AN: This was written for the Fall Fic Fest on Tumblr. There are five chapters, each one following the weekly themes for the event. This week's theme is Fall Colours.
When I decided I wanted to write a fic about the Doctor and Rose taking an autumn holiday on Earth, I chose to set it in an area I am very familiar with. With the exception of a few locations in chapter 2, I have visited every place mentioned in this fic at least once, most of them several times.
This chapter was betaed by jabber-who-key.
Walking with Rose into the TARDIS after the Coronation festivities, the Doctor felt all his jubilation drain out of him. He glanced sideways at his companion/best mate, and for a moment, he thought he saw the blank space where her face belonged.
In the time it took him to blink away the horrifying image, Rose had the door unlocked and was darting into the console room. "Where do you want to go next, Doctor?"
Normally, the Doctor would have loved the chance to rush her straight out on another adventure, but today, he couldn't get away from the possibility that next time, something worse might happen. He'd tried to avoid the thought, but lurking in the back of his mind was the awareness that if he hadn't stopped the Wire, Rose would have died.
He walked around the console, fiddling with the controls while he looked for a way to put her off. "Rose, you've been up for over twenty-four hours—though I suppose I don't know what it was like when you were… you know," he said, gesturing vaguely at her face. "Still, don't you want some actual sleep, in your own bed?"
Rose's hands tugged at the hem of her jacket before falling to her sides where they fidgeted with the folds of her pink skirt. "I know I ought to, because yeah, it wasn't really like sleeping. Not quite like being awake either, but it wasn't exactly restful. But I dunno, I'm just so… wired." Rose must have seen the look on his face, because a second later, her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my God! That pun was totally unintended." Her guilty expression made the Doctor feel guilty in return, so he forced a laugh he definitely didn't feel.
Her eyes were on him while he took them into the vortex on autopilot, but he refused to look up at her until he was done. "I still think you should get some rest," he said finally. "No telling what we'll run into next."
"S'pose you've got a point there," Rose agreed, and the Doctor drew a silent sigh of relief. She walked up the ramp, but at the entrance to the corridor, she turned back to him. "If you need anything, you can come get me, all right? No matter what time it is." He nodded mutely, and she left the room.
The Doctor leaned against the console once she was gone, his lips pressed into a thin line and his jaw set. He clearly wasn't hiding his fears as well as he'd thought, judging by Rose's parting comment. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get away from the fear of losing her.
Maybe we could go someplace safe, he thought, and his mind immediately started going over all the possibilities. Each one was rejected based on some sort of danger—potential civil wars, natural disasters, infectious diseases…
The TARDIS hummed at him and the monitor turned on. The Doctor blinked at the picture of a cabin set against a backdrop of autumn leaves, with an instantly recognisable mountain in the background.
"A holiday, old girl?" he asked, stroking the console. She hummed in encouragement, and the Doctor sat down on the jump seat and turned the idea over in his mind.
A week in autumn on Earth. Picking apples, making jam, hiking on tree lined trails, sitting in front of a roaring fire in the cool evening… For once the domesticity of it didn't frighten him, because today, domestic meant safe. There were almost no dangerous unknowns in taking a holiday in America, and hopefully, by the time the week was over, he'd be over this ridiculous panic.
Feeling more settled than he had since Rose's blank face had been revealed to him, the Doctor immediately started arranging the trip. He researched the best year to go to avoid any chance of natural disaster, since flooding was a danger in the region.
There was one point of the details he needed help with, but in the end, it was all set up—a week in Oregon's Hood River Valley, where they could enjoy the best autumn had to offer.
When it was done, he wandered around the console, fiddling and tweaking the controls. After he adjusted the dial on the gravitonic matrix for the third time, his annoyed ship shocked his fingers.
The Doctor popped the stinging digits into his mouth. "Oi! What'd you do that for?" he asked, the words slightly garbled.
She shot him a picture of the door to Rose's room and reminded him that Rose had said he could come any time if he needed something.
"I don't need… I mean, I know she's fine. She's safe in her room. It's not like anything could happen to her here. You'd let me know if something had happened."
The Doctor got the distinct feeling his ship was rolling her eyes at him, and he huffed in response. "Fine! I'll go look in her room, but only so you'll leave me alone—not because I need to see her."
When he reached her room, the Doctor ran a finger over the rose carved into the wooden door. He'd been surprised the first time he'd seen the room the TARDIS had given Rose. It was nicer than anything his companions typically got—was nearly as nice as his own room, in fact. He'd wondered at his ship's fondness for Rose, but it wasn't until he'd seen her wreathed in the golden light of Time that he'd understood the connection the two had.
Pushing that thought aside—because really, picturing Rose as Bad Wolf wasn't really going to help his anxiety—he opened the door and stepped into her room. The pink skirt and crinoline had been tossed carelessly onto her plush armchair, with the heels and black fishnet stockings on the floor beside it.
Rose was sound asleep, as he'd assumed she would be. The duvet had slipped down far enough for him to see the thin strap of her chemise, and he stepped forward automatically to pull the covers back up.
Instead, he found himself balancing on the edge of the bed as he untied his trainers before shedding his jacket and slipping under the covers with her. They'd shared a bed before, when one of them had had nightmares, and there was no doubt in his mind that if he tried to sleep alone right now, he would have a nightmare. After setting a mental alarm for himself to wake up in three hours, he let himself drift off to sleep.
oOoOoOoOo
"So," Rose said after she finished her toast at breakfast the next morning, "are you ready to go someplace now?"
The Doctor pushed back from the table and started clearing the dishes. "I thought we might take a holiday."
"A holiday?"
The Doctor nodded vigorously. "A proper holiday. I made all the arrangements last night while you were sleeping."
"You're going to take a holiday, where we stay in one place for a bit and don't do anything more exciting than sight-seeing."
"Oi!" He looked at her quickly, a furrow in his brow, before turning back to the sink. "We've gone sight-seeing before. Trouble is just the bits in between, remember?"
Rose took a sip of tea to hide her frown. Ever since meeting Sarah Jane, his habit of wrapping her in cotton wool after a close call made her nervous—what if his fear of losing her eventually overrode the promise he'd made, and he dropped her back in London?
"Right, of course," Rose teased him, pushing her concerns aside. "I must be mistaking you for the other alien I live with. He's got a terrible case of wanderlust, that one."
"Well, if you don't want to go, I could always cancel…"
Rose rolled her eyes. "I didn't say I didn't want to go. Where are you taking me?"
He looked over his shoulder at her, a twinkle in his eyes. "That, Rose Tyler, is a surprise. The TARDIS has packed a bag for you, and I think you'll find an appropriate outfit laying out on your bed."
Everything was exactly as he'd predicted, and after her shower, Rose put on the jeans and mid-weight long sleeved top the TARDIS had set out for her, along with the comfortable hiking boots and sky blue jacket. Wherever they were going, it looked like the weather would be cool.
The Doctor had his coat on and his hands in his pockets when she reached the console room. He grinned and bounced lightly on his toes when he saw her. "Your holiday awaits," he said, pushing the doors open.
The cool breeze coming in through the doors carried a faint hint of pine trees, and Rose took a deep breath and jogged down the ramp. When she saw the view framed by the TARDIS doors, she stopped short and let out a gasp. Directly in front of her, a majestic mountain rose up out of the valley, the snow-capped peak hinting at the season.
"Where are we, Doctor?" she asked as she closed the TARDIS doors.
He took her hand and led her toward a beautiful cabin surrounded by pine trees. "Oregon. You're looking at Mount Hood, the tallest peak in the state and one of the few places in the country with enough snow year 'round for skiing. The U.S. ski team actually practices here for that reason."
Oregon. America. The Doctor hadn't just taken her on holiday, he'd kept her on Earth. The uneasiness she'd felt at breakfast grew stronger, but Rose shoved her questions to the back of her mind. Pushing the Doctor to talk about things backfired more often than not.
"And we're staying here?" she asked as he unlocked the cabin's front door with the sonic screwdriver.
"For a whole week. Is that all right?"
Rose took a look around before answering. The cabin was just as perfect inside as it was outside—wood panelling and furnishings in reds and browns gave it a slight mountain lodge feel, but the open floor plan gave it a modern twist.
"Yeah, that's all right," she said in answer to the Doctor's question, running a hand over the golden panelling and enjoying the smooth texture of the polished wood.
"Knotty pine," the Doctor said.
A stone fireplace dominated the living room, and she noted absently that there wasn't a television. Off to the right, the kitchen gleamed with stainless steel appliances and creamy white cabinets.
There was a staircase directly in front of her. "Bedrooms are upstairs then?" she guessed.
"Yep!" he said, popping the p. "As soon as you set your duffle down, our holiday adventure begins."
Rose darted up the stairs and chose the first room she came to. She barely took the time to notice the soft shades of blue or the television on the wall opposite the bed before running back downstairs.
oOoOoOoOo
When Rose had disappeared up the stairs, the Doctor walked over to the kitchen table and tipped up the manilla envelope sitting there. A wallet and a handful of maps spilled out onto the table, along with a letter.
Doctor,
I hope this meets your expectations. Please use the money in the wallet instead of showing that psychic paper to everyone—we really don't need to give the Americans a reason to get their collective noses out of joint.
The car is parked in the driveway on the far side of the house. I think you'll appreciate the extra touch I added.
Alistair
The Doctor flipped open the wallet—a false driver's license, two bankcards, and a handful of American notes—bills, he reminded himself.
Rose came clattering down the stairs, and he slipped the wallet into his coat pocket and scooped up the keys and the map.
"Ready?"
She pulled sunglasses out of her bag and perched them on her nose. "Yep!"
"Then let's see what kind of vehicle we have for the week."
The Doctor took one look at the car and started laughing. It was a new convertible… painted bright, canary yellow. Rose looked at him strangely, and he shook his head.
"Just an old memory," he told her. "Top down?" he asked Rose as they slid into the car.
"Definitely!"
After lowering the top, the Doctor took a moment to enter the route he wanted to take into the SatNav. The car's motor purred smoothly as he pulled out of the driveway. Drive on the right side, he reminded himself as he took to the road.
"So, where are we going?" Rose asked once they were on the road.
He downshifted around a curve, then looked over at her. "The Columbia River Gorge has an extremely high concentration of waterfalls. There are over 90 on just the Oregon side alone. We're going to take the freeway—American for motorway—to the historic highway that drives past as many of them as possible."
Rose smiled, and he saw just a hint of her tongue poking out from behind her teeth. "So tell me, Doctor. I can understand renting a cabin over the internet and even reserving a rental car, but how did you manage to have it waiting for us at the cabin?"
The Doctor rubbed at the back of his neck. "I might have called a friend for help," he admitted, knowing it gave away how much preparation had gone into this holiday. An unfamiliar look crossed Rose's face, and he said, somewhat defensively, "Well, I wasn't going to leave the TARDIS at some human rental car place."
"Who's this friend then?" Rose asked. This was the first time since Sarah Jane that he'd mentioned knowing anyone on Earth, and her curiosity was killing her.
"Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart," the Doctor said. "He was a colleague of mine when I worked for UNIT, and we've run into each other several times since then. Usually when the Earth is under attack."
"You've mentioned UNIT before." Rose furrowed her brow, trying to remember. "Oh! When the Slitheen took over Downing Street. They're the alien experts, yeah?"
The Doctor nodded, but before he could elaborate, they reached the edge of town and the instructions from the SatNav came more frequently as it directed them through the streets. Rose held back the rest of the questions she wanted to ask until they were through town.
Once they'd merged onto the motorway, Rose twisted in her seat and smiled at the Doctor. "Tell me about the Brigadier," she requested, eager to learn more about his past.
As the road hugged the curve of the river, she listened to the Doctor's story about his second incarnation trying to stop an invasion of robot Yeti in the London Underground.
oOoOoOoOo
"This is gorgeous," Rose breathed when they turned onto the old, two lane highway. Trees arched over the left side of the road, their leaves turned bright shades of orange and yellow.
"Wait till you see where we're going, Rose Tyler," the Doctor promised.
Rose tipped her head back against the headrest and let the wind ruffle her hair while she stared at the sky through the trees. Less than ten minutes after leaving the motorway—freeway—they slowed and turned off into a carpark. Rose sat up and looked around, her eyes widening when she spotted the waterfall just across the road.
"Is that where we're going?" she asked.
"Yep! The trailhead starts at the base of the falls and goes up to the top, behind a smaller waterfall above, and then… well, you'll see."
Rose took a deep breath of the crisp, October air as she crossed the road with the Doctor. Several people were standing in front of the waterfall taking pictures with their mobiles, and the Doctor rummaged around in his coat pocket, finally handing Rose a small camera.
"Go ahead." He nodded toward the stone railing surrounding the waterfall, and Rose snapped a few pictures before slipping the camera into the pocket of her jacket.
"All right, I'm ready to hike."
"C'mon," the Doctor said, tugging her toward a trail.
After all the running they did, the trail to the top of the waterfall was easy. Hand in hand, Rose and the Doctor passed most of the other hikers by until they reached a second waterfall hidden above the first.
Rose stared in awe. The scene was postcard perfect: a waterfall cascading into a small pool below, surrounded by trees whose gold-tinged leaves told the season just as clearly as the cool temperature and the hint of chimney smoke in the air.
"Does the trail actually go under the waterfall?" she asked the Doctor.
"Yep! The trickling water has carved out a ledge in the cliff face plenty wide enough for a path."
Rose shook her head and followed the Doctor along the trail, feeling the mist on her face as they walked under the cliff. She stopped when she was directly behind the waterfall to take more pictures. I can't wait to tell Mum about this.
Seeing the wonder on Rose's face when he showed her new things was one of the Doctor's favourite things about travelling with her. Somehow he hadn't considered that there might be things on her own planet that would elicit the same reaction from her, and suddenly, the Doctor couldn't wait to show her as much of the Gorge as possible.
He calculated the time carefully, figuring out down to the minute how much time they could spend at each of the spots he wanted to stop at. Their time at Horsetail Falls was nearly up, so he turned abruptly and started back down the trail.
"Doctor?"
The Doctor looked back at her. "Oh Rose Tyler, if you think this is incredible, wait until you see what I'm going to show you next."
Her reaction to Multnomah Falls' dramatic 600 foot drop was gratifying, to say the least. "S'beautiful," she breathed before pulling her camera out and taking pictures.
"Let me have one with you in it," she said when she'd taken a dozen or more shots, tugging the Doctor's arm to position him in front of the waterfall.
A petite woman hovered next to Rose while she took pictures of the Doctor, and after a moment, he saw her tap Rose on the elbow. "Would you like me to take a picture with both of you in it?" she asked.
"Yeah! Would you please?" Rose asked, handing her the camera. When she joined the Doctor in front of the waterfall, he automatically wrapped an arm around her, holding her close.
When the American handed the camera back, the Doctor took Rose's hand again and started up the trail. They hiked up to the bridge that crossed the creek in between the first and second drop before turning back around.
"We could go all the way to the top, and then back down the other side by yet another waterfall," the Doctor said, "but then we wouldn't have time for some of the other things I want to do today."
"Is there a stop for lunch built into this day?" Rose asked as they reached the main viewing area. "Breakfast was a few hours ago, and we've been doing all this hiking…"
The Doctor pushed his tongue against the back of his teeth, considering. "There's a snack shop right next to the gift shop. I know how you are with gift shops, but we only have 30 minutes before we need to be back on the road."
oOoOoOoOo
The whistle-stop waterfall tour continued, with stops at Wahkeena, Bridal Veil, and Latourell Falls. Rose loved seeing them all, and loved the novelty of a day that included stops at six waterfalls, but there was something in the way the Doctor kept pressing them on to the next stop that felt off to her.
"We're not secretly chasing aliens disguised as hikers, are we?" Rose finally asked as they left Latourell Falls. The shadows were lengthening, and despite all her physical conditioning, multiple hikes had tired her out.
The Doctor didn't laugh at her joke, and she looked at him critically, taking in the tension around his eyes. He was worried about something…
"No. No aliens," he said shortly.
"Then what's your hurry?"
The lines around his eyes smoothed out. "You'll see," he replied enigmatically as he carefully navigated a series of figure eight loops that steadily climbed to the top of a bluff.
Rose watched the view of the river on her right. "Is that still Oregon over there?" she asked, trying to remember what little she knew of US geography.
"No, the Columbia River forms the boundary between Oregon and Washington," the Doctor told her.
The car made another turn, and Rose finally saw the stone building perched atop the bluff. "Is that where we're going?"
"Yep! When the highway was designed, the clever blokes in charge wanted a stopping place in between Portland and Multnomah Falls. They picked Crown Point, where you get a fantastic view of the river in both directions. The building is named for the view, actually—Vista House."
Rose chuckled, and the Doctor looked over at her quizzically. "It's just funny, that's all," she said. "I'm used to you knowing everything about where we are, but here we are, on my own planet, and you still know more than I do."
"Oh, but you could tell me things about your London that I wouldn't know," he assured her as they reached their destination and parked the car and climbed the steps to the building.
The Doctor pulled the door open and they walked inside, nodding at the guide who told them Vista House was closing in 20 minutes. "This way," he told Rose, leading the way up a flight of stairs to a platform that encircled the dome at the top of the building.
They were on the east side of the building, and when they walked around to the other side, the Doctor gestured grandly at the sky. "Now you see why I kept us on such a tight schedule."
Looking at the sun setting over the river in gorgeous streaks of red and pink, Rose wondered if there was a limit to how much beauty a person could see in a single day. She reached for her camera, then hesitated and looked at the Doctor.
"How many pictures can I take on that camera?" she asked.
"Oh, as many as you want!" he said, sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. "It's got a 64 gigabyte memory card. You'd be hard pressed to fill it up, even with everything we're going to see this week."
They stayed on the platform until the pinks darkened into purple and the sky had turned a deep azure colour, then slipped out of the building just in time for the guide to lock the doors behind them. The drive back to their cabin took close to an hour, and Rose peppered the Doctor with questions about the things they'd seen and what else they were doing on their holiday.
After dinner, the Doctor and Rose sat down on opposite ends of the couch, copying the the positions they took most evenings in the TARDIS' library. At home, Rose had been re-reading Harry Potter, but when they'd gotten back from their drive, she'd popped into the TARDIS and retrieved a battered copy of Persuasion.
"Thought you were reading Harry Potter," the Doctor said without looking away from the pages of his thriller.
"I was, but this has always felt like an autumn book to me, y'know?"
He looked up at her then. "How's that?"
"Well…" Rose closed the book and tapped a finger against the spine. "Autumn is about things going dormant, so they can come back to life later, right?"
"It's about things dying," the Doctor corrected. "That musty smell of leaves you humans love so much is the smell of organic matter decaying."
"Ewww, thanks for that." Rose wrinkled her nose.
Then she realised what he was saying, what he was really saying, and things started to fall into place. Humans wither and die—that's what he'd said before. So the uncharacteristic desire to take a holiday, the tension when she'd asked him if they were chasing aliens… He was afraid.
Rose sighed. She didn't know how to fight the Doctor's fear of her death, but maybe she could start by tackling this fatalistic attitude toward things ending. "Doctor…" She paused, hoping she could find the right words. "Things go to sleep in autumn so the winter won't kill them. Bears hibernate, trees lose their leaves… but that's not the end."
When he didn't say anything, she sighed again and continued. "And that's why Persuasion reminds me of autumn. Anne and Captain Wentworth thought their relationship was dead when she was persuaded to end their engagement, but really it was just waiting, so it could come back even stronger eight years later."
Rose bit her lip, not sure what the Doctor would think of her rather fanciful notions about books and seasons, but he just shook his head and smiled at her, the way he did when she'd done something particularly amazing.
"I never would have made that connection," he admitted.
"Yeah well, I guess I'm just brilliant," Rose teased.
The Doctor smiled slowly. "I guess you are."
They drifted back into a comfortable silence, each content to read their own book. It wasn't long though before Rose felt her tiredness catch up to her, and she gave a huge yawn.
"Think I'm gonna go to bed," she said, using a bookmark to hold her place and setting the book down on the coffee table. "If I know you, you'll be in my room before 7:00, wanting me to get up so we can start the next day."
"Well, if you didn't spend a third of your day sleeping…"
Rose patted him on the shoulder as she walked by him. "Human, Doctor," she reminded him as she climbed the stairs.
"Good night, Rose," he called out, and she mumbled her response, hearing his laughter as she closed the door to her room.
After he heard the door shut, the Doctor turned back to the book he'd only given partial attention to while Rose was in the room. Every few paragraphs, he'd stolen a look at her, remembering how good it had felt today to just be with her, without any risk of death or dismemberment.
With the TARDIS parked only fifty feet away from the cabin, the Doctor was still able to feel her just as he would if he were standing in the console room. She hummed knowingly at him, and he knew exactly what she wanted him to do.
I'm not talking to you, he told her, mentally turning his nose up at his ship, then focusing on his book.
But to his annoyance, she was right. Sitting in the room alone, the peace he'd finally gained during the day slowly leeched out of him, leaving him anxious and frustrated.
He knew Rose was fine. He'd spent the whole day with her, and nothing had happened. Unless someone had snuck into the cabin while they were gone, nothing could happen to her in her room. But sitting alone in front of the empty fireplace, he kept remembering was all the things that could have happened over the past few months—her mind being crushed by Cassandra's pyschograft, the werewolf biting her or worse, clockwork droids cutting her open before he could get back to her, Cybermen converting her instead of taking her to Lumic, or being killed by the Wire.
When he realised he'd read the same paragraph three times, he sighed. Fine. You're right. I'm pathetic and I need to see her; are you happy?
The TARDIS hummed, and the Doctor rolled his eyes at her as he climbed the steps and slowly opened Rose's bedroom door. His eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light, and he saw Rose, curled up on one side of the bed, her hair spread out over her pillow.
She was safe. He should leave now. Instead, he bent down and took his shoes off, then made his way to the bed. He'd taken his jacket and tie off while making dinner, so he stretched out on top of the covers, just close enough that he could feel her human warmth seeping through the duvet.
The Doctor's heart rates slowed, and rational thought returned. He hadn't lost Rose any of those times, and he would do whatever it took to keep her safe in the future.