AN- While Ten/Rose is not my main OTP, (my regular readers would know that), I love them to bits and pieces. I found myself consumed with too many feelings following a rewatch of The Stolen Earth, so to consolidate for that I wrote this. It's probably been done before, but this is my own take on it... :-)

Update: Re-edited as of May 14th, 2014.

A Slight Deviation...

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Donna asked, and broke eye contact with him to gaze over his shoulder, at something beyond.

No.

Not something, he realized.

Someone.

Rose.

The thought hit him like a tsunami and began to pour through his synapses. Who else could have whispered "Bad Wolf" into Donna's ear? With his hearts nearly tied in a knot, the Doctor turned around, not uttering a word as if speaking would make his hopeful deductions turn false.

As he saw who stood in the road some distance away, his smile grew so wide it could brush his sideburns. Rose grinned back at him, her eyes illuminating the dark. Wordlessly, (because at least today, actions were greater than words), he began to run as fast as he could, towards her.

So did she, nearly running faster than him in the moment, never mind the fact she was lugging along a unwieldy gun. Normally he might chide her about that, but right now he didn't care. Nothing could stop him from sprinting faster and faster...

Behind him, he heard the eerily familiar groaning of Dalek machinery. Rose gasped. He could hear Donna cry out in alarm. His hearts began to pound as he could sense precious time slipping out of his hands. Frantically, he attempted to skid to a halt as the Dalek shot its laser.

And then, as suddenly as the threat had appeared, it vanished. The Doctor heard Captain Jack Harkness materialize into existence, a sound that was identifiable by the distinctive music of the Time Vortex. He ducked away as his friend fired a gun and blew the upper shell of the Dalek clean off. In the corner of the Time Lord's eye, he could see acrid smoke waft from the creature's remains. He was still running, a bit more disorientated now, granted. That had been an extremely close scare. For reasons unknown to him, the laser did not reach his body. Perhaps today, Time felt kind...

Dazedly, he finally reached his Rose. They happily fell into each other's arms, wholly prepared to never let go for anything else in the universe. The Doctor buried his face into her neck, still very much in complete shock. His nose rubbed against the worn leather of her jacket as he breathed in her wonderfully familiar scent, that smell that was only Rose Tyler, one hundred percent.

"You almost died!" she cried out in a muffled sob of relief.

"Shhh," he replied, and gently began rubbing circles into her back. "I'm fine, ya' see? Look! I'm here. It missed me."

"The Daleks are out there, Doctor," she warned, pushing away from him suddenly. "We're right out in the open, we've gotta get inside!"

She began to lead back to the TARDIS, but the Doctor caught her shoulder. "Rose, listen! Please." Her attention now grabbed, he sucked in a large breath of air and began to speak, tenderly clasping her hands in his.

"We've been through a lot of hardships, you and me, and most of them not with each other," he said, a slight laugh punctuating his words. "I never thought I- You and me, we would-" Pausing, he licked his teeth in thought. "What I mean to say is..."

"What, Doctor?"

He leaned in close, and whispered three words into her ear. Just three:

"I love you."

Gracefully, he caressed her cheek, watching as her eyes gazed lovingly into his. A single tear fell over her cheekbone, which he immediately wiped away. Hearts suddenly overcome with emotion, his other hand slipped up to the base of her neck and he swooped in to kiss her. When their lips connected he thought it was a dream. But it wasn't the Doctor saving Rose Tyler; it wasn't the Doctor being kissed by a possessed Rose Tyler; it was the Doctor and Rose Tyler together again, living life the extraordinary way.

Nearby, Jack let out a loud wolf whistle, and he could hear Donna clapping wildly. His arms stretched desperately around her back, needing stability, needing her.

After a moment, the couple broke apart, Rose gasping for air. Her wide eyes had come to life, and they were beautiful. The Doctor grinned, and wiggled his hand at her. She accepted, flashing that teasing and oh-so-sexy smile where her tongue would poke through her teeth. With a lease of new joy, they began to plod towards the TARDIS, unaware of who lay dying in the shadows...

~8~

Just around the corner, a young woman struggled to drag herself behind the trash bins. It was quite the miracle she hadn't died on impact of the Dalek's energy beam. It made sense, of course- it wasn't a clean shot by any standards. She'd purposely run into it; it'd only nicked her right arm. In the short term, there had been time to stumble away unseen. In the long term, however, things would not be as bright.

She grit her teeth and quietly cried out in pain, feeling organs shutting down in response to the damage the beam had caused. There were only seconds left. The last thing she willed herself to do was to move where she had a clear view of the wildly haired Doctor and his Rose.

This would be her gift to him.

"I hope you have fun running..." she murmured, unheard by everyone and everything except for the whispers in the air. "You clever boy, you!"

~8~

Meanwhile down the street, the Doctor- with Rose comfortably at his side- and Jack and Donna were laughing, about ready to head back into the TARDIS. Just like old times, he thought with a smile.

But hold on...

The smallest hint of a frown crossing his still-tingling tips, he glanced over his shoulder into the dark, just once. Although he couldn't deduce why, his time senses felt as if something were off. Something vital, something important.

He shrugged, and reached down to grab Rose's outstretched hand. Oh well, it didn't matter right now, anyways. There were more important things to do: defeat the Daleks, for instance, and retrieve Rose's old room the TARDIS had catalogued into indefinite storage.

And as for him and his newly-found Rose, well...

Things between them would be different this time.