This part of my series, Glimpses of a Different Life. It follows Starry Night and comes before Just Love Me.
The Doctor sat in the library without any lights on and stared into the fire. He could still picture Margaret holding Rose, her muscular talon clenched threateningly around her neck.
"One wrong move and she snaps like a promise," the Slitheen had hissed, and the Doctor had frozen. Rose's eyes held nothing but trust, but despite what she'd believed, in that moment, he hadn't known how to save her. It wasn't until Margaret explained her full plan that he'd realised she'd actually created her own downfall… but if not for the power of the heart of the TARDIS, he could have lost Rose tonight.
The door opened and Rose's perfume wafted into the room. The TARDIS brought the lights up a little as Rose walked over to the couch, but the Doctor didn't look at her when she sat down next to him. He didn't know if he could look at her without seeing her at the Slitheen's mercy.
"Jack went with Mickey to the train station," she told him. "Something about keeping him company, making sure he didn't get into trouble…"
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Asking Jack Harkness to keep someone out of trouble is a bit like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse."
"Yeah…"
He could tell she was biting her lip, but he still wouldn't look at her.
"Thing is, Doctor, I think he left so we'd have some time alone."
His gaze shifted to her before he realised what he was doing. He reached for her, brushing his fingers lightly over the livid bruises on her neck.
Rose pulled his hand down to her lap and laced her fingers through his. "I'm fine," she promised him. "No lasting damage."
The Doctor withdrew his hand and crossed his arms as he resumed staring into the fire. "You should have gone back to London with Mickey, to your safe little human life. Beans on toast, watching football at the pub…"
"No, Doctor."
He glanced at her and then back at the fireplace, but it was a long enough glimpse to see the set of her jaw.
"You don't get to tell me what to do. It's my life, and I want to be here with you."
Rose tugged the Doctor's hand away from his body and held it again. Jack had warned her before he'd left with Mickey that the Doctor was likely to do something stupid. She'd taken a few moments before coming after to him to think about what he might say and find arguments against it.
But she wasn't prepared for the beseeching look in his ice blue eyes. "Rose, she could have killed you." The fingers of his free hand brushed against the bruises on her neck, and Rose forced herself not to flinch. "If she hadn't linked the extrapolator to the TARDIS' power… if the TARDIS hadn't seen that what she really wanted was a fresh start… there are so many ways it could have gone wrong, and I could have lost you."
Rose shook her head slowly. "That's just life, Doctor." She allowed a small smile to quirk up the corners of her lips. "Maybe not homicidal aliens wearing human suits, but if I went back to London, who's to say I wouldn't get mugged? Or hit by a car? Don't send me away because it's dangerous, because really, no place is safe."
She watched his inner struggle play out across his face as he considered those words. He looked her in the eye, judging her sincerity, and she thought maybe she had him convinced until his gaze dropped to the bruises again.
"Doctor, look at me," she commanded softly. When he complied, she said, "And do you know what? All things being equal, I think I'm safer with you than without."
He snorted. "How do you figure? Rose Tyler, in the year since we met, your life has been threatened a dozen times or more."
Rose shook her head. "Yeah, but you've saved me each one of those times. If I were mugged in London, would you be there to stop 'em? Or if a car hit me, would you have your fancy forty-fourth century medicine and the dermal regenerator to take care of me? As far as I can tell, being with you is the safest place in the galaxy. You'll never let anything happen to me if you can help it."
The Doctor tugged her forward gently and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Not if I can help it," he agreed.
She felt him rummage in his pockets for something. "Which reminds me…" He held up the sonic screwdriver. "Would you mind if I took care of those bruises?"
Rose nodded, and he went to work silently. The soft vibrations of the screwdriver pulsed through the sensitive flesh, and she pressed her lips together to hold in a moan. The Doctor felt guilty enough without knowing the sonic was temporarily adding to her discomfort.
The Doctor watched the deep purple bruises fade to a sickly green. Despite what Rose thought, he was aware the sonic treatment was uncomfortable, but he also knew it only lasted a few minutes and she'd feel better after.
"C'mere, precious girl," he said when he was done, opening his arms to her. Rose curled against his chest and he held her to himself with one arm, while running the other hand lightly through her hair.
"So, Mickey's gone home then?" he asked.
Rose shifted and shot him a look. "Yeah, back to his girlfriend," she emphasised, letting him know exactly how subtle he wasn't.
The Doctor felt the tips of his ears get hot, but he just flashed her a daft grin.
Rose shook her head. "What did you think I was going to do, invite him to travel with us? I told you—I only wanted to see him so I could make it clear that him and me were over."
"Hard for me to believe anyone would let you go without a fight is all," the Doctor admitted. She blushed prettily and rested her head on his shoulder again.
They didn't talk much after that, content to just cuddle together in front of the fireplace. The Doctor felt Rose slowly drift off, and when she was asleep, he pulled her even closer and carefully draped his leather jacket around her shoulders.
Jack stuck his head in about thirty minutes after that and grinned when he caught sight of them. "I see Rosie managed to stop you from doing something stupid," he said.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, but the gratitude in his voice was completely genuine when he thanked Jack. "I still think she deserves better than me," he admitted. "But I'm not fool enough to chase her away if she's determined to stay."
Jack leaned against the door frame. "Rose loves you, Doc. She'll never willingly leave you." He held the Doctor's gaze for a long moment, then pushed away from the wall and wandered off.
The Doctor knew Jack's parting shot was supposed to be reassuring, but it had the opposite effect. Rose's devotion to him was dangerous, and as much as he wanted her with him, he wasn't worth her life.
He brushed a kiss over the crown of her head. "You deserve to have a fantastic life, Rose," he murmured, already working on a plan that would make sure she did.