Transitioning to life on the slow path was difficult, to say the least. Going from the whole wide universe, with new people and new experiences and new wonders at every turn, to plain old Earth, in one time stream with boring old humans was quite a blow, even if the Doctor knew exactly what he'd signed up for.
Despite Jackie's protestations and Rose's suggestions that they stay at the Tyler manor for a few days, the Doctor moved into Rose's flat the moment they got back from Norway.
("Why, don't you want me to live with you?" he'd asked, terrified she was regretting her decision, terrified she was regretting him.)
But she was quick to assure him that she most definitely wanted him, and off to the flat they went. It was decidedly not bigger on the inside, and before long, the Doctor was getting restless.
"Why don't you come work for Torchwood?" Rose suggested one night as they lay in bed together. She had come home to find most of her appliances disassembled and a definitive scorch mark on the ceiling of her kitchen. She wanted to be angry, but he looked so contrite, and he apologized to her several times (very thoroughly) that she wasn't able to stay angry for long. After all, tinkering was just what he did and she loved every piece of him, no matter how infuriating it might be.
He thought about it for a few days before accepting the offer.
Rose's office became his office too, and he spent most of his days tinkering with and assembling and disassembling various artifacts that Torchwood had yet to identify or classify. Within his first two months of working in the archives, he had cataloged nearly a quarter of the unknown tech Torchwood had lying around, and was simultaneously working with the R&D department to upgrade the current tech the agents were working with.
And, though he wasn't technically cleared for field work, he often went along whenever Rose was called out to investigate suspicious circumstances.
The Doctor would never admit it to Rose, because he knew she would be furious if he ever suggested she was anything less than a capable agent, but he got nervous whenever Rose left him behind. He worried that she would run into real trouble and that she wouldn't come back home to him one night. He couldn't bear the thought that she could be taken away from him when they'd only just found each other again.
Rose didn't protest, though. She knew he meant well, and to be honest, it felt like old times again when he stood alongside her and confronted an alien race.
So when they got a call-out about a rogue band of Braligzians hiding out around an abandoned farmhouse, Rose let him know where she was headed and for what purpose, and she held the door for him as he sprung up from whatever alien tech he had been busying himself with.
They'd dealt with Braligzians before. They were a peaceful lot and typically only ended up on Earth by accident when their ships were drawn to the Earth's oceans. So Rose didn't understand the stormy look on the Doctor's face and the tense set of his shoulders as he swiftly ran ahead of Rose to the Torchwood vehicles.
The Doctor and Rose piled into the back of the car while Jake took the driver's seat. The Doctor was stiff and silent for the entire thirty-minute drive to the farmhouse. Rose slipped her hand in his and stroked his thumb soothingly to try and get him to relax, and she chattered inanely about what she fancied for dinner.
"Do you even know what you're walking into?" he finally exploded after she mused about a shopping trip this coming weekend to replace some of her kitchen appliances.
She flinched at his harsh tone, before setting her jaw and saying, "Yes, I do. We've dealt with them loads of times!"
The Doctor blanched for a moment.
"Then you were lucky to have gotten out safely!" he seethed. "Braligzians are volatile and dangerous and unpredictable! I want you to stay in the car while I neutralize them."
"Not bloody likely!" Rose retorted. "Doctor, they're fine! Jake and I have met with them before, and they're not as dangerous as you say they are! Maybe they were back home, but in this universe, all they're after is a way to get back home!"
"Oh, and if it's all a ruse?" he countered. "If they're playing on your sympathies until they've gotten your trust? They're manipulative, Rose!"
"You would know," she muttered under her breath, and the Doctor fell silent.
She inwardly cringed, and was about to apologize, when the car suddenly stopped.
"Let's go," he said shortly, hopping out of the car with his newly-built sonic screwdriver in hand.
Rose rubbed at the tension headache forming behind her eyes for just a moment before she walked around to the back of the car to help Jake with the equipment they might need. She cast a glance at their stun guns, but ignored them in favor of grabbing the translator, which the Doctor was slowly upgrading and modifying. She slammed the boot of the car and jogged after the Doctor before he did something rash.
"Looks like they're over here," Jake said as his bioscanner bleeped.
Rose walked in the direction Jake pointed, and she saw the Doctor running towards her out of the corner of her eye.
"I can handle this, Doctor," she said through gritted teeth.
"Course you can," he muttered.
"In case you've forgotten, I'm the senior field agent here, and the only reason you're here is because I'm allowing it. So unless you want this privilege revoked, I suggest you learn to follow orders."
He was glaring at her, and she glared back. He finally huffed out a breath and gave a short nod as he fell back and allowed her to take the lead.
"Good, now that that's settled."
She turned back around and cautiously entered the abandoned building.
"Hello?" Rose called out. "Anyone here? I'm here to help. Hello?"
Rose felt the Doctor inching closer and closer to her, until she could feel the heat of him beside her. She could feel the tension radiating off of him, and she swallowed the snide comment she'd been about to make. He was honestly and truly anxious; it would be cruel of her to make light of that. She tried to keep that in mind as she took in a deep breath and continued to scan the barn.
A loud clatter made her jump, and she saw a Braligzian creeping towards her, followed by three smaller ones. The Braligzian was a large and bipedal creature. It looked a little like a human in the two arms, two legs, and the nose and chin on the face. But the face was sharp and angular, and the skin was pale and brittle-looking, bordering scaly. Rose knew that was an unhealthy skin texture; Bralizgians were amphibians. They spent most of their time in the waters of their planet, only coming onto land to hunt, birth their young, and to play when they got too bored of their underwater homes. While the water on Earth helped keep them alive whenever they happened to crash-land here, it didn't have the proper pH, salt, or nutrient supplies to keep them healthy.
Rose felt a twinge of sympathy as she looked at the three young Braligzians. They looked terrified and miserable, and their skin was so dried out it was beginning to crack. The Braligzian adult was crouched slightly in a defensive pose with its hands outstretched, and Rose could see the retractable claws extending the longer they stood there.
This particular Braligzian was a female, Rose knew, because it was a bit bigger than the ones she had seen before, and because the males didn't have the claws on the backs of their hands.
"Hello, there. My name's Rose," she said softly, angling her body in front of the Doctor's. This was a female Braligzian with her three children. She was scared and on-edge already, prepared to defend her children if she perceived a threat, and any sudden movements or displays of anger might set her off.
"Can I help you? What's your name?"
The Braligzian looked at Rose for a long moment, and then to the Doctor, and then to Jake, before finally to the translator in Rose's hand. The basic design of the translator was to take the soundwaves of speech and convert them into the programed language of interest.
"Ligzi," the female finally said. "Our ship crashed in the puddle of water. My children are scared and hungry and sick. We need to go home."
"All right," Rose said calmly. "Is your ship still in the pond? I've got a friend here that can help patch it up."
Rose glanced behind her at the Doctor, and gestured to him. He was still tense and wary-looking, and he was creeping closer to Rose. Ligzi noticed, and she drew herself up taller and the spikes on the backs of her hands pulled out further.
"Calm down, Doctor," Rose hissed, but he wasn't listening.
He took another step closer to Rose until he was directly beside her. Ligzi growled out a warning and took a step away from her children.
"Let's everyone calm down," Rose said, trying to keep her voice even. The Doctor was now angled in front of her, and she worried that the Braligzian would lash out at him in fear. "We're all okay, right? Everything is okay."
"I like you," Ligzi said to Rose. "I do not like your male."
"Tell me about it," Rose mumbled, yanking on the Doctor's wrist to get him to stand down. Female Braligzian were wary about any male, even of their own species, but coupled with the fact that her children were nearby, she wouldn't take any chances with their safety. "Doctor, it's okay. Why don't you go find their ship and fix it up?"
"I do not like your male," Ligzi said again, puffing her chest and showing her teeth. "I would like for him to leave. Him and the other male. I like you, Rose. I do not like your male."
"Doctor, leave," Rose pleaded.
"I'm not leaving you here alone," he growled. "It's a trick. She won't let you leave. Braligzians are carnivores. See any fresh meat anywhere else? Once I go, you're as good as dead."
His voice cracked and he was trembling slightly as he looked down at her with pleading eyes.
"I do not like your male," Ligzi hissed a third time.
"Tough," the Doctor retorted, glaring at Ligzi. "I'm not leaving her."
"He's just trying to help," Rose told Ligzi, placating. "He's my mate, and he cares very much for me. Just as I care very much about him. He's very important to me, Ligzi, please don't hurt him. And please, Doctor, please just trust me. They just want to go home. That's all they want. They're scared and they just want to go home. You can understand that, can't you? Please, trust me."
Rose stroked her fingers down his cheek as she looked him in the eye. She could see him wavering, warring with himself and his instinct to keep her safe and yet to trust what she was telling him. She saw the moment he relented. His eyes fluttered shut and he leaned into her palm.
"Thank you," she told him sincerely, brushing her thumb across his lips.
He sighed and tentatively stepped back, allowing Rose to take the lead.
Suddenly, a deafening bang echoed through the air as a nearby car backfired. Ligzi roared loudly and her kids scattered.
"No, wait, it's okay," Rose pleaded, resisting as the Doctor tried to yank her out of the path of the furious Braligzian. "It's okay. That wasn't us. We just want to help."
"Rose, move!"
Ligzi turned towards them, with her eyes focused on the Doctor and on the sonic screwdriver he had in his hand.
"No! Ligzi, please!"
Rose shoved him out of the way, but was a bit slow herself and felt the solid weight of Ligzi's hand connecting with her cheek with the talon-less side of her hand. Rose's teeth rattled and she saw stars as she stumbled to the side, barely catching herself before she fell over. She could hear the Doctor's angry, frantic voice, coupled with Jake's, coupled with Ligzi's.
The Doctor rushed over to her side, holding his hands towards her slightly. His fingers trembled as they hovered over the side of her face that was hot and throbbing. His face was pale and his eyes were wild as he waved the sonic around her.
"Rose, are you all right? Oh, God. Please. I'm so sorry. Oh, God."
She knocked the sonic out of her face.
"Get out," she told him coldly, glaring at him with as much heat as she could muster. "Jake, get him out. Go find the ship, and fix it. But get him the hell out of here before he mucks anything else up."
He recoiled and Rose saw the flash of hurt cross his face. His mouth moved wordlessly, before he snapped his jaw shut with a click and swallowed thickly. He turned on his heel and walked out of the barn.
Rose pushed back the guilt. She'd apologize later.
"I am sorry, Rose," Ligzi said, looking distressed. "I am sorry."
"S'okay," Rose said, bringing her fingertips up to touch the tender skin of her cheek. It felt puffy and was sore to the touch. "You didn't mean it. It was his bloody fault anyways, riling you up like that."
"What was that noise?" Ligzi asked, looking around nervously with her claws still extended.
"A car," Rose said. "It was just a car. A vehicle. A transporter for humans. They sometimes make that noise when they're broken."
Ligzi deflated somewhat, and her claws retracted back into her hands
"I am very sorry," she said quietly.
"S'okay," Rose said gently. "Now, let's see what we can do to help."
oOoOo
It only took the Doctor and Jake an hour to fix Ligzi's ship. The Braligzian thanked them all profusely before leading her children inside and flying away. Rose looked on happily, but when she caught sight of the Doctor's pinched expression, her mood darkened.
If he had just bloody listened to her and left when she first told him to, she wouldn't now be sporting a bruise that covered half her face and a headache that made her want to sleep for days.
It wasn't his fault, a little voice in the back of her head whispered, but she quickly silenced it. She was too angry and in pain to be rational.
"Let's go," she said shortly when she saw him open his mouth to speak.
She turned and walked back to the car without another word or a glance in his direction, and didn't stop until she settled herself into the passenger's seat. Jake climbed into the driver's seat, and a silent and subdued Doctor sat in the back by himself.
As Jake put the car in gear, the Doctor started rummaging through their equipment. Rose's head was throbbing, and she felt so bloody irritable, that after only a few seconds, she snapped, "Will you knock it the hell off?"
The noise stopped, and he was silent.
"I found you an ice pack," he said softly after a minute. "For your cheek."
Rose turned her head and cracked an eye open, and she saw him with the proffered ice pack. He looked miserable.
Good. It's his bloody fault.
Rose sighed. It really wasn't. It was that bloody car backfiring. She knew that. She logically knew, but her face hurt and her head hurt, and right now he was an available target for her anger, and he was taking it in silence. And didn't that make her feel even more miserable.
"Thanks," she said, taking it from him and gingerly holding it to her cheek.
The drive passed in a heavy, awkward silence.
But rather than drive to Torchwood, Jake drove them to their flat, telling them to take the rest of the day, and he would file the preliminary paperwork.
Rose didn't complain. All she wanted was a long soak in the tub and then her bed.
"Can I get you anything?" the Doctor asked hesitantly when he latched the door behind him. "Maybe that risotto you were talking about earlier? I think I've got all the ingredients…"
"No," Rose said, knowing she would end up saying something she regretted if she stayed near him any longer. "I'm having a bath, and then am going to bed."
She saw his face fall before he composed it into a mask once more and turned around towards the living room.
Rose sighed. She knew she was being unreasonable, but dammit, her face hurt. She would apologize tomorrow, and hoped he would understand.
oOoOo
Rose didn't go to bed after her bath, though. She was still too wound up from the day's events to sleep, and her cheek and jaw were aching, despite the aspirin she'd taken. She instead typed up her own preliminary report of the incident and submitted it before she grabbed a book, settled under the covers, and started to read.
As she read, she thought back to the hellish day. It really wasn't the Doctor's fault. It really wasn't, and Rose knew she ought to go and tell him that before he convinced himself that it was.
Despite his reluctance to leave, he didn't do anything wrong. She tried to put herself in his shoes, and if he had told her to leave him alone with an aggressive-looking alien, she would have told him to piss off, that she was staying with him.
She groaned in frustration.
She couldn't exactly fault him for not wanting to leave her. He had always been protective of her, ever since he was her first Doctor, but being human together exacerbated it. He'd even told her during one of their post-coital snuggles that the thing he was most scared about in this life was losing her too soon.
She couldn't be angry with him, because she had those same fears.
And yet she had been. She'd been a right cow.
She groaned again.
"Rose?"
There was a soft tapping on the door before it cracked open.
"Are you all right?" he asked timidly. "It's just…I heard noises. Wanted to make sure you were okay. See if you needed something."
He was still standing in the hallway, with just his head and shoulders poked into the room. He looked so nervous and unsure of himself, and his eyes were trained on her cheek as his lips pursed into a thin line.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said softly, wanting to ask him to come have a cuddle, but knowing she had no right to ask that.
He sniffed sharply and nodded.
"Right. Good. Oh!" he exclaimed, hurriedly rummaging through his pockets. He retrieved his sonic and tapped it against his palm. "I added a few settings. One of them is to reattach burst blood vessels. So I could fix that bruise for you. If you want?"
He was bouncing nervously on his toes as he wriggled his sonic between his thumb and forefinger.
"Okay, yeah. Please," Rose said, inviting him in.
He quickly walked over to her side of the bed and gently cradled in his palm the side of her jaw that was unbruised. His hand was so warm and soft, and his thumb began to slowly stroke at her cheek. She nuzzled into his palm and tilted her head back so he could work.
He stared intently at her bruised cheek and aimed the sonic at it. The skin began to feel hot and tingly, and she sighed in relief as the throbbing abated, and then gasped when his lips brushed over her newly-healed cheek.
"Perfect," he whispered, and he withdrew his hand and lips from her face.
"Right," he said abruptly, sticking his sonic in his pocket and shoving his fists into them. "Okay. Get some rest. I lo – I'll, uh, I'll be on the couch if you need me. Night."
He just about ran to the door and awkwardly fumbled with it as he tried to close it behind him.
"Wait," Rose called.
He stilled, and looked at her with those aching eyes, and her heart broke. He'd had a bad day too. She couldn't imagine what was going through his mind when Ligzi rushed towards them. Probably the same thing that was going through her mind: to protect him and keep him safe.
"C'mere," she whispered, holding out her hand.
He looked hesitantly towards her extended hand, and then to the open space beside her on his half of the bed, and he slowly walked into the room. He was still dressed head-to-toe in his suit, despite being within the privacy of their home, where he usually wore more comfy clothes and fewer layers.
"C'mon, get into your jimjams and get over here," she said lightly.
The Doctor looked confused for a moment, but he did as she said, stripping down to his pants and undershirt. He didn't slide into bed beside her, though. He hesitated by the foot of the bed, casting quick glances to his side of the bed, then to the door, then to her. It would've been comical if he didn't look so wrecked and uncomfortable.
She took pity and gave him a hint.
"Can I have a cuddle?"
He blinked soundlessly at her before he tentatively crawled under the covers beside her, propping himself up onto the pillows to mirror her position.
"I'm sorry, Doctor," she said, scooting closer until her thigh pressed against his. She rested her cheek against his shoulder and she rested her hand on his bare thigh, stroking his skin softly with her thumb.
"I should be the one saying that," he mumbled, hesitantly nuzzling her hair with his nose. "I'm so sorry, Rose. I am so very sorry."
"Hey, it's not your fault," she soothed, hearing the tremor in his voice. "I'm sorry I was so awful earlier. You didn't deserve that."
"S'okay," he whispered into her hair. "It was my fault. It's my fault you got hurt. I'm so sorry."
"Stop that," she said firmly, pulling back to look him in the eye. "It was an accident. If that car hadn't backfired, everything would've turned out fine. It was just an accident."
"You got hurt."
He trailed his fingers lightly over the skin of her cheek that had been so swollen and bruised just a few minutes ago. His face twisted into a pained grimace before he leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead.
"You got hurt," he whimpered, wrapping his arms around her waist and clinging desperately to her. "You were hurt, and it's my fault. I should've left when you told me to. I should've trusted you. I should've protected you. I should've been the one that was hit. She was aiming for me."
The Doctor trembled in her arms, and when she heard his breath catch in his throat, she maneuvered herself into his lap until she was straddling his thighs, and she tucked his head under her chin. She held him tightly and rocked him as his breathing turned ragged.
"Doctor, in case you've forgotten, a car backfired," Rose said softly, stroking his hair. "That's what startled her. It wasn't you, Doctor. It wasn't your fault. Shh, it's okay. I'm okay."
"What if she'd hit you with her claws?" he cried miserably. "Or what if she'd used more force? You could've died, Rose! You could've died and left me alone! I don't want to be left alone anymore. I don't want you to die. Please, Rose, please don't die."
Rose's stomach twisted upon hearing his heartbreak. Today had really frightened him, and she'd been too busy being irrationally angry with him to try and help him through it.
"I'm not gonna die, Doctor," she soothed, holding him tighter. "Not for a good long while. Not getting rid of me that easy."
She rocked them soothingly for several minutes. She rubbed his back and pressed kisses to his hair and hummed tunelessly, trying to offer any comfort she could.
He finally pressed his lips to her neck and pulled back. His eyes were red and puffy, but he didn't look quite as distraught anymore, so Rose would take that as a win.
She cupped her palms around his cheeks and tilted his head down so she could brush her lips across his face. She trailed tiny little kisses across his forehead, down his cheek, across his chin, up the other cheek, and one on the tip of his nose.
Then, finally, she slotted her lips across his. He breathed out a sigh through his nose and returned the gentle pressure. Their mouths moved slowly and gracefully against each other's. There was no rush, and Rose took this moment to enjoy being with him.
She suckled at his bottom lip, shivering as he gasped and bunched his hands in the fabric of her shirt. She could feel the beginnings of his arousal pressing up into her knickers, and she rocked against him as she sucked and pulled and teased his lip. He groaned softly and slipped his hands under her shirt and began to explore.
His fingers traced random patterns across her skin as he mapped out every inch. He finally eased them out of the kiss long enough for him to push her shirt up and over her head, while she did the same for him. He whimpered as her bare breasts teased his chest hair, and he held her closer to get as much skin to skin contact as he could while he snagged her in for another kiss.
Their movements were unhurried as they explored each other as thoroughly as they could. She mapped out every inch of his mouth with her tongue as he snaked his hands under the waistband of her knickers to knead at her bum and pull her more tightly against him.
Their mouths met and parted wetly; soft sucking noises filling their bedroom, interjected occasionally with a sigh or moan. She played with locks of his hair as she scratched at his scalp. He teased her breasts and nipped at her neck, and when they finally couldn't stand the ache, they clumsily fumbled around each other to remove their pants.
They trembled and shuddered in each other's arms when he finally entered her, with her still in his lap. This was lovemaking in its truest form. Neither of them had ever felt so loved and so at peace. It was a heady feeling, and they desperately lost themselves in each other.
He panted against her neck as he helped her move on him in a rhythm they both liked. She rested her cheek in his hair and wrapped her arms around his shoulders for balance. It was achingly slow and tender, and they tried to stay in that moment for as long as they could, pressed tightly against each other in this intimate embrace.
The urgency finally took over, and they started moving faster, rocking their bodies against each other in a perfect rhythm with the perfect friction. They heat they'd let simmer erupted quickly and suddenly with a startling intensity. He gasped out her name as he found his release, and she whimpered into his shoulder as she found hers.
"I love you."
The Doctor kept his head buried in the crook of her neck as Rose nuzzled his hair.
Rose reluctantly moved away from him, and they simultaneously adjusted their positions until they were lying down beside each other beneath the sheets. Rose curled up on her side with her head pillowed on his chest with her hand resting on his ridge of his ribs. He twined his fingers though hers and brought them to his lips to plant a series of whisper-soft kisses to the back of her hand.
"Maybe we should go away for awhile?" she mused quietly when he rested their joined hands on his stomach once more. "Just you and me. No Torchwood, no tiny London flat, no Sunday tea with Mum. Just us, together, traveling. What do you think?"
He lifted his head to look at her.
"I can't take you away from your family like that," he said softly. "Or your job. You love working at Torchwood."
"I love you more," she said. "Torchwood will still be here when we get back. I think we just need a bit of time to ourselves. We haven't had much of that since we got here. Dad offered to let me take as much time as I wanted when we first got here. But I said no. I just wanted to pretend everything was normal again, and I wanted to keep busy. But now… I was really scared today."
The Doctor wrapped his arms around her shoulders and nuzzled her hair.
"I'm sorry," he whispered again.
"I was scared I might lose you," she admitted. "And when I saw her running for you… I couldn't just let her attack you."
"I was so afraid, Rose, and so angry when she hit you," the Doctor said. He closed his eyes against the memories. He could still see Rose's eye go wide just before Ligzi struck; he could hear that little whimper of an exhale as she pitched sideways; he could see the way her face went white and her eyes rolled in the back of her head, and he was sure she was about to collapse and start seizing. But she didn't; instead, she told him to leave her.
"I know," Rose said, pressing her lips to his chest. "Which is why I want to take a holiday. Just be together for a bit. We can travel anywhere we want. Well, anywhere on Earth. What do you think?"
He raised their joined hands once more to his lips. "Sounds perfect, love."
Rose sighed contentedly. She snuggled further into his embrace and smiled when he pressed his lips to her hand once more.