Authors Note: I've had a few of my older stories looked over by a beta. This one has now been updated as of 17th Oct, 2010 and broken up into two chapters instead of the one. This was the first story I penned after taking up writing fan fiction for Doctor Who.
The TARDIS was receiving a SOS distress signal and the Doctor never could resist a cry for help.
Having placed the co-ordinates of the beacon into the TARDIS, the Doctor turned to Rose and noticed her look of trepidation.
"What's up?" he asked her.
"You don't think we'll end up in World War II again, do you, Doctor? I still can't forget how we... well, the old you and me almost became walking gas masks thanks to misguided Nanogenes."
"Oi! That wasn't my mistake. It was all ruddy Captain Jack 'Look at me, I'm so charming' Harkness's fault and we didn't answer an SOS signal for that; it was a Universal call sign for danger. Remember the mauve?"
"Ah, Captain Jack," repeated Rose, remembering the Time Agent they'd met. "Yes, he was charming," and she added after a pause, "Very sexy."
"Sexy," scoffed the Doctor.
"Hmm, yes," said Rose. "Wish I hadn't refused his offer ..."
"What offer?" said the Doctor, trying to sound casual.
"Oh, to be romanced, be taken away from it all, shown the world. Just the two of us. It would have been quite intimate. You know Jack, he's not afraid to dance."
Just for a millisecond the Doctor's countenance looked a touch strained at her statement and did she notice just a hint of green eyed jealousy enter those brown eyes of his? She let him stew for another minute before letting him off the hook.
"Doctor, I'm yanking your chain," she said with a sweet laugh. "Why would I accept an offer like that when I already have you to show me the universe? Not to mention dragging me into loads of trouble and adventure. I'll always be around as someone's gotta make sure you don't do anything daft."
"Me?...Nah, never," laughed the Doctor and then broke into, of all things, a John Denver Song.
"Follow me where I go what I do and who I know ..."
Before he got any further, Rose had thrown something at him and made an excuse to go and get ready, leaving him alone in the console room.
She stopped on the opposite side of the door however and breathed out the words in a longing sigh. "Yes, Doctor, I will follow you forever."
After her departure, the Doctor stood near the console trying desperately to get himself under control. Trying to maintain a nice, friendly exterior towards Rose was becoming more and more difficult, not to mention that his insides were consistent with mashed banana anytime he was near her. And John Denver... where the hell did that come from? He remembered more of the song and realised how revealing such lyrics may have been.
"It's by far the hardest thing I've ever done
To be so in love with you and so alone."
It was that darn kiss with his ninth self that did it... but no, it went further back than that, perhaps right back to the moment in the former 10 Downing Street residence and their encounter with the Slitheen. He had to face the possibility of losing Rose to save the human race. Or was it back even further from the first moment he saw her and said, 'Run'?
Rose was so sweet, so brave. She washed away the darkness in his mind but with that mercy came other longings; mixed, rich, fantastic dreams about her, from his past & present life. Longings that came unbidden, and could come at any given moment of the day or night. During the day he could put his guard up but at night...Oh, the nights were tormenting. Even now the thought of his desires started small rivers of pleasure through his body, gathering force and threatening to overpower his will to resist.
He tried to remember the teachings learnt during his 900 years. Time lords are above all others; Time lords do not engage in base human actions; Time lords do not get aroused; Time lords do not get to make love to a certain sexy, mind blowing woman, only a few steps up the hall of the TARDIS. As the Doctor groaned, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the TARDIS, telling him they'd arrived at the origins of the distress call. Thankful to be given another train of thought, he proceeded to find out what he could about the planet they'd landed on.
Rose was lying on her bed, thoughts about her Doctor playing in her mind. She loved being with him and even though she'd experienced sorrow at the previous Doctor's regeneration, she knew that this current Doctor was the same man who had taken her hand over a year ago and run with her. She'd not looked back since then, enjoying all he had to give her: the worlds he took her to, the fascinating information he told her, the patience he took in explaining concepts that to him were child's play but to her were on a whole new plane of learning. Yet she wanted more from him. Both Doctors had in the past unintentionally let slip a small glimpse that they cared more for her than they should, but neither had backed it up with any other act of tangible proof. She'd teased him about Jack hoping it might elicit a response from him, but apart from that small loss of composure for a few seconds he'd closed his emotions off again. Rose loved the Doctor with her whole heart and she wanted to continue to travel with him forever. There was no way she would break up such a beautiful friendship even though her dreams were plagued with very good reasons to do so.
Oh, there were so many things she wanted to do with him and do to him. She closed her eyes sinking back further into the bed, picturing one of her favourite intimate fantasies of herself and her Doctor. A burning heat washed over her as she pictured their naked bodies entwined in an ever lasting rite of passion: deep slow kisses, hands touching, caressing and whispers of love raced through her mind. Rose was touching her body with her own hands desperately wishing they belonged to the Doctor. Pleasure coursed through her and she started to move her hands lower seeking a release from this madness yet at the same time wanting the wild fantasy to continue. Then a knocking at her door rudely shattered her dreams. It was the Doctor come to tell her they had landed.
"Bollocks," sighed Rose as she got up and made her way back to the console room.
"So, Doctor, where are we?" she asked.
"We're on the planet of Clonexdualis II, populated by a cloned human race. They recently gained independence from their former masters and now for the first time they are living free. Can't understand why they would be sending a distress signal though. Everything seems okay out there," he said, looking at the view monitor on the TARDIS console. "No Blitz' occurring," he reassured her, remembering her concerned question from earlier.
Suddenly excitement filled his eyes. He grabbed her hand. "C'mon, Rose, Allons-y!"
"Oh, I love it when you speak French," Rose laughed, recalling the line from The Addams Family, an old Earth TV Show.
The Doctor added that to the mental list of Rose's likes in his head before pulling her outside into the warm sunshine of the planet.
For a few moments Rose thought she was back on Earth. Apart from the warm sunshine, that she was already enjoying, she took in the azure blue cloudless sky, the trees, their leaves softly moving in the gentle breeze, and the green, green grass beneath their feet. She saw men and woman wearing colourful soft materials that seemed to both cool the wearer and protect from the suns rays. The people were walking around, conversing, mingling as normal except for two facts; firstly that every man was identical to the next, as were the features of each woman and secondly, that there were no children; no babies in prams, or exuberant demanding toddlers and no kids playing in the park nearby.
She was about to voice this observation to the Doctor when they were approached by a man in clothes that gave the instant impression that he had some position of authority. This proved to be the truth as he welcomed them and introduced himself as Lothello the appointed prefect of this planets council.
"Fantastic to meet you," said the Doctor. "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose Tyler. Now what's the problem?"
To their surprise Lothello placed a finger to his lips asking for quiet. "Please come inside and we can discuss this more privately."
He led them to a very ornate building that spoke volumes about its uses. "I hate politics," said the Doctor. "I hope it's not going to be about solving water rights, leadership power plays or other planetary problems. I don't do domestic." He'd had enough of councils back on Gallifrey. As soon as that thought passed through his mind he was instantly sorry, remembering that there was no Gallifrey anymore.
His self absorption was broken a minute later as Lothello regaled him with a short history of Clonexdualis II. The prefect led them through the decorated halls to a room that was round in shape. It was not hard to guess that this was the council assembly room. There was a dais in the middle with what looked similar to a Speakers Chair on it. On the floor surrounding the dais were seats in two different colours perhaps representing opposing council factions. A bell sounded and one by one the vacant seats were filled by other members of the council. The Doctor watched it all with a raised eyebrow. So much for private.
"What's goin' on, do you think, Doctor?" asked Rose.
"No idea," answered the Doctor, as he noticed that Lothello had risen to take up a position in front of the Speakers Chair, "But I think we are about to find out?"
"Doctor, we thank you for responding to our distress signal. You know our history. We were clones created to carry out only a few functions; soldiers for our masters, useful expendable bodies. That was until our recent independence. Since then and with the help of technology we have found ways to incorporate within ourselves the more everyday functions of the human species, including expanded freedom of thought and the day to day niceties of making small talk, and telling a joke. You have witnessed our gender differences as we now have men and women but as you saw there are no children… We wish to procreate but it is more than that. We wish to feel intimacy with a partner, feel emotion, learn what it is truly like to be human. This is the source of our distress, Doctor, the reason for our SOS."
"Don't look at me! I'm not human," interrupted the Doctor.
"Yes, but your lovely companion is," continued Lothello. "We now have the technology to gather emotional waves and use them in our reprogramming. This would allow us to experience sensations like love, happiness, pleasure; factors we have only ever heard of and never dreamed of feeling. We want to ensure that our population survives not by continued clinical scientific methods of cloning but by natural means: the birth of children in a loving family environment."
"And I still don't see what this has got to do with us," interrupted the Doctor again. He was starting to look more than just a little impatient. Of all the problems in the Universe they'd answered an SOS call for this?
Lothello spoke again, "And so I come to the point ..." He paused and spoke slowly and dramatically for maximum effect. "We want you, Doctor, and Miss Tyler, to demonstrate for us the art of what humans call love making."
"What?" said the Doctor caught off guard. "What?" he repeated and then promptly fainted.
The world was still spinning when he regained his senses but now he could hear a sweet familiar voice calling him back to the present. He groaned and opened his eyes. Rose was sitting next to him holding his hand, her eyes full of concern and a touch of panic.
He sat up and grunted, "What am I on the floor for?"
"Uh, you fainted, Doctor. Don't you remember?"
The Doctor frowned. Fainting, that was new. Someone must have given him a hell of a shock. He tried to recall what had happened and as the memory came back his eyes widened and his face turned pale. The prefect had asked him to make love to Rose so that the council could capture their emotional and intimate thought waves and pass them on to their people in order to enhance their genetic makeup.
"Are you okay, Doctor?" asked Rose, her voice again full of concern.
He didn't answer her at first. His mind was consumed by sudden images that came unbidden because of this strange council request.
"Doctor?" Rose called to him again.
This time he answered, "Yeah, I'm all right. I'm always all right, remember?"
He took her offered hand and stood back up again to face Lothello who was still hovering across the room. All the other council members had disappeared.
"Good plan, very ingenious, original and all that but...ARE YOU NUTS! You have no idea of what you are asking, the factors that are involved."
"Then explain, please, Doctor," said Lothello.
The Doctor looked floored for a moment. "I don't think, I mean, um, Rose, some help, please," he said, looking very flustered.
Rose couldn't help the stifled giggle that passed her lips before responding, "Oh, no, you're the Doctor, remember?"
"Doctor?" questioned Lothello.
"Right, um, well, lots of things but most importantly there has to be an attraction between the two people concerned and Rose and I do not have that." He knew he was lying through his teeth. "We are just friends, aren't we, Rose?" He looked straight into her eyes.
Rose's brain went to mush. What was he asking her? Did he want her to confirm or deny that? She sensed a hidden question in there. Did she damn herself whichever way she answered? Her long pause did not go unnoticed.
Finally she spoke. "Uh...yeah Doctor. We are just friends, really good close friends," she managed to stress, cursing herself for not having the guts to tell him the truth. Then a small hopeful idea came to mind.
The Doctor had turned away and was about to approach Lothello again when Rose interrupted him.
"Um... Doctor?" she said a little shyly, "I guess we could show them what hugging and a kiss on the cheek is like. I mean you and I do that all the time. Yeah?" Oh, well, if she was going to embarrass herself then do it right.
'Oh, God,' thought the Doctor. What was she doing? What madness had possessed her to suggest this? Was it possible that she felt something for him too? It was an innocent enough request. After all, she was right. They did kiss each other on the cheek all the time but with the other insane thoughts already floating through his brain, ignited by Lothello's initial request, he wasn't sure he could keep this light and innocent. Here was an opportunity, one he could easily use to his advantage: make love and help create a planets population. No one could blame him for doing the wrong thing there. He looked at Rose. He knew she trusted him, would do whatever he wanted. She would follow him in this madness if he asked it of her but it was that same trust that held him back. Oh, how he wanted her, but not like this, not using her just to satisfy an itch and call it progress. So he made a decision and denied his heart again. One chaste kiss on the cheek would suffice and at least he could touch her with a hug.
As his silence continued Rose's heart sank. She had reached out to try and test the waters. She was no exhibitionist but there was no harm in one kiss if she could manage to plant one on his mouth. Bugger the cheek. Smiling inwardly, she wondered what would happen if she'd said, 'Yes, let's help them Doctor. Let's show them how to be happy. Let's show them what passion, desire and love are all about.' Her nerves had got the better of her, however, so she stopped thinking and peered up at him awaiting his answer.
Finally the Doctor appeared to make up his mind. He smiled then addressed the prefect. "Lothello, it's impossible to do what you want but Rose and I have agreed to demonstrate a small token of affection that you may be able to work with."
"Oh," said Lothello, looking a little disappointed but prepared to take what he could get from them. "Right, well, I will set the machines in motion."
As he disappeared, Rose could hear the Doctor singing and knew he was trying to keep the atmosphere care free and relaxed.
"It's time to start the music,
It's time to light the lights ..."
Seeing Rose's amused look, he said, "Hey, I like the Muppets, all right."
"So who's your favourite character, Doctor?" said Rose, "Fozzy Bear?" but before he could reply, Lothello had re-entered the room to say that all was ready.
The Doctor beckoned to Rose. "Come and give me a hug, you cheeky minx!"
Rose didn't need to be asked twice. She reached him in two seconds and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him with her whole body and might.
"Whoah, Rose, need to breathe, okay?" said the Doctor.
Rose lessened her grip on him and they both relaxed into the circle of each others arms. They held tight for a few minutes before the Doctor lowered his head to give the promised kiss. At the same time Rose made an identical movement upwards and somehow they joined in the middle, lips meeting in a kiss that was no longer destined to be innocent.