” He leaned closer and raised his eyebrow. Rose bridged the gap and kissed him, her hands working their way into his hair, ruffling his already messy tufts. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her back, letting her fall into him. When she broke away, her smile taking over, The Doctor stepped back, his daze making him dizzy.
“Where were we?”
“Blue sunset,” Rose answered, her hands already on the TARDIS controls.
“Right! What’re you doing?”
“Flying the TARDIS.” She started up an engine just to make her point. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Go on, get some rest. I’ve seen you do it millions of times.”
As soon as he turned away, utterly baffled, the TARDIS gave a jolt.
“Rose, are you sure you can do this?” He punctuated his sentence by lunging for a support and clinging to it. “I know you’re a very capable woman, but is this the time to prove it?”
“Say that again, Time Lord.”
“I said, you’re remarkable, but do you really need—oh.” He let go of the TARDIS and massaged his arms. “We’ve stopped.”
“Now we’re there.” She pushed down the lever that had given her confidence. “Nice going,” she whispered to the TARDIS. She took The Doctor’s arm. “I can see why you like talking to her.”
“Not going about replacing me, are you?”
“As if I could! C’mon, let’s see what we came for.” Rose buzzed with anticipation. This was their personal game, sunspotting, but they could only do it every once in a while so sunsets didn’t lose their flavor. It was like eating chocolate but only tasting a centimeter at a time—devastatingly slow, but so, so worth it.
---
They sat with their legs dangling out of the TARDIS doors.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Rose sighed to The Doctor as he leaned into her shoulder. “It’s like looking into the birth of something cold in a world that’s overheating.” She wrapped an arm around The Doctor. “Are there worlds like that?”
“Oh, yes,” he mumbled. He was quiet, staring into the edges of the sun like was trying to see where the sky ended and the
“You OK?”
“Yes, just thinking.” Rose waited for him to go on—The Doctor rarely needed any prompting, she’d learned. “You’re right for me,” he explained. “So right. No one’s ever fit me so well.” Rose blushed against the soft blue sky. Pink skin and blue air—they made such lovely compliments, he thought to himself. Just like him and Rose.
Rose has a nightmare. Her Doctor, her one and only Doctor-where is he?
Rating: K+
“Rose?” He knocked on her door, barely tapping the wood with his knuckles. He didn’t make a habit of this, honestly, coming into her room after she went to sleep, but there was an itch in his system; something wasn’t right. “You OK?” She shifted, mumbling for her Doctor with the urgency of a fire alarm in a theater. “Shh, I’m here. Not going anywhere.”
“I’m sorry, Rose.” The Doctor looked at his hands sadly. He’d considered the golden light beautiful once, the particles evidence of his race’s resilience. Now it meant death. It didn’t matter that The Doctor would come back, alive and vibrant as ever. It wouldn’t be him. The Doctor that came back would never be able to love Rose as much as he did.
“Don’t go. Please don’t go.” She was crying—he hated it, hated that he was making her cry and he wouldn’t even live long enough to fix it.
She was shifting, sniffling in her sleep. The Doctor smoothed her hair down with his thumb, wishing he could go into the dream and make things right. What was she fighting right now? And why wasn’t he there?
“Rose Tyler.” He said her name. “Rose Tyler.” And again, feeling it, letting it go like the breath before a birthday wish. “I love you.”
“And I love you.” The particles engulfed his hands.
“I don’t have much time. Stand back.”
“No.” He pushed himself away from her. “No! Don’t go! Please!”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You’ll hurt me just by leaving!”
“Rose, please!” She took his hands anyway, kissed both of them before he was fully gone. Tears crawled down her face. Gravity seemed slow here, everything seemed on hold except the regeneration. And it wasn’t fair.
“What will I do without you?” But The Doctor never got to answer her question. Light burst from his face, and Rose doubled over. Her Doctor was lost, gone, faded. Someone was taking his place.
“Shh. It’s OK, Rose. It’s OK.” Rose woke up to The Doctor’s voice. He’d climbed onto her bed and taken her into his arms, rocking them both like she was a toddler. He looked down at her. “You’re safe now.”
Rose blinked. She ran a hand along the side of his face.
“It’s really you?”
“Of course it’s me.” Relief sunk in and she let her hand drop. “Rose, what were you up against? What made you so sad?” He whispered to her. She tried to settle, to convince herself that this was real.
“You…regenerated.” The Doctor closed his eyes. His Rose, his perfect Rose. The nightmare that haunted her was losing him.
“I’m not letting that happen.” He hugged her tighter, resolved to keep her in his arms the rest of this night. “As long as you’re around, Rose Tyler, I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Rose and The Doctor get invited to a planet of amplified emotions, but they decide to test out the effects before they go.
Rating: K+
“Doctor? What is it?”
“We’ve got an invitation,” he said, turning his psychic paper over. “But I don’t think we’re ready…”
“Ready for what?” She came up behind his shoulder to read the message. “It looks like a regular invitation.”
“I don’t think it’s that, Rose.” He sat down, and she settled into the seat next to him. “The race that’s hosting—they live off of honesty and emotional truth. The entire atmosphere is filled with these particles that reduce your inhibition.” He brushed a curl of hair from her cheek. “I just want you to be ready.” She took a deep breath.
“Alright, so…I wouldn’t be able to lie?”
“Right—or hide anything. And humans’ve never been here before. You might have some side effects.” She nodded again.
“So…”
“So I thought we’d give it a practice run.” He opened his hand to reveal two dark orange spheres, identical down to their minuscule size. Rose squinted at them.
“Are these the particles?”
“They’re bundles of ‘em. The concentration’s not nearly as high, so the effects will be over in ten minutes. And I’ll be there with you.” He passed one to her and linked their arms. “Whenever you’re ready.” Rose counted down and the two swallowed them like shots. He smiled.
“Feels a little fuzzy, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, almost like we’re…falling asleep.” Within seconds, Rose had sunk into The Doctor’s arms.
-
Rose woke up to wind. She tried to wrap her arms around herself and found that she was nothing more than a voice. She couldn’t even open her eyes.
“Doctor?” She was worried, immensely worried, all of a sudden—scared as a child is scared of the monsters under their bed, scared as a parent is scared of losing their child. Rose tried to wipe the tears away from her face before remembering she couldn’t. She wasn’t even sure she was crying. Rose didn’t have a body, but she could feel the ache of loneliness clawing its way out of her, tumbling into sobs.
“Doctor!” She called again, the strength of her voice ebbing by the third try. “Doctor, please…”
“I’m here.”
At those words, the rain inside her let up.
“I thought I’d lost you.”
“It must be the particles amplifying everything. I…thought I’d lost you, too.” She heard the rasp of his voice, the snag on the word “lost.” It didn’t matter now. Her Doctor was here. It was close to bursting, how relieved she was that he was back.
“Why are we just voices?” She was giddy, lightheaded.
“Dunno. Maybe because…”
“Hey, d’you feel something burning?”
“Yeah…” He chuckled. “Just tried to stick my hand out.”
“Me too! Seriously though—you feeling that?”
“Yeah…Oh.”
“What?”
“We’re being harvested!”
“What?”
“Try not to feel!”
“What? Try not to feel what?”
“Everything! I’ll get us out of here soon.” Rose caught her breath. “Forgot. No Sonic Screwdriver without my hands.”
“You said we’d be out of here in 10 minutes.”
“I’m sorry, Rose, but we’ll just have to wait. We’re not in any real danger. 10% isn’t enough to harvest.” He gasped. “But it’s weird, all these emotions magnified.”
“Tell me about it. It’s…everything.” She cried softly. “All the loss, it’s so sad. But you, everything I have for you. It’s perfect.” The Doctor cried with her.
“I’m here,” Rose reminded him. “You always tell me you’re here, but I’m here, too.”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice broken like ice in the spring. “I know you are.”
-
Rose shifted in The Doctor’s arms as she woke up.
“Well.”
“Well.”
“That was just 10%.” The Doctor looked at Rose. They were still in each other’s arms, eyes barely adjusted to the light of the TARDIS. “Only a hint of the actual concentration.”
“I think we’ll respectfully decline, yeah?” The Doctor nodded, examining the message once more.
“How’d they even get onto the psychic paper? Not many people can do that.”
“People on drugs like can probably talk to anyone.” She laughed and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Not really a fan of that one.” She looked at her Doctor. She didn’t need an emotional amplifier. Being with The Doctor gave her all the emotions she needed...including this one. She punched him in the arm.
“Hey!”
“Don’t scare me like that again.” He looked over at her and cupped her chin in his hand.
“Gotcha, Rose Tyler!” He lunged for her arm, but she pulled back, laughing.
“Not yet, Time Lord. Your TARDIS is on my side!”
“Nonsense! She likes me more.”
“Oh yeah? Explain this.” With one last tongue-between-her-teeth smile, Rose Tyler walked behind a column and disappeared. He sauntered to the hiding place, ready to get this game wrapped up: 1 for The Doctor, 0 for Rose.
“I’m right behind you,” he whispered, the smile evident in the tone of his words. “Three, two, one—HA!” He pulled himself around the pillar, his shoes squeaking from the friction, and found an empty shadow where Rose should be. “Rose? Aw, how’d you do that?” Carefully, Rose lowered herself from the pillar’s support as The Doctor examined the structure. “You can’t be inside.” She landed on the ground silently and crept up behind him.
Three, two, one…
“Got you!” She jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I win this round for sure.”
“Rose!” He spun around, grinning, as his companion held on for dear life.
“Haha, stop it!” He let her down gently, watching as she regained her balance before him. He’d come back to her, but there was one thing he had to check first.
---
“I’ve got my eye on you,” he muttered to the console. He pressed a few buttons. In all his years of flying the TARDIS, it had never helped him win at hide-and-seek. Rose tapped him on the shoulder.
“Come along, Time Lord. I’ve got something a little more interesting than your spaceship.” She dragged him from the controls and kissed him. His hands found their way into her hair, tumbling and curling up until she broke away. “So: who’s the best at hide-and-seek?” She waited, an inch from her Doctor, waiting for the words that would give her a little victory.
“OK, Rose,” he said, wrapping his arms around her back. “It’s you. But round two’s just begun.” Breathless and more than a little flushed, Rose kissed him back. Oh, she certainly wasn’t letting him get away without a fight.
Rose has something to tell The Doctor. It's nothing new, but this time it means a little more.
Rating: K
“Finally,” Rose muttered. “Asleep at last.” She crept to the central TARDIS controls and put on the stabilizers. The Doctor wasn’t a huge fan of things going smoothly, but Rose needed the ship quiet so he would stay asleep.
“It’s just a short trip, right outside the Earth’s atmosphere. C’mon, it’ll be my final exam.”
That’s what she told him when she asked for flying lessons—it was just to get close to home once in a while. She swallowed and willed her hands to steady as she navigated the TARDIS nearer to Earth. It wasn’t flying through time and space that made her nervous; there was something else nagging at her thoughts and pumping her heart too fast.
“Rose?” The Doctor said slowly, rubbing his eyes from the after effects of his nap. “Did we…move?”
“Yeah, just…flew us to Earth.”
“Feeling homesick?” He smiled and ambled closer to her. “Understandable. Well done flying! I didn’t even notice! Slept right through it…” His voice faded. He took in Rose’s shaky hands, the bite in her lip. “Rose, did you not want me to notice?”
“Yeah, um…” She twisted her hands behind her back. “Got something to show you.” She pulled him to the TARDIS doors and cracked them open gingerly. She sighed with relief. She was just barely off course, the Earth’s sphere floating in front of them. You can do this, Rose Tyler. You’ve told him so many times. It’s just once more. “Let’s sit for a while.” She all but pushed him down in her eagerness, and she snapped into place beside him.
“Flying the TARDIS certainly made you jumpy,” he joked to her, twisting a strand of her golden hair between his fingers. “But I think there’s something else.” She took a deep breath and The Doctor faced her. Whatever it was, it was making his Rose very fidgety.
“Yes, well…Remember when we met?” She stared at the planet beneath them, and he did the same. “I was there.” She pointed at England. “And I never thought I’d get to see the Earth like this.” She took his hand in two of her own and took another breath. “Doctor, I always told you I’d be here forever.” He pursed his lips. Don’t tell me you’re leaving me now, little Rose.
“And I just wanted to make it official.” For once, Rose got to take The Doctor by surprise as she pulled a small, dark blue box out of her jacket pocket. “Doctor—will you travel with me forever?” She opened the box to reveal two intertwined blue rings. He put a hand to Rose’s face and his other over the box to keep it safe.
“Always, Rose. As long as you’re here, I’ll be here.” He let her put a ring on his finger, and then he did the same for her. When they kissed, the rings lit up, but they were too engrossed in each other’s happiness to notice.
When they broke apart, she smiled at him, her tongue between her teeth.
“What’re you thinking?”
“When you said forever, I thought you were going to say you wanted to go home,” he admitted sheepishly. “But this is a lot better.”
If Rose noticed that the Doctor was any more nervous than usual about visiting her Mum, she didn't say anything. Instead, she gripped his hand in hers, their fingers intertwined, bouncing along beside the Time Lord as she chattered happily.
"Thought I'd pop in an' see Shareen and Keisha while we're here, if that's alright," Rose said happily, grinning up at the Doctor.
He returned her smile, and nodded.
"Of course," the Doctor responded. "They're your friends. Even if they do try to flirt with me..."
"Shareen did that once, an' she was drunk!" Rose reminded the Doctor with a laugh.
He gave Rose a significant look then, and she grinned, that tongue-between-teeth smile that she knew drove the Time Lord mad. They'd been in a relationship for almost a year, ever since the Doctor had almost lost Rose at Canary Wharf, after it had been Jackie who- after stubbornly refusing to leave Rose behind and go to a parallel world even with the other Pete Tyler- had saved them all, grabbing Rose's lever and keeping her daughter secure. The Doctor had felt the timelines bend at that moment, whole new timelines snapping into place, branching off, creating impossible futures for him and Rose. After that, Jackie had refused to let them out of her flat for a week, and their relationship had culminated from there.
And then Rose was tugging open the heavy security door to Bucknall House, the Doctor moving to help her.
"You've been quiet," Rose noted, as they ascended the stairs up to number 48.
The Doctor shrugged.
"Just thinking," he replied vaguely.
Rose gave him a funny look.
"D'you wanna go back to the TARDIS?" she asked. "You can if you want, I'll just tell Mum you had some tinkering to do."
Rose sounded deflated, though, most likely due to how- ever since their relationship had progressed- the Doctor had tried his best to do domestic for their visits to Jackie every now and then. After all, it was usually only a few hours at most.
"Nah," the Doctor shook his head and wrinkled his nose. "Besides, want a word with your Mum."
At that, Rose looked alarmed.
"Why? Is she in danger? Is somethin' wrong?"
"Who's in danger?"
Both the Doctor and Rose blinked, and looked up. Somehow, their feet had led them to Jackie's flat, on autopilot, and Jackie herself was stood in the doorway, brow furrowed as she stared at the two of them.
"Well?" Jackie spoke again. "Who's in danger?"
"No one's in danger, Jackie," the Doctor replied calmly.
Jackie gave him a suspicious look, before turning to Rose.
"Come in, then. Kettle's on. Could hear you two coming, you're bloody loud enough."
And with that, Jackie ushered them into the house.
~~~
Jackie had been suspicious the moment the Doctor offered to help her make the tea.
"I have something to ask you," the Doctor admitted quietly as he added the sugar to Rose's tea. "About Rose."
"What?" Jackie asked, tone curious though there was an undercurrent of worry.
The Doctor looked up, meeting Jackie's gaze for a few moments, before setting the teaspoon down and reaching into his pocket. Slowly and quietly, he pulled out a small velvet box. And opened it.
Jackie gasped.
"You want to marry Rose," she stated quietly when she finally regained her voice.
No question. A statement. And, judging by Jackie's tone of voice, she wasn't surprised.
"Yes," the Doctor replied evenly. "But I was hoping for your blessing first."
At that, Jackie did look surprised.
"My blessing?" Jackie echoed in confusion. "Why? You and Rose have never been ones to listen to what I say."
It was said in fondness, rather than annoyance or bitterness. But still, she was genuinely confused.
"You raised Rose on your own, Jackie," the Doctor shrugged, voice still quiet. "You've done so much for her, to protect her, make her who she is today. I think it's only right I ask for your blessing."
Jackie smiled, then, eyes damp, and she looked like she was about to speak, before she was interrupted.
"What're you two still doing?" Rose was in the kitchen doorway, frowning as she looked from her Mum, to the Doctor, and back again. "Doesn't take that long to make tea."
"Just talking," the Doctor replied calmly, discreetly slipping the ring box back into her pocket before reaching for his and Rose's tea. "Come on," he continued, making his way to the door, "let's go sit down."
~~~
The ring stayed in the Doctor's pocket for a week.
Finally, he had enough, and set the TARDIS to land on a deserted beach.
"Thought we could spend the day relaxing," he announced to Rose when they stepped out of the TARDIS and into the soft sand. "Think we've earned it this week."
Rose grinned, already bounding off towards the sea, shoes abandoned just inside the TARDIS doors. The Doctor busied himself setting out beach towels and drinks and food for when Rose tired, which she eventually did.
"Can't believe you're still in your suit," she told him, giggling breathlessly as she flopped onto her purple towel. She'd donned a bikini the moment the Doctor told her they'd be landing on a beach. "Why not wear swimming trunks?"
"My suit has better pockets," the Doctor replied with a sniff.
"Pockets?" Rose echoed incredulously, propping herself up on her elbows to look at him. "What do you need pockets for on a beach?"
"For storing useful things," came the Doctor's vague reply.
"Yeah?" Rose challenged with a grin. "Like what?"
"Like this," the Doctor responded.
Moments later, he was on one knee, on his towel, open ring box in his palms.
Rose gaped, pushing herself into a sitting position, her gaze on the ring before finally moving to the Doctor's face.
"Marry me?" the Doctor added after a few moments of silence.
"Is this what you were talking to Mum about? Last week?"
The Doctor nodded.
"I asked for her blessing," the Time Lord replied.
"You asked for her-" Rose began, before trailing off.
Then, she grabbed the Doctor's lapels and kissed him. Hard.
"Is that a yes?" the Doctor asked with a small grin when they finally pulled away, both panting slightly.
Rose grinned, before giving him her breathless reply.
Rose goes to New Earth with The Doctor, but the ground isn't all that's new between them.
Rating: K
She wasn’t used to him yet. Sure, she liked the new Doctor—she’d followed him through the TARDIS doors to a gleaming New New York, but being around him made her antsy. He was jumpy, more sporadic, and she couldn’t tell if she liked it.
“Let’s go. The city awaits!” He pulled her up with barely a second’s notice and she stumbled, laughing to herself as they ran.
He didn’t let go of her hand.
“Doctor?”
“Yeah?” He turned to her, not failing a bit in his speed.
“Nothing!” She squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. “Not wondering where we’re going exactly or anything!” He pulled his hand from hers and spun on his heel, grinning. Rose put her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. You’d think that with all this running, I’d be a bit more in shape, she thought to herself. Look at him, all perfect and excited and bursting.
“We’re going to something new, Rose.” He walked back to her, his eyes squinting against the sunlight. “Not just new for us, but for people who have lived here their whole lives.” Looking into his eyes, Rose felt the barriers that had kept her back dissolve. To hell with it—she’d become new for him, too.
---
“Rose?”
“Yeah?”
They sat with their legs dangling out of the TARDIS’s doorframe. A sunset unfolded in front of them, orange and yellow and crimson against a blackened sky. Rose felt The Doctor run his thumb over hers.
“I’m glad you didn’t leave.” She leaned into the crook of his neck.
“You know I wouldn’t do that.”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“Neither was I, but now…I don’t see how I could’ve doubted you.” They floated above the grass until the light melted behind the buildings.
