He couldn't believe it. Rose. No, no. Not Rose. It couldn't be Rose. Rose was trapped in a parallel world, far, far away where he couldn't reach her. His mind was playing tricks on him. His psyche must still be damaged from the trauma of the creature he met on Midnight, but cause it was not Rose.
And then she smiled. Oh, she was beautiful. His memories had not done her justice.
Before he could think twice, his legs were moving, his muscles contracting and expanding and flexing, moving of their own accord towards Rose. And she was running too.
An extra spurt of energy surged through him, pushing him on harder and faster. Not fast enough, he thought impatiently. The piece of his mind that had been raw and empty for the past three years throbbed. Rose Rose Rose Rose Rose…
Something broke through his single-minded focus to get to Rose: a movement in his periphery. Oh, no no no. A Dalek. Why did they always have to ruin everything? Why did they always have to take everything from him?
He watched in horror as the Dalek noticed first him, and then Rose. The Dalek raised its weapon, and the Doctor couldn't tell who it was aiming at.
"Ex-ter-min-a–"
The Dalek was suddenly encased in a bright bluish-green light, and its casing exploded.
The Doctor turned to Rose, who had a fierce snarl on her face and was wielding a large gun. She turned to look at him and shrugged off her weapon, dropping it to the asphalt.
"Hello," she said shyly, walking up to him.
"Hi," he said dumbly. Rose was standing just a few feet from him, a mere step away. She was so very real and solid and so very alive, and his infallible gob fell silent. "Long time no see."
"Been busy, y'know," she said lightly, and the sight of her little pink tongue peeking out of the corner of her mouth broke his resolve.
Rose seemed to have the same thought. He strode forward as she did too, her arms raised. The Doctor's breath whooshed from his lungs as her arms looped around his neck and his wound around her waist. He lifted her off her feet as he rocked her side to side, recommitting the smell and feel of her to memory.
"Rose," he whispered reverently, burrowing his nose into her hair as he felt her press her face to his shoulder.
"Missed you," she murmured, tightening her hold on him.
The Doctor sighed in agreement, the ache in the base of his skull sharpening. He winced and pulled back, his fingers hovering near her temples.
"Can I…?"
His request got stuck in his throat, desperate as he was to join his mind with hers once more. Rose nodded and lifted her hands to mirror his position. He let out a shaky exhale as their fingers touched each other's temples.
It was nearly automatic, the way the raw, jagged edges of his mind looped through hers. The contact was weak, the years apart having dulled their telepathic senses. The Doctor had once explained to Rose that telepathy was like using a muscle. The longer it was exercised the stronger it would become, and likewise it could atrophy if it wasn't being used. Neither of them had stretched these particular muscles in years, and so they were back to square one, with just the lightest of connections binding them together. But even this rudimentary connection to Rose felt so good, and his knees nearly buckled as he felt the faintest tendrils of her mind wrap around his. He was so tempted to whisk her off to the TARDIS to strengthen their connection. Sod the universe. He wanted an eternity alone with his bond mate, whom he hadn't seen in far too long.
The Doctor looked down at Rose, seeing the happiness and the longing he felt reflecting in her shining eyes. He cradled her jaw in his palms, and leaned down until he could feel her breath tickling his lips. His eyes flutter shut as he tilted her head back and…
He shuddered as the air around them pulsed with energy, and then there was an all-too familiar irritating sensation against his time senses. He sighed with regret and instead pressed his lips to Rose's forehead as the familiar voice of Jack Harkness said, "Sorry to interrupt, but we've got a tiny little crisis on our hands."
"Right, that's everyone," the Doctor said quietly, pushing a few buttons and yanking on a lever.
Everyone was back where they should be, even Donna, who had subtly decided to give them much-desired alone time by claiming she wanted to spend time with her family. She threatened him bodily harm if he never came back to pick her up, and Rose assured her that they would be back in a couple weeks.
The Doctor and Rose steadied themselves against the console as the TARDIS trembled as she returned to their home universe after having dropped off Jackie.
That goodbye had been the hardest, as the Doctor watched both mother and daughter hold each other for the last time. Jackie had surprised him, then, by walking up and embracing him tenderly, and his hearts constricted in his chest. He'd missed Jackie, almost as much as he missed Rose, and he was sad to lose her yet again. But he couldn't be sorry, not when it meant he could keep Rose.
"Take care of her for me," Jackie had demanded.
"Always," he promised, and then he and Rose were gone.
Rose had sobbed in his arms for several minutes after he sent them adrift in the Vortex. He held her and rocked her and cuddled her consciousness close to his own, offering all the comfort he could. His hearts broke upon hearing the anguish in her thoughts as her body shook, and he wondered fleetingly if she shouldn't have gone home with Jackie instead.
"Don't you dare," Rose said hotly, pulling back to glare at him. She swiped her sleeve across her face, smearing her makeup. "Don't you dare. I spent all that time trying to find you. I'm not going back now."
"But your Mum, and Pete, and your little brother…"
"They know this is what I wanted," Rose said gently, feeling his genuine guilt and sorrow across their fledgling bond. "Mum knew my choice. She's known for years, ever since that Christmas I agreed to keep traveling with you. All she ever wanted was for me to be happy, and she knows I'm happiest with you. She was the one who kept me going on the Dimension Cannon project, even when it seemed hopeless. I promised you forever, Doctor, and I intend on giving it to you. I love you."
The Doctor's throat swelled shut as he once more wrapped his arms around her.
"I've missed you," he choked out. "So much, Rose, so much."
"Me, too," she whispered, softly stroking her fingers through the soft hairs on the back of his neck. "I was so lonely. But I'm back, and I love you."
She turned and pressed her lips to his cheek.
"You missed," the Doctor murmured, turning to catch her lips between his.
He groaned at the feel and taste of her, and opened him mouth for more. Her tongue slipped passed his lips and traced across the sensitive ridges on the roof of his mouth. He shuddered and pushed her tongue out of his mouth, chasing it back into hers. Her mouth was so warm and wet and achingly familiar. His knees weakened as she sucked teasingly at his tongue, little nips and sucks and flicks of her tongue that were so reminiscent of her mouth on a different part of his anatomy, which was now pressing insistently against the zip of his trousers.
"Bed?" he gasped, pulling back and resting his forehead against hers. Their telepathic connection flared, and he pressed his forehead more tightly to hers, trying to fuse his mind with hers.
"God, yes," she answered, peppering soft kisses across the corner of his mouth and up to his ear.
Despite his suggestion, neither of them made a move towards their bedroom.
Instead, Rose laved her tongue across his jaw, nipping and sucking at the delicate skin of his neck. He groaned as bolts of heat pulsed deep into his stomach, pooling lower and lower until his cock was completely hard and straining against the fabric of his pants. He grabbed her hips and walked her backwards until the backs of her thighs hit the jump seat.
He wrapped his arms around her hips, pulling her to him so that she could feel his erection rubbing at her hip. She let out a breathless moan, and two identical spikes of arousal pulsed across their bond. They both scrambled to rid themselves of their jackets and shirts, rapidly shedding their layers until their top halves were completely bare.
Rose mashed her lips to his once more, shivering as she felt his fingers tracing the contours of her breasts. She arched against him, thrusting her breasts into his palms, and she moaned as he squeezed the soft mounds of flesh. Her hip brushed against his hardened cock, and he muffled a grunt into her shoulder.
"Need you," he whispered roughly, reaching down to fumble with the buttons of her jeans.
"Want you," she whimpered, reaching out to palm him through his trousers.
Sparks of pleasure shot up his spine, fanning the flames of his arousal. He dropped his head to her shoulder, his brain shorting out, as she continued to rub and squeeze him. He knew if she didn't stop soon, he would make a mess of his pants, but it felt so good, and it had been so long since he'd been touched like this.
"Please," he begged, his hips thrusting lightly into her hand. "If you don't stop, I'm going to come, Rose. Please."
Rose felt his desperation across their bond: his desperation for her to continue, for her to stop, for him to come, for him to be inside her. His mind was a whirlpool of emotions, and Rose sent him the mental equivalent of a kiss as she stopped her ministrations.
The Doctor whimpered, but was glad her torturous hand was gone. He was barely hanging onto the threads of his control, and wanted so much to just let her rub him off like she'd been doing, but he also wanted to make this good for her, too.
This is good for me, Doctor, she told him, reminding him that she could feel his pleasure just as acutely as he could feel hers.
The sparks of her own arousal fused with his, and his vision nearly whited out as he feared he was going to spill himself into his pants anyways. He gritted his teeth and tried to get more control of himself, but it was hard when two sets of desire were coursing through him.
Finally managing to get back some semblance of control, the Doctor yanked her trousers down, only to be impeded by her shoes. He let out a low oath of frustration as he roughly tugged her shoes off and flung them somewhere over his shoulders. He finally rid her of her trousers and knickers in one go. He swallowed thickly as she was bared to him for the first time in three years.
Her chest was heaving and there was a deliciously pink flush across her body, and she'd never looked more beautiful to him.
"Your turn," Rose whispered raggedly, eyeing the prominent tent in his trousers.
She reached forward and unfastened the button before slowly sliding his zipper down, tooth by tooth, delighting in watching him moan and squirm as she brushed her fingers teasingly along the length of his cock.
"Rose," he moaned, bucking into her hand. "Stop teasing."
He then sent her a flurry of images, fantasies and memories alike of all the things he had done to her and wanted to do to her now that he had her back. Her eyes darkened and she pressed her thighs together, moaning at the light bit of friction.
She reached into his pants and pulled him out carefully, not bothering to completely rid him of his trousers. They were bunched around his knees, and that was good enough.
His cock jutted out thickly, so hard and smooth, and Rose's thumb caught the drops of moisture leaking from the bright red tip. The Doctor let out a broken sigh at the contact, having missed the feeling of her hot little hand against him. Her fingers had always felt so much better than his.
"Rose, please," he gasped, thrusting into her hand as her thumb brushed against his sensitive head. "Need you. Please, please, please."
Rose squirmed forward on the seat and lined him up, rubbing him lightly through her slick folds and bumping his tip against her swollen clit. They both moaned at the sensation. The Doctor continued rutting against her, unable to stop and worried that he was going to come just like this.
She felt how close to the edge he was, and she felt his panic that he wouldn't last long enough, but she reassured him that she was just as close as he was.
He moaned as she lined him up with her sopping entrance. There was no more teasing and no hesitation as he slammed home, shuddered and groaning at the sensation. The Doctor didn't even give her a moment to adjust, crazed with lust and desire, and he began pumping himself frantically in and out.
"Fuck, Rose," he gasped, dropping his head to her neck. "You're so hot and tight and wet. You feel so good, love, so good."
"So do you," she whimpered, meeting him thrust for thrust as she wrapped her legs around his narrow hips. "You feel so good inside me. So hard and hot and so, so good. I've missed this. I've missed you."
"I'm not gonna last," he grunted through gritted teeth, slamming his hips into her faster and harder as he felt his orgasm approaching. His balls ached for release as they tightened, and he knew there was no way to hold it back. His managed to lift one of his hands from where he was gripping the back of the jump seat, and he lowered it to clumsily rub at her clit. She keened at the touch, arching into him. He could feel how close she was through their bond, and he could feel how desperate she was to come, but he was closer. "I'm gonna come, Rose. Please, Rose, please say you're close. Fuck fuck fuck, I'm gonna come. Rose!"
The tension in his belly bottomed out, the coil snapping. He sobbed her name as his vision blacked out from the immense pleasure and relief rocketing through him. He whimpered her name again and again, begging her to come, as he released helplessly into her. He heard her wail his name as she stiffened beneath him. Her walls pulsed around his cock, and he cried out as his orgasm was extended, drawn out by the twin feelings of ecstasy pouring across their bond.
It was dizzying, the rush of pleasure and emotions crashing between them as they rode out their climaxes. Love and lust pulsed from them both, as were varying degrees of relief and gratefulness and fear and anguish. The Doctor couldn't keep straight whose emotions were whose, and so he tried to disentangle his mind from Rose's to help clear his head. But Rose sent him a sharp spike of fear and he winced as her mind wrapped tightly around his.
"Don't leave," she begged breathlessly, her heart still pounding from her orgasm. "Please."
"Not leaving," he soothed, brushing his lips across her temples as he projected calm reassurances across their bond. "Missed you. Never leaving. Love you."
The Doctor nuzzled his face into her neck, content to stay there for the next several eternities, but his shaking legs were threatening to buckle out from under him. He regretfully took a step back, wincing as he slipped out of Rose. He felt her displeasure at the sudden rush of moisture that seeped out of her.
"C'mon," the Doctor said, wiping her clean with a handkerchief he found him his pocket. "Let's go to bed."
He hastily tucked his softened cock into his pants as Rose slipped on her knickers and t-shirt before he grabbed her hand and made the relatively short walk to their bedroom. He pushed open the door and pulled her inside, stopping short at the wave of sadness and nostalgia he felt from his bond mate.
"I never thought I'd see this room again," she whispered, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I never thought I'd see you again."
"I know," he said softly, swallowing the lump in his throat as her sentiment was returned. He'd hated this room, and all that it taunted him with; it had been a glaring reminder that Rose was gone and wasn't coming back. "I know. But you're here. You're back. You beautiful, impossible, precious girl. You came back to me."
He pulled her into his arms, relieved to be able to do so once more. He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling the familiar scent of jasmine and lavender and time, muddled as they were by the faint metallic tang of energy.
They quickly shed the few pieces of clothes they were wearing until they were clad only in their underwear, and they crawled under the duvet together. Rose instantly curled herself into his embrace, feeling the exhaustion of the past three and a half years descend thickly over her.
"Sleep," the Doctor whispered, feeling his own lethargy merging with hers. "Sleep, Rose."
"Will you stay?" Rose asked, her voice small as her uncertainty flashed across their bond. "I don't want to wake up alone."
The Doctor soothed her worries and pulled the duvet up around them both.
"You'll never awake alone again," he promised, running his fingers lightly through her hair.
She nuzzled closer to him, falling asleep almost instantly as the Doctor hummed a soothing lullaby to her. Rose's mind buzzed strongly against his, their intimacy having reinforced their bond almost to the strength it had been before he'd lost her. The ache in his mind was gone, with only phantom pains as he remembered back to when their bond tore as the walls of the universe closed with each of them on the wrong side. He quickly blocked the memory as he saw Rose's brow furrow in distress, and he instead cuddled her sleeping psyche in warmth and love.
She sighed happily and wrapped her arm around his waist.
He brushed his lips across her forehead and whispered, "I love you," before his own eyes fluttered shut, falling into the best night's sleep he'd had in years.