The Doctor was staring into one of the screens that blinked from the TARDIS' console, though his attention was on something completely different. He was just glad that Rose had decided to rest a bit after their trip to the year five billion twenty-three. She complained about her head hurting, not that he didn't blame her. Being compressed mentally takes a lot out of a person. Though, he wished he could how much she remembered.

From first impression, she didn't seem to remember any of it, which was possible, considering she was a few millenia behind him in evolution, and even his memories while Cassandra was mucking about in his head were foggy. He couldn't help but wonder one thing though. Did Rose remember that kiss? That just brought up more questions. What made Cassandra choose to kiss him? Did she think it was normal?

Now he knew Cassandra had picked at Rose's thoughts of him as... Foxy? Not that he wasn't, but he never knew that Rose thought of him as such. Maybe Cassandra had thought that such behaviour was normal? The thought was rather laughable, though-

No, that memory didn't exist in Rose's mind. She didn't anything from her time as the Bad Wolf. She'd asked countless questions about that their time in London while he'd been recuperating post regeneration. He'd told her what he thought was necessary, but never told her the entire truth. Just that ripping the TARDIS' console open had caused the ship to boomerang back to the time where he was, knocking her out in the process. He wasn't going to stick her with those memories. She'd been through enough- Daleks, Cat Nuns, Cassandra using her body to snog him.

He had to stop thinking about that. She'd not even been in control of her facilities at that point in time, or the other time. Her even wanting to kiss him was just wishful thinking. She had Ricky the Idiot, even if she did opt to leave him and go off about the universe countless times. There was proof in that when she chose to go out with him the night they stopped in Cardiff. He was the one thing she could go home to. The one she could snog on a halfway regular basis when she chose to leave him.

The Doctor just couldn't figure out why she couldn't sno-

There he went again. He had to stop thinking about-

"Doctor," he heard her say, in that deceptively innocent voice that she had. Coming from that mouth with those lips that-

He shook his head and looked at her, a smile on his face. "Ah, Rose! Head feeling better?"

She nodded and slowly walked up to him. "Not really. I couldn't fall asleep. Kept imagining Cassandra's voice going through my head."

The blonde seemed distracted as she looked from him to the console. Her brown eyes reflected the soft cyan light that it gave off, while her skin held the bronze blush that everyone who entered the TARDIS seemed to get. And there was her tongue, darting out between her teeth to moisten her girlsnberry colored lips. Had they always been that color?

She looked up at him, saying the only name she knew for him, drawing him from his reverie. Her expression was curious, probably wondering what he was thinking about, though he couldn't say. She'd probably slap him like Jackie had those times he'd said something wrong.

"Doctor? Are you all right?" she asked, softening her voice out of concern.

"Yeah. I'm great! Why wouldn't I be?" he said, the toothy grin he felt to be second nature in this body erupting onto his face.

Rose shook her head and smiled. "No reason. You just seemed to space out there. Thought something might be bothering you."

"Nah. Just trying to figure out where we're going to head off to next," he told her. Complete bollocks, but she didn't need to know that. And he had some idea that this self was a good liar. He had to be. Nine hundred years of practice doesn't just leave with a regeneration. Then again...

He turned his attention back to the screen, reading a list of occurrences that had taken place over the centuries of history of Earth... Well history and future when it comes to Rose's relative time.

"Right..." she said, her tone drifting from one lacking belief in his words to a playfulness that was almost bordering on teasing. "Oh and Doctor?"

The simple tone of her voice drew his attention back to his companion. Next thing he knew, her lips were on his, soft, but passionate nonetheless. It took him a moment to realize that she was kissing him, and that, he was kissing her back.

Slowly, she drew away from him, that taunting, tempting tongue running over her teeth. "Just wanted to see what that was like when I'm not possessed before heading back to my room. Let me know when you've decided on a destination."

He stood there for a minute, nodding mutely. To say that the usually verbose Doctor was speechless was an understatement. He watched as she walked back down one of the corridors of the TARDIS, a smile on her face the entire way.

Once she was out of sight, he couldn't help but laugh triumphantly. "I knew it!"

END