Quiet Day
AN: This is a companion piece to "Cassie." It takes place somewhere between chapter 16 (end of "Unicorn and the Wasp") and chapter 17. Enjoy!
Some days, the TARDIS crew went on adventures. Sometimes they traveled to an interesting point in Earth's history, other times to a distant planet. They tended to have purposes to these adventures, whether to watch a Harry Potter movie three years early or go to an alien festival that the Doctor thought would be fun, or perhaps to get the very best {insert commodity here} in the universe. Other times, they locked onto distress signals and saved whatever planet, moon, galaxy, or alien civilization needed their help, usually resulting in celebrations in their honor, being crowned honorary rulers, being worshipped as gods, blah blah blah.
But other days, the Doctor, Rose, Donna, and Cassie didn't want to go on an exotic trip through time and space. They never really said that they didn't to one another; it was more of a silent agreement to have a quiet day. So the Doctor would drive the TARDIS into the Vortex and float there for the day, and the inhabitants would go their separate ways, enjoying themselves.
Today was one of those days. Cassie was in the console room, working on a repair. The Doctor would've done the repair himself, but he had a book that he really wanted to read, and Cassie was more than eager to prove herself capable of repairing the TARDIS by herself. So the Doctor read in the library, and his daughter worked, and all was well there. Donna was in the living room, watching an alien TV show to which she had become addicted and nobody else on the TARDIS liked.
As for Rose, she was at the swimming pool. She could spend an entire day there, reading by the pool, dipping her toes in, and of course swimming for hours on end. The TARDIS could change the area around the pool to make it look like whatever Rose wanted, and what she wanted this time was a regular old swimming pool, but outside, the sky changing to reflect the day. Rose had woken up early this morning to watch the sunrise from the water, and didn't leave the pool area once afterwards.
At around four in the afternoon, the Doctor finished his book, and soon began to wonder where Rose was. He reached out to the TARDIS in his mind, asking the ship, Where's Rose, old girl? I'm missing her.
She's in the swimming pool, the TARDIS hummed back. Go change, and I'll teleport you there when you're done.
Thanks, old girl. The Doctor smiled and walked towards his bedroom, passing through the console room on his way to check on his daughter's progress.
"How's it going, Cassie?" he called out, not exactly sure where she was.
The blond Time Lady slid out from under the console. "Going well, Dad. Should be done within the hour. Where're you headed?"
"My room, and then the swimming pool."
"Figured as much," Cassie grinned, knowing exactly why her dad was going to the swimming pool. The TARDIS hummed in her head. "Right, I'd better get back to this repair. See you soon!"
"That's my brilliant girl," the Doctor said with a smile of pride for his daughter, and he went to his room to change.
Rose was floating quite contentedly on her back, the TARDIS giving her a little extra buoyancy, when all of a sudden something grabbed her legs and pulled her under. She kicked her legs free and turned to see the Doctor's face. Giggling slightly, she resurfaced, the Doctor just behind her.
"You!" she laughed, and she splashed him playfully. He grinned cheekily and splashed her right back. "Oh, is this a splash war now?" Rose splashed him again. "I'll bet you ten quid that you'll beg for mercy first."
"Oh, you're on, Rose Tyler!" And so the war began. They chased each other around the pool, splashing each other in all sorts of manners, from the typical hand-flicking motion to holding onto the walls of the pool and kicking hard. It lasted at least half an hour, and then the Doctor had an idea. "Time out for a minute," he called.
Rose stopped splashing him. "Why?"
The Doctor swam over to her and pulled her close. "Because I haven't done this all day." And with that he brushed his lips against hers, one arm around her back, holding her up, and the other hand gently caressing her cheek.
Rose felt the Doctor's lips on hers, his hand on her cheek, and it made her skin tingle from head to toe. She threw her arms around him and deepened the kiss, the TARDIS raising the floor of the pool so they could stand.
It lasted about thirty seconds, and then the Doctor pulled away. Rose looked up at him with those hazel eyes that always melted his hearts, and he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Time in," he whispered, and he splashed her again.
"Hey!" she laughed. "No fair!"
"All's fair in love and war, Rose Tyler," the Doctor grinned playfully. "And this is a case of both." And with that, he slammed his hands in the water, soaking her.
"Oh, I'm gonna get you for this," Rose declared, and they continued on, Rose eager to get her proper revenge on the Doctor, and the Doctor eager to spend as long as he possibly could with his Rose and her infectious smile.
"Okay, now I really do want to stop," the Doctor admitted a half-hour later. "I admit my defeat, Rose Tyler. You are the master of the splash war."
"Ha! You owe me twenty quid." Rose laughed, splashing the Doctor one more time.
"I owe you ten!"
"You never paid me back when Queen Victoria said I am not amused."
"Fiiiiiine," the Doctor whined with a pout.
Rose grinned cheekily and then looked up. "Oooooh, look at that sunset…"
"That's why I wanted to stop," the Doctor grinned. He snapped his fingers, and the TARDIS provided an inflatable raft. "Dame Rose, will you be so kind as to accompany me in watching this frankly incredible sunset?" he asked as he climbed up. He held out a hand to help her up.
"But course, Sir Doctor," she replied, and she joined the Doctor on the raft.
After the last rays of sun vanished into the dusk, Rose realized that she was somewhat tired. She laid her head on the Doctor's chest, just above his right heart, and closed her eyes, waiting for what she knew was coming. Just as she had expected, the Doctor very gently wrapped his arms around her and began to lightly brush his left thumb across her temple, keeping the stray bits of hair from her face. She loved it when he did this. It always soothed her, calmed her, her fears and anxieties magically disappearing the moment he touched her. He kissed her forehead with a tenderness that made her entire body relax, and began tracing on her back with his right pointer finger. It was a pattern she knew well, since he traced it on her whenever they were curled up together, but she didn't know why he traced in this pattern exactly. She guessed that he was probably writing something, but she wasn't sure what.
"What is that, that you always write on me?" she asked quietly.
"It's Gallifreyan," he replied. "It means, my precious Rose." Once again his lips met her forehead. "My precious Rose," he repeated.
"What does it sound like? The TARDIS doesn't translate Gallifreyan, right? Can you say it for me? I want to hear what it sounds like." Rose wrapped her arms around the Doctor's waist and looked up at him curiously, her hazel eyes sparkling in the twilight.
"Of course," the Doctor grinned, and the following sounds he made were unlike any Rose had ever heard before. It was in a way more like singing than speaking, and somehow she could feel the words, as though they were touching her mind.
"It's beautiful," Rose whispered. "And it's telepathic, too, isn't it? I could feel it."
The Doctor nodded and pressed another kiss to the top of her head, taking in the sweet scent of her hair. "Time Lords connected to one another telepathically, so their words were meant to touch each other's minds."
"It's like I could feel your emotions as you said it."
"Exactly." The Doctor smiled softly at Rose, cuddled close to him, and he wanted nothing more than for her to feel all of his love for her. "Would you like to hear more?" he asked, trying to keep the hopefulness from his voice — although he was pretty sure that Rose would say yes, being so curious about his people.
"I'd love to," she whispered into his chest. "It's so beautiful."
"You're so beautiful," the Doctor replied without missing a beat, and then he said something else in Gallifreyan, not the same thing he had said before, but something similar, as Rose felt more of his emotions brushing against her mind. She tried to make sense of the feelings, and of the words, but it was so complex that she soon gave up and just listened, letting the Doctor's feelings wash over her like gentle waves.
There were a few sounds that she heard frequently as the Doctor spoke, but one of them seemed to carry extra emotions, and every time he said that word, it felt as though he was caressing her mind, stroking it with his own. Rose began to wonder what it meant. And then she had a thought.
"Doctor, is that my name?" she asked. "The word you say a lot… is that my name?"
The Doctor repeated the word in question, and then asked "That one?" in English.
"Yeah, that one. Is it my name?"
The Doctor smiled softly and whispered the word again. "Rose," he grinned. And then he whispered another phrase. "What do you think that means?"
"Say it again?" Rose listened carefully as the Doctor whispered the phrase again. There were two parts to the phrase. The first part wasn't familiar. The second was "my precious Rose;" she recognized it… so what was the first part? "Again?" He said the phrase one more time, and Rose listened carefully to the first part and what she received. And in an instant the emotions were clear.
"'I love you, my precious Rose,'" she guessed, and apparently she was right, because the Doctor planted a gentle kiss in her hair and said the phrase twice, first in English and then in Gallifreyan, and again Rose truly felt the love in his words.
A few minutes later, Rose's exhaustion really became prominent, and she let out a quiet yawn. "Tired, love?" the Doctor asked, not-so-secretly relishing in calling her "love." She nodded, and he pressed another sweet kiss to her forehead. "Do you want to go back inside?"
"No," Rose murmured. "It's so nice out here."
The Doctor smiled gently and began speaking Gallifreyan again. Rose sensed the same tender care and love in the words he spoke, but there was also something so soothing and calming, as though he was singing her a lullaby. Between his voice and his hearts beating, along with his fingers lightly brushing her hair and tracing on her back, she couldn't help but drift off to sleep.
"That's it," the Doctor murmured in Gallifreyan as he sensed her falling asleep. "Sweet dreams, my Rose." He, too, was quite tired, and once he was sure that Rose was sound asleep, he allowed himself to drift off.
Rose had at first been enjoying peaceful rest. But all of a sudden, a horrific nightmare filled her mind.
EX-TER-MINATE! EX-TER-MINATE! EX-TER-MINATE! EX-TER-MINATE!
First Ianto went… then Owen and Tosh and Gwen… then Sarah Jane and Martha… then Mickey and Jack… Donna… Jackie, Pete, Tony… and then her Doctor and her Cassie, the two people she loved above all else…
NOW THAT YOU HAVE WATCHED YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY DIE… YOU WILL BE EX-TER-MINATED! EX-TER-MINATE! EX-TER-MINATE! EX-TER-MINATE!
Rose woke with a start, writhing in terror, and she fell off of the raft and went under. Water filled her nostrils and her eyes stung. She couldn't breathe and was scared to death.
The TARDIS reacted instantly, bringing her up to the surface, and screamed in the Doctor's mind. He woke in seconds, and, seeing Rose thrashing in the water, he jumped off the raft and caught her, moving as quickly as he could out of the pool.
"Doctor!" she sobbed into his shoulder as he came up the steps, cradling her in his arms.
"Shhhh," he soothed. "Shhhh, Rose, love; I've got you. It was only a nightmare; you're safe now. Shhhhhh…" The TARDIS teleported them back to their bedroom, where she dried the two of them off and changed their clothes, untangling Rose's chlorine-tangled hair. Thanks, old girl, the Doctor whispered in his mind. The TARDIS hummed gently in response, and the Doctor sat down on the bed with Rose in his arms, rocking her back and forth in his lap and murmuring soft words of comfort, some in English and some in Gallifreyan. Eventually, Rose calmed down a bit, and stopped crying. "Do you want to tell me about it?" He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and wiped some of the tears from her face.
"The Daleks," she whispered, "they got us, all of us, and killed everyone… first Ianto, Owen, Tosh, Gwen… then Sarah Jane, Martha, Mickey, Jack… then Donna, Mum, Dad, Tony… you, and then Cassie… and then… they came for me…" She began to sob again, locking her arms around the Doctor's waist.
The Doctor felt his hearts break. "Oh, Rose," he cooed. "It's okay now; it was just a nightmare. All over now…" He kissed her forehead again and stroked her hair, tracing Gallifreyan on her back. "I'm here, Rose… right here… and everyone we know is fine, I promise."
A touch in her mind caused Rose to stop crying for a moment. It was like sunlight, warm and gentle, and she realized the Doctor was soothing her in Gallifreyan. It felt as though the Doctor's mind was wrapping hers in a loving embrace, and she couldn't help but calm down. "That's it," the Doctor said in English. "I've got you, my sweet Rose, just breathe and relax…" Rose exhaled, the breath caught in her chest finally released, and she laid her head on the Doctor's shoulder, nuzzling his neck, and loosened her grip around him.
Keep talking to her in Gallifreyan, the TARDIS hummed in his mind. It'll help.
Okay, the Doctor thought back.
Once again Rose felt the Doctor's gentle presence in her mind as he started to whisper more Gallifreyan in her ear, his left hand still brushing hair and tears from her face and his right tracing My precious Rose over and over on her back.
As he was murmuring comforting words in Rose's ear, the Doctor began to form an idea in his head. Do you think that's a good idea? he asked the TARDIS. She gave him an encouraging hum. Thanks, he grinned, brushing his finger against the wall.
Rose found herself becoming sleepier and sleepier with each passing moment, feeling completely safe cradled against her Doctor, now gently rocking her back and forth, his words even more soothing and calming. The fear from the nightmare began to vanish, as though it had never existed, the details becoming blurrier and blurrier, the entire picture fading away into nothing.
The Doctor smiled softly, his idea working perfectly. Essentially, he was using Gallifreyan to hypnotize her into forgetting her nightmare. Whispering "Sleep, my love" in Gallifreyan, he touched her temple, and instantly she went limp in his arms, having completely fallen into a deep and dreamless sleep. He very gently laid her down in the bed, pulling the covers over her and then settling down himself, pulling her in and holding her close. "I love you, my precious Rose," he murmured once again in Gallifreyan, "my sweet, precious Rose," and with one last kiss to her forehead he let himself fall asleep, knowing that the love of his lives was safe and that all was well.
Hey everyone! Just a little 10/Rose oneshot within the CassieVerse since I don't really give those two much love in Cassie proper. This one takes place in between chapters 16 and 17.
As always, much love to fellow Lone Shippers Rachel and Jubilee, and many hugs to everyone who's supported the CassieVerse (Cassie and Tales from the Hub)! The next few chapters of Cassie are on the way soon!
Love,
Ofelia