I'm alive! And without ado, I present a new story to you all! Yes, it's been done before. No, I don't care thaat much. Not enough to not write it anyways:) I want to thank my beta, SinkingintheAbyssofFeels, for all her help! This story wouldn't have been the same without her help, and patience with my less than timely responses to her feedback:)
Enjoy!
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"I love you," Rose choked out. She would never get to say it again, not to him. No longer would she wake from a nightmare to find him beside her, rubbing her back, whispering comforting words as she cried.
"Quite right too," her Doctor responded, a tear rolling down his cheek. "And I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it, Ro-"
Rose didn't hear the rest of his sentence. Desperate, she pressed the button on her universe hopper that she kept in her pocket, praying to an unknown deity to help her.
The smell of the sea was gone. Instead, Rose smelled the metallic scent of something so familiar she thought she'd gone insane. Opening her eyes, a hand's width away she saw the Doctor, who had a tear running down his cheek, and was whispering her name like a prayer. As though he'd just noticed her, the Doctor pulled her close, and Rose started to cry, relief, terror, and happiness fusing together all at once. She'd just lost her mother, father, Mickey, and her little sibling who she'd never meet at the same time as she'd gotten the Doctor back. As she stood there in the Doctor's arms, she sent a silent prayer of sorrow and thanks, for the fact that her family was happy and safe, even though she'd never see them again.
As though he could hear her thoughts, the Doctor rested his head atop of hers, whispering, "I've got you Rose. It's fine to cry. Cry as long as you like."
"WHERE THE HELL AM I?" There was someone else in the TARDIS.
The pair abruptly turned towards the newcomer, who was ginger, wearing a wedding dress, and looked angrier than Rose's mother when the Doctor had accidentally taken her daughter traveling for a year.
"What?" He looked baffled and like he'd just finished crying, neither of which was a good look for him.
"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.
"He's the Doctor, and I'm Rose," Rose responded, trying to keep the peace, seeing as the Doctor was staring like he'd just watched a Dalek show mercy. "Who are you?"
"Donna," she replied curtly. "How the hell did I get here? Are you kidnapping me?!"
"That's not physically possible!" The Doctor suddenly exclaimed. "We're in space! How did you get here?"
"I don't know! I was halfway up the aisle when you and your accomplice drugged me or something and took me here! I demand you take me back this instance!"
"I'm not his accomplice," Rose tried to patiently explain. "I'm his friend, and we don't know how you got here anymore then you do. At least, I don't. Doctor?"
Donna, who had taken advantage of the pair's distraction, rushed towards the door, nearly tripping over her dress.
"You don't want to-" Rose had noticed Donna too late, and was cut off as she opened the front door and stared.
"We're in space?" Donna yelped, as the two time travelers came to her side. "How the hell am I breathing?"
"The TARDIS protects us," the Doctor told her. "She extended the gravity field for you."
"This is a spaceship? I just got kidnapped by aliens?"
"I'm not an alien," Rose defended. "He is though."
"Really? You look human." Donna shot the Doctor a suspicious look.
"Trust me, he's alien," Rose smirked at him.
"Right, let's get back on topic! Why is Donna here in the first place?" The Doctor turned abruptly, the sooner Donna's gone, the sooner they could be alone.
"I don't know!" Donna snapped, remembering her predicament.
"Well, what happened?" The Doctor was pacing rapidly, and Rose sensed that he was probably going to start ranting.
"I was halfway down the aisle, and then I was here! I don't know why you're asking me, since it's probably you who drugged me in the first place," Donna snapped.
"Please calm down," Rose suggested. "I swear that we had nothing to do with why you're here. Ten minutes ago, I was stuck in a parallel universe, and I had just gotten back. Then, there you were."
"Parallel universe?"
"Yup," The Doctor enunciated as he started to scan Donna with the sonic. Donna, however, was having none of it, and slapped him. Hard.
"OW! What was that for?" He rubbed his cheek.
"If you didn't bring me here on purpose then why the HELL haven't you returned me where I'm supposed to be?" She straightened her back, making herself taller, and vaguely threatening, "TAKE ME TO THE CHURCH!"
"Right, what church?" Rose asked, hoping that the Doctor would not insist on a full medical exam for Donna before he let her go.
"St. Mary's, Haven Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System, the universe, is that enough?" she snapped at the Doctor, who rushed over to enter in the coordinates. He fumbled with the buttons. Rose shot him a smirk, clearly enjoying his un-Doctor-y nervousness. He sent her a mock-glare in return.
Donna stormed out the door when the TARDIS made its telltale whoosh, signaling that it had landed.
"OI! Does this look like a church? What sort of Martian are you anyways?" She asked, sounding annoyed. Frankly, Rose didn't blame her. She'd be annoyed if she'd appeared in the house of some strangers. Especially if the stranger in question was a rude, not ginger-and-bitter-about-it alien.
"He's not from-" Rose started to say, but was cut off by the Doctor.
"Rose, there's something wrong with the TARDIS!" He exclaimed. "And Donna, how did you get inside our ship in space? I need to scan you for- DONNA!" The last part was shouted at the bride who had bolted towards the street. She began waving her arms around, trying to catch a taxi. The Doctor sprinted after her, yelling. Rose half smirked, half sighed. They never did seem to catch a break.
Several hours later with one Racnoss taken care of, a second Christmas ruined, and three tired travelers... things finally began to quiet down, much to Rose's relief. She'd been burning to know what he'd been about to tell her. Although,she knew he wouldn't say anything. As a general rule, the Doctor wouldn't ever go further than friendship unless, of course, they were in the TARDIS alone.
"I told you she'd be all right," the Doctor assured Rose as they stepped out of the TARDIS into the chilly night air. "She can survive anything," he boasted, patting his ship affectionately.
"More then I've done," Donna said sadly. Pulling out his screwdriver, he scanned her. The buzzing noise pierced the frigid air.
"All the Huon particles are gone," he confirmed. "You're fine."
"Doctor?" Rose asked. "Run inside and grab me a coat, will you?"
Shooting her a suspicious look, he obliged, shutting the TARDIS door behind him as he went back in.
"He's like that," Rose sighed, staring at the closed door.
"I missed my own wedding, lost my job, and became a widow on the same day. Well, sort of." The two women shared a faint chuckle.
"I'm sorry," Rose breathed, drawing Donna into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry."
"He deserved it," Donna said after a few moments. Under Rose's questioning glance, Donna sighed. "Not really."
As the pair embraced again, the Doctor opened the door, carrying Rose's coat. Upon noticing the pair, he joined their hug, kissing Rose gently atop her head. Donna rolled her eyes and poked the Doctor sharply in his side. He shot her a dirty look, which she ignored.
"I'd better get inside before they start to worry," Donna said after a moment's pause, releasing them. "You two should too."
"You know, you really are the best present they could have," Rose complimented with a smile. "Even if you do hate Christmas."
"Yes, I actually hate Christmas," Donna chuckled.
"Even if it's snowing?" The Doctor responded incredulously. Walking over the the TARDIS, he placed a hand above the doorway, making the light glowing brighter as it began to snow.
"You just made it snow!" The two women exclaimed as he smiled.
"It's just a basic atmospheric excitation," he said modestly, smirking at Rose. She rolled her eyes at his attempt to play it off.
"Merry Christmas," Donna finally told them.
"You too," the Doctor said, a sorrowful look in his eyes. He stared off into space for a long moment, eyes clouded over.
"So, what will you do with yourself?" Rose asked Donna, trying to break the ice.
"Oh, I don't know. Probably not get married to start with. I suppose I'd like to travel. See more of Earth, go do something," Donna contemplated.
"Well, you could always, I dunno, come with us?" The Doctor asked hopefully.
"No, I can't," Donna said dolefully. "I just can't. Everything we did today, is that your normal? Because it scares me, Doctor, it well and truly scares me."
"It's not a constant normal..." he protested weakly. Rose rolled her eyes. She can't count on one hand the number of times one of their adventures hadn't ended in getting arrested, saving the world, near death, or all three.
"Well, I know it is," she responded. "And I couldn't do that if I tried. You stood there when everything was flooding, and burning, and you looked like you were a stranger. And Rose, you're brilliant, but I can't keep up with that kind of thing. It scared me to death. But how about one thing? Come have Christmas dinner with me."
"We'd love to," Rose said, shooting the Doctor one of her looks that brooked no further argument.
Dinner passed without incident. Mostly. Donna's grandfather, Wilfred, was extremely fascinated by the Doctor, and spent the majority of the evening in deep conversation with him about the stars and aliens beyond his telescope. While Rose and Donna bonded over their mutual belief that the Doctor was slightly crazy. Donna's mother cross-questioned them upon their entry, but Wilfred somehow persuaded her to let them eat in peace.
"I want you to have this," the Doctor told Donna, handing her a piece of paper as they walked outside into the chilly night air. "It's the phone number for the TARDIS. Call if you should ever need our special assistance, or you change your mind," he told her.
"Thank you," Donna said, taking the piece of paper, making a mental note to save it into her mobile as soon as she had the chance. She'd already saved Rose's, but having the Doctor's never hurt.
"Goodbye Donna," Rose said. "I'll miss you."
"See you around," the Doctor told her.
As the pair walked into the TARDIS, Rose's head leaning on the Doctor's shoulder, Donna smiled. They really were perfect for each other. Stubborn as mules, but compassionate, and kind at the same time. As the Doctor shut the door, she felt a sudden sense of loss. Somewhere deep down, she felt like she'd made a mistake.
"OI! DOCTOR!" She hollered.
"Blimey, what is it?" He said, poking his head out. "You sure can yell."
"I changed my mind," Donna said. "Because I just got the feeling I made a terrible mistake that I'm going to regret for the rest of my life."
"Well, come on!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the TARDIS.
"Everyone ready?" The Doctor asked as Donna shut the door behind her. He grinned at both girls, dashed to the console, and flipped a few switches. "Allons-y!"
As the whoosh of the TARDIS signaled their departure, Donna yawned. "Blimey, I'm tired. Where do you two sleep on here?" She looked down herself, groaning. "I didn't think this through at all did I? I brought almost nothing with me. What kind of clothes do I need on here anyways? Hiking gear?"
"Hiking gear?" The Doctor questioned, raising his eyebrows..
"Oh, don't worry about that, the TARDIS has rooms," Rose offered. "There's closets and things in them as well, let me help."
She held up a hand, effectively stopping Rose. "I'll figure it out while you and Spaceman over there talk," Donna said. "I'm not blind. I remember perfectly well how you two were when I appeared in the TARDIS. I interrupted something important."
"It can wait," Rose told her with more conviction than she felt. "I'd like to see you settled in properly."
"I'll be fine! You two go do... whatever you were going to do." Donna shooed them towards a hallway.
"I think you just got kicked out of the control room," Rose snickered, opening the door to the library.
"In my TARDIS? No. We voluntarily left," the Doctor weakly protested. Rose snorted, and flopped onto the couch.
"Remind me never to do void travel again," she remarked, her tone light. "Unless, of course, there's a certain Time Lord on the other side. For that, I'll make an exception."
"Speaking of void travel," he remarked. "I want to do some tests on you. There's bound to be negative side effects from that, considering that you weren't actually supposed to be able to do that in the first place." He waggled a finger at her. She gave him a tongue touched grin. "Furthermore, you've been awake for longer than the average human is statistically awake, which is approximately 15 hours and 39 minutes. Oh, hang on, that number is from your future. Let me think-" he began to pace, reminding Rose of the way he'd start ranting when their lives were on the line.
"Doctor," Rose said with a smirk. "Stop rambling and tell me what the end of that sentence was."
"You knew what I was going to say," the Doctor responded, settling on the couch next to her.
"Please, just say it," Rose pleaded. "I love you, my Doctor. I'm not going to leave you, and I hope to God you know that."
"I-" His adams apple bobbed. "I love you too, Rose Tyler. My Rose," he choked out, pulling her close. Rose, impatient as ever, gripped his lapels and pulled his lips down to hers, sighing with relief at the familiar sensation. She scooted onto his lap as his hands traced nonsensical patterns over her back, pulling closer still. Meanwhile, her hands reached up to comb through his gorgeous hair. A few seconds later, Rose pulled them apart in order to breathe.
"Right," she smiled. "What was that you were saying about running tests on me?"
"Weeeeell, I suppose they could wait, if you wanted to do something else," he smirked at her.
"Depends on what you mean by something else?" Rose coyly ran her finger along his jaw.
The only response she received from him was another firm kiss, effectively silencing any more teasing on her part.
And, that's chapter one! Ideally, I'll have like one update a week, but I doubt it(sorry guys) because honestly, it's so hard to find time to write these days. I'm crazy busy. Reviews are always appreciated, and I hope you liked it!