She said she would save him, and she did.

She pulled a little cupcake with white frosting and those edible ball bearings he loves so much from behind her back and he can't help the smile that spreads across his face. They come together in a lingering embrace.

"I thought I lost you."

"Nah, it's a night for lost things being found."

He ate the little cupcake as they walked back to the TARDIS, stopping only at the sound of fireworks going off above them. Looking up, the Doctor had a sense of foreboding. Something was coming. Something big. Something that could make him lose his Rose. No, he thought, not Rose. I can't lose Rose. "A storm's approaching," he murmured.

Pulling her closer he moved them more quickly towards his time ship. He was going to take her to watch the games. Now…now he had other plans. He couldn't tell her, but time was running out. Once in front of the TARDIS he moved Rose between himself and his ship, pressing himself against her.

Roe looked up at the Doctor and saw that same dark look in his eyes as she had on Korp Tor. She had thought at the time that it was the first time she had seen that look. But seeing it now, she knew it wasn't. She had seen it many times before. Whenever another man got too close to her, whenever she was in danger or asked to go home after they had quarreled.

Mine

Safe

Alive

Stay

He reached for her jeans, unhitching the button and pulling down the zip. Hooking his fingers in the waistband of her jeans and knickers, he pulled both down in one go. "Tamonn Tu, Arkytior!" he growled.

"Doctor!" she admonished, "Someone could see us!"

"I don't care."

"Someone could hear…" He silenced her with a hard, rough kiss.

"I don't care!" he growled again.

He had since freed himself from his trousers and pants and, lifting Rose up by her hips, deftly pulled her down onto him and stilled for a moment. His eyes slid closed feeling how warm and wet she was.

Mine…

"Sam'ra…" he whispered, withdrew and held for but a second.

"Sam'ra!" he shouted as he slammed back into her. That was the rhythm he set as he turned his face up to the sky, shouting in defiance at the universe.

Mine! My Rose! You will not take her from me! She is mine! Forever mine!

"Sam'ra! Arkytior sam! Tam fiteo sha eva taronn ra! Ev nam sam'ra! Avitanon sam'ra!

Bringing his head back down toward Rose, his rant seeming to be over, the Doctor buried his face in the crook of her neck, punctuating each thrust back into her with love bites along the length of her neck. Rose wonders what's gotten into the Time Lord, but his punishing rhythm prevents her from voicing her concern. It took everything she had to simply hold on and keep from shouting her pleasure/pain too loudly.

The Doctor eased up, his strokes becoming more even as he captured her earlobe between his teeth, moaning low into her ear. With the change in pace and his breath in her ear, Rose's muscles clench around him. He neither encourages nor tries to stop her orgasm that follows, nails digging into his shoulders and teeth biting into the crook of his neck. But keeps up the steady rhythm…for now.

"Sam'ra? Arkytior sam? Rovalionn ti, sam'ra? Sam'ra, mosi?" The inflection of his questions, Rose thought, were like honey. Sweet with just a hint of need. Again she cursed the fact that she didn't understand what he was saying, that the TARDIS refused to translate. He was looking at her, glassy eyes roaming over her, from where they were joined up until he met her eyes. His dark eyes watching hers, looking as if he actually expected an answer to questions she had no idea how to. So she responded the only way she could. She nodded.

Satisfied with her response, the Doctor hooked her legs over his arms to change the angle for better access. Picking up the pace again, he returned to his punishing rhythm, making no pretense of maintaining any kind of control as he pounded into her as if he couldn't get deep enough. His shouts of pleasure/defiance/love/need echoed through the ally, a mix of English and Gallifreyan. Rose, for her part, could no longer keep her own shouts quiet. A combination of his name, begging for more and a string of filth fell from her lips.

Emboldened by her words, the Doctor changed the angle again, lifting one of her legs over a shoulder and moving a hand to the center of her back for better support. With his now free hand, he reached to where they were joined, rubbing tight, hard circles at her apex as he fought to keep from spilling into her too soon.

"Savira! Foyem! Foyem'si ra sam, Arkytior! Foyem!"

When she came apart, he followed immediately after, pressing her into the TARDIS doors. Both thankful for her gymnastics training. Reluctantly, the Doctor slipped out of Rose, tucking himself back into his trousers before helping her back into her jeans. Finding his key, the Doctor opened the TARDIS and ushered Rose inside, capturing her lips in a tender kiss as she moved passed him to enter. She gripped the lapels of his jacket and pulled him in after her. And yawned when they broke apart. He couldn't help the self-satisfied grin that spread across his face.

"Did I were you out, Rose Tyler?"

She slapped his arm playfully. "Shut up."

"C'mon, shower, then sleep." He took her hand and led her to their bedroom, into the en suit. The TRADIS had already started running the shower when they entered and the Doctor sent his silent thanks as they stripped. He checked the shower's temperature before stepping in and helping Rose, grabbing a wash cloth and her soap. Lathering the cloth, the Doctor gingerly gathered her hair so he could wash her neck and saw the marks he left during their lovemaking.

"Oh, Rose…Rose, I'm sorry. I…I've marked you," he whispered. The Doctor runs a finger tenderly over the marks, then brushed his lips over each one. She hadn't noticed until he touches them, feeling a slight sting, but shivers under him when his lips touch her skin.

"S'alright, Doctor," she said sweetly as she leaned back into him.

Wrapping an arm around Rose, the Doctor ran the soapy wash cloth across her shoulders and down an arm. "You sure? I know you've been wanting to see your mother. I know you haven't told her what we've been doing." He pulled her flush against him, whispering the last sentience in her ear as he ran the cloth down her other arm.

"It doesn't bother me. Beside, it'll take what, a week for them to fade, yeah? I can wait. And how do you know I haven't told her?!" she asked the last with a mock accusatory tone.

He moved to washing her front. "Because she hasn't tried to scream me into a regeneration over the phone." He looked at her in mock horror. "Seriously, that woman would flay me if she had any indication of what I was doing with her daughter."

"And without a proper ring on my finger," she sighed, but turned quickly in his arm, "Not… that it bothers me." She looked up at him, pleading with her eyes that he understand. "No pressure. I wouldn't ask you…I can't…not if you don't want to."

The Doctor gently rubbed her back, wash cloth still in hand, in a comforting gesture as he cupped her cheek in his free hand, looking at her with understanding eyes. "For you, Rose Tyler, I would do domestic. Every day for the rest of your life. If…if that's what you want."

"Doctor, I…" He pressed a finger to her lips before kissing her gently and finished washing her. When he reached her center, he abandoned the cloth and added some soap to his hand.

"Turn." Silently, Rose turned in his arm again, so her back was to him. The Doctor reached between her thighs, cupping her center, moving the soap in his hand to clean her. His long fingers slipping through her already wet folds to her entrance, where he pushed a finger into her. Rose dropped her head to his shoulder and let slip a moan from deep within her throat as he ghosted his fingers over her breast and nipples. Pumping first one finger, then two, gently into her wet heat. The Doctor whispered how beautiful she was, how much he loved her and counted all the ways she had saved him. Every touch to her breast, feather-light, every thrust of his fingers into her, achingly languid, every brush of his lips on her neck and shoulder, infinitely gentle. She thought she would go mad at how perfect it all felt and when she came apart, it was quieter than she would have thought it would be.

"What was that for?" she asked in a whisper.

"Because you deserve it. Because I hurt you earlier." He traced over the marks on her neck again. "Because, hard as I try, I can never give you everything you deserve."

"Doctor…" Rose started.

"No, Rose, really. I don't deserve you at all. But I…I can't let you go either. Not unless you ask me to, or to save your life. Even then it wouldn't be easy. I've been tempted before…let the world burn, so long as I have you at my side. But you…so willing to sacrifice if it saves others. I really. Do not. Deserve you. Now, go get some rest. I'll join you when I'm done." Rose nodded, swallowing around the lump in her throat and gave the Doctor a quick kiss before stepping out of the shower.

He waited until he heard her leave the en suit, then washed up as he ran things through his head. The size of her ring finger, the materials and tools he would need, where to get them… The tools he had. It was amazing, in a way, how many skills one could pick up in 900 plus years. But with Gallifrey gone, he knew of only one other place he could pick up the metal he needed. Estone was a planet not far from where Gallifrey had been, and in fact, they had often traded goods before the war.

The Doctor wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped into the bedroom. Rose was fast asleep now, curled up on his side of the bed, hugging one of his pillows to her chest. He smiled and dressed quietly, making his way to the console room, letting Rose sleep. Standing at the control console, he set the coordinates for Estone. He only intended to get the metal he needed to make their rings and come right back. For once, it actually worked out. Upon returning to the TARDIS, the Doctor set his purchase in the workshop to be sorted later, he had a week. Then slipped into the bedroom, stripped down to his pants and slid in behind Rose.