Character/Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The BBC owns all, I am merely borrowing.
Spoilers: Through Age of Steel.
Author's Notes: Next part in my series Choices We Made. Last part should be familiar if you've read that!

The Doctor was bouncing with excitement, twirling about the console with the joy of having finally escaped the estate and its resident harpy Jackie Tyler. The minute the TARDIS settled in the vortex, he'd set the auditory system on full volume, blaring music chosen at random from the ship's enormous selection. Rose had rolled her eyes, protested a headache and left to seek quiet elsewhere in the ship.

"I wanted everything. I had the world on my shoulder," he shouted, poking at the wires at the base of the console while he waited for the ship's navigational system to calibrate. "But I was gettin' older. Knew I was r--"

The music stopped.

The Doctor hopped to his feet, tapping the edge of the console with his sonic screwdriver. "Why'd you do that for, eh? I thought you liked the Ramones."

An alarm dinged, echoing through the room as it repeated.

"What? What's that alarm for?" He dashed to the other side of the console. "How could anything possibly go wrong? I just started! Only just cued up the status reports and..." He whipped out his glasses to study the monitor. "The library." He frowned. "The library? Are you sure? Lot of books in there. Bit dusty. What could possibly go wrong?"

Frustrated at her inability to communicate verbally with her Time Lord, the TARDIS sent him the mental equivalent of a slap to hurry him along.

"Rassilon! That hurt!" the Doctor yelped, rubbing his forehead as if it would help alleviate the pain. "Fine! Fine. I'm going. Better be a very very significant error." He stalked into the corridor, stopping short when he immediately came across the library door. "You didn't have to move it closer. I'm perfectly capable of walking and you should be conserving energy still." He tried to turn the doorknob. "Locked? Why's it locked?" Using all of his strength, he pulled, rattling the door in the frame. "Fat lot of good you are. Sending me after some phantom problem and now this. Thought you'd make it a bit more of a challenge, did you?" Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, he waved it over the door and heard the telltale click of the deadbolt disengaging. Grinning, he opened the door. "Ha! Honestly, what was the point of..."

Something was wrong.

He froze, hand still clutching the doorknob, eyes wide as they flicked rapidly over the room beyond. Everything appeared to be exactly as it should be. Hordes of books neatly stacked on shelves and tables. But still, it felt like something was horribly horribly wrong. It was an itch he couldn't quite scratch, a prickle at the back of his neck, a...

His vision narrowed to a single book, positioned on the floor as if it had been tossed from a distance.

Darting forward, he picked up the book and turned it over in his hands, inspecting. "The Jewels of the Southern Six Moons Volume Two?" He looked up and discovered that the volume was only the first in a trail of books.

Since the Doctor was intently focused on repairs, Rose decided it was the perfect time to explore the library. Of course, she'd wandered among the dusty shelves before, but never with a definite purpose. The book provided by the TARDIS had only increased her curiosity about the Doctor's past. And if there was one book, there had to be more. However, after an hour spent perusing the shelves, she realized that perhaps one book was all the ship was willing to share. She was about to give up and retire to the study, when she heard a scuffling noise.

"Doctor?"

There was no verbal response, but it sounded as if the noise was getting closer.

"Doctor? S'that you?" Cautiously, Rose peered around the end of the row, but found only another aisle of shelves packed with books. The Doctor had explained on her very first night that no one could sneak onboard the ship. Impossible, he'd said. Which meant he was probably wrong. There were several loud thumps behind her and she spun around to face the sound.

"Oh." Swallowing hard, Rose took a few steps backwards. "Um, hello."

The library was a congested labyrinth of tightly packed shelves which even the Doctor often found difficult to navigate. But with a path clearly marked, he was able to dash through the aisles with relative ease. Skidding around a corner, he found himself faced with a dead end and a large potted plant. A Hulgarian Snapping Mind Plant to be exact, which must have escaped from the restricted area of the greenhouse. It was very rare, very dangerous, and very very orange. And of course, his jeopardy friendly companion was trapped in its snapping jaw.

Despite the danger of the situation, both attacker and victim were still and silent. Rose remained standing, arms limp by her sides, head trapped within the plant's snapping appendage. It vaguely resembled a venus flytrap, except for being covered in a dense shroud of tiny leaves. And an appetite for humanoids that meant death within minutes.

Pressing his sonic screwdriver against the plant's jaw, the Doctor frantically shuffled through settings until he hit one that would disrupt the neural link. The plant shrieked, leaves fluttering wildly as synapses overloaded from the electrical charge. With one last exaggerated shudder, it released its prey. Still unconscious, she teetered backwards, collapsing into his arms.

The Doctor held his breath as he tested her pulse with a shaking hand. Steady. Relief washed through him. It had been a close call, he knew. If he'd been any later, run any slower, ignored his ship's warnings any longer...

He swallowed hard. The TARDIS was suppose to be safe.

Rose gasped, flailing slightly as she woke disorientated. "Wha...?"

"Easy," the Doctor murmured, tightening his hold to still her panicked movements. "Deep breaths. Slowly now."

She relaxed slightly, but her chest heaved as she gulped down air. "Doctor, it attacked me!"

He swallowed his own fear, commenting hoarsely, "Oh, only a little bit. You'll be fine in another minute or two."

"I couldn't...I couldn't outrun it."

"They are rather fast, aren't they? Especially considering they have to hop along in a pot like that."

"It bit me! I couldn't breathe!"

"Technically it was breathing for you. But no need to think about that. You're all better now. Absolutely no reason to worry." He loosened his grip, but she remained close, worrying her lip as she stared at the limp plant.

"And the...um..."

"Hulgarian Snapping Mind Plant," he supplied. "It won't be causing any more trouble."

"Oh."

"Normally you would have found it in the nursery portion of the greenhouse. Restricted access, of course. Must have escaped when the systems went offline. Poor thing. Just acted on instinct."

"Instinct?"

"Well, it must've sensed your telepathic potential and...snap! Latched on."

She leaned back, eyebrows arched in surprise. "I've got telepathic potential?"

For a long moment he simply stared at her. Then, abruptly, he grabbed her hand and tugged her along the path that led to the exit. "Come on! Bed rest for you, I should think. Quick nap. Just the thing for a neural restart." When they reached the bedroom, he gave her a gentle push inside. "I'll be just a moment."

Rose nodded, but the Doctor could tell she was still troubled by his avoidance of her question. He was equally troubled by the implications of what it might mean.

Watching his lover settle beneath the covers, he hovered in the doorway, long fingers stroking the doorframe. With a sigh, he sent a gentle apology to his ship. "Sorry I yelled, old girl. And thank you."

Despite the Doctor's fervent wish to never mention the incident with the orange plant ever again, his companion had other ideas.

"So..." she drawled, leaning against the console as she watched him choose coordinates. "That plant was telepathic."

"A bit, yeah."

"An' it found me, because I've got potential."

"Hold down that button would you?" the Doctor asked briskly, dashing to the other side of the console. "The purple one."

"The flashing one?"

"Yep."

She pressed it down and stood on her tiptoes so she could watch him over the top of the monitor. "Can't you teach me?"

"Teach you what?"

"Telepathy."

"Not a skill you really need. That's the only telepathic plant on the ship. Well...the only one that thinks humans are a particularly tasty snack."

"What if we ran into one?"

"They only grow in the swamps of Bacacaraly. We just won't go there. And we'd only really be in trouble if we ran into a pair of them. Reason why I've only got one onboard. I don't know how it managed to escape the nursery. And why'd it decide to hide in the library? Sudden craving for ink and paper?"

"I'm not really askin' so I can protect myself from plants." She skirted the edge of the console, carefully approaching him. "You're telepathic."

"Right." He stared at her with wide eyes for a moment and then switched his attention back to a group of dials. "How do you feel about visiting someplace warm next? Maybe a beach. Oh! With little shops. Sarongs, flip-flops, sun tan lotion, oversized sunglasses..."

If he was even mentioning shopping, the situation had to be far more serious than she had thought. "You said I had potential. S'why the plant went after me."

"Maybe it just thought you smelled nice or...had a preference for blondes. Though you're not a natural blonde. Maybe plants can't tell."

"Doctor..."

Finally, his gaze returned to her as he said quietly, "It's potential you shouldn't have, Rose." He grinned. "Crystal dunes of Aral. Now that's a beach. Except we'll have to visit in the evening when the heat is more temperate."

She reached out and covered his hand where it rested on the console, stilling him and preventing him from finishing the coordinates.

"Sounds lovely. Maybe later."