Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own.
A/N: Hello! This is the first out of eleven chapters, all of which will be one-shots, but kind of tied together. It is based off of the song "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" by Elton John. This was inspired by the video "The Doctor & Rose - Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" by kimori1024, an amazing vid that you should definitely check out. Anyways, on with the story!
"There's a calm surrender to the rush of day
When the heat of a rolling wind can be turned away"
"Floating crystals, waterfalls of silver, and sapphire trees my arse," Rose Tyler muttered as she ran quickly down the corridor, trying to keep her balance as the earth trembled beneath her feet. "Sometimes I swear that man is allergic to peace and quiet. We could have come here any day in all of time, but of course we just had to show up on the day some lunatic decided it was a good idea to mess with the core of their sun." Slamming open the last door, Rose skidded to a halt, chest heaving, beside the man responsible for their current whereabouts.
"Everyone's in the shelter," she said, running a hand through her hair and trying to slow her heart rate. "Governor Kjin has Mr. Let's-Play-With-The-Sun's-Core-And-See-How-That-Turns-Out in custody and I swear, Doctor, I'm going to slap him."
"What's Governor Kjin ever done to you, aye?" the Doctor protested, still managing to give her a reprimanding glance even as he flopped down on his back and wiggled under a large, dusty piece of what looked like technological equipment.
"Not Governor Kjin, you dolt, the mad scientist who is responsible for all this," Rose replied, rolling her eyes and gesturing at the view the window provided them of the crackling, seething star hanging in the sky, a star that, according to the Doctor, was about two minutes away from sending out a solar blast that would fry the entire planet. "And now, I don't mean to nag, Doctor, but do you have any idea how to stop this place from becoming a giant piece of charcoal?"
"The Shields of Portega!" the Doctor exclaimed, shimmying out from under the no longer lifeless hunk of plastic and leaping to his feet, a giant grin stretched across his face.
"The shields of who?" Rose asked, stepping forward so that she could stand beside him, inspecting the console he had just brought to life.
"Portega," he explained as he began to flip switches on the control panel "was a brilliant scientist who lived on this planet hundreds of years ago. This planet has always been at risk of being burned by solar flares since it's so close to the sun. Portega, clever guy that he is, figured out a way to create a shield that would cover the entire planet."
"Wow," Rose interrupted, impressed. "How does it work?"
"Well, as I was going to say," the Doctor replied, giving Rose one of his looks before continuing, "Portega figured out how to use psychic power to sort of harden the planet's outermost atmospheric layer, creating a shield that would be strong enough to repel the solar flares and save the planet. It's all very technical, but that's the general gist of it."
"Damn, that guy sounds pretty brilliant," Rose said, grinning to herself when the Doctor made a huffing noise and started fussing with the wires coming out the back of the control panel in front of them. "So, how do they, you know, switch on, or whatever?"
"Well," the Doctor said, "originally there were whole schools that were dedicated to teaching people how to operate the shields. But eventually the people of this planet grew complacent and stopped believing they needed the shields. Portega intended them to be wielded by multiple people all across the world, all focusing on one goal: saving the planet they loved. But I should be able to override the safeties and patch myself right into the mainframe, which will give me control of the entire shield."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Rose asked, concerned. The Doctor was notorious for diving head first into the shallow end of the pool and Rose didn't want this to be the day that he would break his fool head.
"Oh yes," he replied cheerily, turning and grinning that grin at her, the grin that had convinced her to leave behind everything she had ever known and runaway with him. "That's why you'll need this." With that he shoved a piece of paper into her hand.
"What's this?" Rose asked, unfolding it and seeing a jumble of letters and numbers.
"That is the coordinates to take you home, not five minutes after you left last," the Doctor said, diving back into the mass of wires, sonic screwdriver in hand. "Just punch them in and the TARDIS will take you home, safe and sound."
"Now wait just one second, you," Rose demanded, grabbing him by the back of his jacket and hauling him upright. "If you think I'm just going to fly off and leave you here, you're even thicker than I thought."
"Rose," the Doctor said, for once not rising to the bait as he took both her hands in his and looked at her, a small smile crooking the corner of his lips. "My brilliant, brilliant Rose. I'm not asking you to leave, not yet. But there is a very good possibility that this will fry my brain, kaput, no more, goodnight. And if that happens I want to know that you can get home." Rose looked up at the Doctor, her Doctor, and saw that rare tenderness in his brilliant blue eyes. She glared at him and poked him in the chest.
"Don't you die on me, Doctor," she said fiercely, ignoring his squeal of protest. "You die on me and swear to the heavens, I will kill you."
"Rose –" the Doctor began, but Rose stopped him with a hand over his mouth.
"No," she said, shoving the paper back into his pocket roughly. "We either leave together or we die together. No 'but's. Now, do your genius thing and get us out of here." The Doctor looked like he was about to protest, but the steel in his companion's brown eyes made him realize it would be futile. So instead he smiled wide and turned back around to finish hacking into the mainframe.
"Ah-ha!" he exclaimed a few minutes later. "Got it!" Rose, who had been standing by the window watching the sun writhe in the sky, quickly walked over to him.
"Are you sure you can do this?" she asked worriedly as he tucked the sonic screwdriver away and pushed up his sleeve.
"Rose, you wound me," the Doctor replied, grinning at her.
"Just, no dying, yeah?" Rose said, hovering anxiously, fighting the urge to grab his hand pull him away. He looked at her knowingly, winked, and then shoved his hand into the green glow of the exposed mainframe.
Immediately he felt the system grab his conscious mind, pulling him deep into the machinery that laced every inch of the planet. He could feel the system's alarm, for it knew what was going on. It was there, waiting, like a horse at the gate of a racetrack, needing something to set it free.
Go, the Doctor thought, letting the system breech his mental walls and dive deep into his mind. Latching onto him, the Shields of Portega soared outwards, sending the signal to the atoms in the outer-atmosphere. The Doctor fed them, giving them the commands they needed.
He thought of the star, convulsing in pain, trying to throw out the unnatural material the "mad scientist" had added to its core. He could almost hear it screaming, trying to protect its only planet-child, but the pain was too much to bear. He felt when the first wave was expelled, rushing towards him.
The wave hit the shield, causing it to bow inwards under the weight. The Doctor gasped at the ferocity of the solar flare, trying to hold the shields in place, focusing hard on the pain he felt for the star, sending that powerful emotion to the system, feeding its strength.
The shields held. Slowly the wave washed over the top of the planet, soaring off into empty space. The system relaxed, but the Doctor knew it wasn't the end. He could feel the sun gearing up for another expulsion.
More, the system said, reading his thoughts. We need more or we will not be able to hold. The Doctor cast about, searching for another emotion strong enough to hold the power of a star at bay. His thoughts landed on the mad scientist who had started all this. He allowed the anger he had been feeling all day to well up and spill over, feeding it into the mainframe. He gave the system all his frustration and righteous wrath, willing the shield to hold.
The second wave hit. The Doctor felt the heat of it stabbing into his chest, beating against his raw mind. He screamed in agony, then gave that to the system as well. But the shields weren't holding. He could feel them buckling inwards, tearing apart under the fury of the sun. Frantically the Doctor searched his memories for something, anything. He gave his anger over the Time War and his hate of the Daleks, but still the system could not hold. He was burning, burning under the rays of the sun and his own failure.
Then he was bathed in coolness. The pressure was lifted off him and the smell of wildflowers danced by. The Doctor sighed, grateful for the temporary reprieve. Then he recognized the scent of his rescuer.
Rose! He thought in panic. He could feel her now, feel her plugging into the system and letting the shields draw on her instead of him.
What do you need? He heard her ask, but knew she was not talking to him. He didn't hear the system's reply, but suddenly he was surrounded by images not his own.
He saw the smiling orange face of a local child as she ran by, laughing and streaming ribbons behind her. He saw the towering golden trees of the Bohon jungle standing just below the city limits. He heard the murmur of the locals as they milled around in the marketplace, haggling good-naturedly for fruits and bread. He smelled the sharp, tangy flowers that grew at random throughout the city, felt the comforting warmth of the sun on his skin.
These were Rose's memories, her memories of the city they had walked through this morning. They were colored with such fascination, such wonder and love that the Doctor felt his hearts warm. Rose took everything she had seen on this planet, every brilliant, amazing detail, and poured it into the system. She gave the Shields of Portega the love she held for this planet whose name she didn't even know, whose people she had barely met, and they blazed.
The shields fused together, pushing back the blast of heat and radiation with ease, standing strong as the cliff before the pounding sea. Rose, a simple shop girl from Earth, stood before the rage and pain of an entire star, and all she felt was compassion.
Come on, Doctor, she said as the second wave faded away. Don't stand there like a lump, come help me. The Doctor could hear the smile in her mental voice and he smiled back, rallying himself.
He looked deep into his mind, trying to find something warm, something good that he could give the system. He had seen many wonders in his nine hundred years, but all of the memories were tinged with the sadness of knowing that he was the last of his kind to ever see them again. So he dug deeper, down to the early days, back when his family was alive and he and his brothers would run around the estate, laughing and having grand adventures before going home to their parents' loving arms. But all he found was guilt and sorrow and rage. He couldn't even see their faces anymore.
Doctor, here comes the next one, Rose warned, bracing herself as the wave hits. The Doctor can feel her sifting through her memories. Suddenly he sees Jackie pushing a young Rose on the swings, Jackie and Rose sitting together curled up on the couch with popcorn watching crap telly, Rose and Mickey walking together and laughing… The memories go on and on, all edged with a sweet contentment.
'I've taken that all away from her', the Doctor realizes as he watches the best of Rose's life play out before him. 'I swooped down and snatched her up, dazzling her with tales of far off places. I took her away from all that peace and safety and brought her here, to a planet on the brink of destruction. She's going to die, and it's all because of me.'
The third wave hit. The Doctor felt Rose stagger a bit as the shields bent slightly inwards. He tried to help her, but all he could feel was guilt and sadness and anger at himself for being a selfish old man and taking this beautiful young woman away from the life she loved. Stupid, arrogant, selfish, cruel –
Suddenly the emotions coming from Rose changed. They took on a sharper, hotter edge, like the heat from comforting fireplace that is almost this side of too hot, but you can't bring yourself to move away. The Doctor was flooded with new images, though now he recognized them.
Him, looking out of the TARDIS the first night he asked her to travel with him; him, grabbing her hand and telling her to run; them, walking the streets of Victorian Cardiff together; him, looking at her across the table in Downing Street as they battle the Slitheen… The images keep coming, all from different times and different places, but the emotions attached to them remained the same: wonder, amazement, affection, joy, passion, adrenaline, love… Rose looked directly at him and poured everything they had ever experienced, the good and the bad, into the system. The shields flared and pulsed, shoving the solar wave back, crackling with energy as they held the fury of the sun at bay with ease.
Another one's coming, Doctor, Rose said, her voice full of certainty and conviction. This one's the big one and I need you if we're going to save this planet. The Doctor nodded and held out a psychic hand, which Rose reached out and grasped tightly. Bracing himself, the Doctor knew exactly what he needed to give the system. Breathing deep, he let himself remember.
Rose, standing against the wall of an empty cellar as mannequins ran wild; Rose, framed by the light of her dying planet; Rose, looking absolutely beautiful in the Victorian dress as she stood in the TARDIS; Rose, standing strong between him and his sworn enemy, who in a way she had saved; Rose, grinning in his arms as they danced around the control room… Every memory he had of her was tinged with joy, laughter, and a little bit of disbelief that this wonderful creature still wanted to travel with him. She was his rock, his constant, the person he trusted more than anyone in the universe.
He took all of his affection for this silly, hairless ape and gave it to the system. He could feel Rose right there with him, pouring more memories of their travels together into the shields, the little things that he never knew meant so much to her, like the sight of him making them both a cup of tea in the morning, or the sound of his voice as he talked about what he was fixing on the TARDIS. He matched her, giving the system the sight of her in her flannel pajama bottoms with her hair all mussed as she sat at the table for breakfast, and the way she sang in the shower, and the little frown of concentration she always had when she was reading.
The Shields of Portega exploded outwards, catching the fourth and final solar tsunami and flinging it out into the cosmos like a child throws a ping pong ball. The sun sighed and settled, content and stable once more. They were thrown out of the system matrix as the shields dissipated, shutting down until they were needed again.
Rose and the Doctor collapsed on the floor together, both gasping for breath. The Doctor blinked, trying to get used to the sensation of having a corporeal body again while Rose let out a breathless laugh and tried to sit up.
"Easy there," the Doctor said, catching her as she slumped back down and pulling her towards him so her head was resting on his chest. "Out of body experiences can leave you kind of loopy. Best just lay here for a bit until the dizziness fades."
"Whatever you say, Doctor," Rose replied rather weakly, curling her body up next to his and burying her face in his chest. The Doctor smiled, stroking her soft, golden hair, and listened to the city begin to cheer.
A/N: And there it is, the first installment! I hope you all enjoyed it, please stay tuned to the next one, which will involve Rose and the Doctor doing touristy things, Rose enthralling the natives, and the Doctor dancing! Cheers, and pleases review if you feel so inclined (it would make an author very happy)!