Shortly after Pete scraps the dimension cannon project, he asks Rose to show a new, potential collaborator around Torchwood, one whom he suggests might have knowledge of how to get the cannon running properly.
Written for GingerGallifreyan, my lovely "Secret September Buddy", over on Tumblr, as part of the TimePetalsPrompts "Pay-it-forward Promo".
I know I should have asked for a prompt from you, my lovely ginger buddy (that would have been polite!), but this fic was just sitting there, unfinished, and I thought the title, "Blind Date", related nicely to the concept of Secret Buddies.
I so hope you like it, darling. It was written in a bit of a rush for the big reveal tonight, and not looked over by anyone, so I apologize in advance for poor writing.
Blind Date
"Dad, nooooo! Please. Get someone else to do it, yeah? Dad? DAD? DAD? Fuck!"
He had hung up on her!
Rose gave her mobile one last malevolent glare before she hurled it across the room. She slumped back in her desk chair, arms crossed, and wearing the sort of defiant pout that hadn't graced her face since she was five years old and her mum had banished her to her room with no tea for nicking an ice lolly from the corner shop.
A knock at her office door startled her. The door opened, and Pete Tyler stuck his head in. "Is it safe to enter?" He glanced at the shattered remains of Rose's mobile, and heaved a sigh.
Rose huffed, making a show of busying herself among the papers and gizmos littering the desk, bits and pieces of the dimension cannon project she had immersed herself in over the past year and a half, since the devastation of Bad Wolf Bay. "I'm a bit busy, Dad."
Pete stepped into the room properly, lips pursed. "The dimension cannon is finished, Rose. Done. Scrapped. You know that."
Rose shook her head, refusing to admit defeat.
"Sweetheart… it's all over. It'll never work."
"You don't know that! We just have to adjust the transmission patterns so that they match the out–"
"Rose!"
She pressed her lips together and worried a gadget between her fingers. "NO! You don't get to say that. I can make it work. I can…"
"Last time I looked, I was the Director of Torchwood. Not you. And I most certainly do get to say that. And, right now, I need you to stop what you're doing and show a potential new collaborator around."
Rose suppressed her hot tears. "Anyone else could do that. Anyone!"
"No, not anyone. Only the best will do for this one. We've been trying to get him here for a long time, and I don't want just anyone to show him around. Besides, he's brilliant! And I hear he's quite a catch…" Pete waggled his eyebrows at her.
"Dad! For fuck's sake! I'm not interested in datin' anyone. You, of all people, know how I feel about that sorta thing… Wait..." she narrowed her eyes, "did Mum put you up to this?"
Pete ran a hand over his thinning hair. "No, course not…"
Rose stood up, eyes narrowing further, and leaned over her desk on her shaking hands. "Really…?"
"Well," he hedged, "she does know about it, yes. Thinks it would be a good idea if you… Look, the point is, Rose, I need you to do this, yeah, to show this guy around. He's only here for the day, and then he's off again. 'Sides," he rolled his eyes as he dealt his last card, "I think he's the kind of bloke who would be very interested in hearing about your work on the cannon."
Rose's mouth dropped open in surprise. She walked around the front of her desk to stand before Pete, who was watching her with wary eyes. "You think he could get it to work?"
Dipping his head, Pete pinched his nose. "Or suggest an alternative… Oh, this man's a genius. So, w'at d'ya say?"
Rose caught her lower lip between her teeth. If this "potential collaborator" could help her get the cannon up and running, this could be her best hope of getting back to her home universe, of getting back to the Doctor. "Alright. I'll do it. I'll show 'im around. But you owe me!" She waggled a finger at Pete.
Pete smirked.
"So when's he comin'?"
"He should be here…" he glanced at his watch, "in an hour or so… I'll have reception send him straight up when he arrives."
"Here? The place is a dump!" Rose gestured to the piles of papers, open books, and countless half-built contraptions strewn around the office.
"Nah, he won't mind. In fact, I think he'll appreciate the fact that you are clearly devoted to your work."
"And what about you? Aren't you goin' to be there too?"
"Nah. I'd rather he saw the place from your perspective. Tell you what, though; bring him to my office when you're done the tour. I'll take you both to lunch."
"Fish and chips?"
"If you like…"
"Deal!"
-oOo-
Looking around the shambles of her office, Rose ran her hands through her hair. She decided, despite this bloke's probable appreciation for her professional devotion, she really ought to tidy up a little. As she packed away the remnants of her hopes and dreams into boxes, her tears began to fall in earnest. She knew within herself that Pete had been right to shut down the dimension cannon project. Hard as it was to admit, the research truly didn't seem to be generating any positive data, but despite the numerous setbacks, it had been the only thing keeping her tethered to sanity. Without that thin thread of hope pulling her onwards every day, she knew she would soon flounder. Already her will to live was draining from her, bit by bit.
The beep from the intercom wrenched her from her self-pity.
"Miss Tyler, your guest has arrived. Shall I send him up?"
Rose hesitated, dabbing the tears from her eyes, her fingertips smudged black from her mascara. Blimey, she must look a sight! But he was here to see Torchwood, not for some blind date, despite her parents' misguided intentions. "Erm, yes… yes, Madeline. Please send him up."
She whipped out her mobile to check her appearance. Peering at the image on the screen, she wiped away her smeared make-up, added a bit of lip gloss, and pulled the messy tangles of her hair into a high pony tail. She smoothed down her clothes, her standard Torchwood wardrobe: black, boot-cut yoga pants; and a form-fitting, black yoga jacket over a bright-coloured tank, purple today. She examined herself again, noting her puffy eyes. She sighed, tucking the mobile away at the sound of a knock at the door.
"Come in!" she called, stepping out in front of her desk to greet her guest.
The door swung open, and she staggered back against the desk in shock. Standing in the doorway, with really great hair, and a smug, lopsided smirk curling his lips was the Doctor.
"Rose Tyler…"
Rose tried to form words, but her brain was whirling from one question to the next, and her breath had been stolen from her lungs. She just stared at him, so impossibly familiar, with his hands jammed into his brown pinstripe trousers, and the tail of the long, tan coat Janis Joplin had given him, pushed back behind his elbows.
"Long time, no see."
"Well, I've been busy… you know…" she stammered, "trying to… trying to… get back…"
He glanced around the room, taking in the gadgets and clutter. "Brilliant! You're brilliant!" He beamed at her, and spread his arms wide. "C'm'ere!"
"Are you real?" Rose forced her leaden feet to move a few cautious steps toward him.
He nodded. "In the flesh!"
"This is really happenin'? You're not goin' to disappear?"
"Not going to disappear, precious girl."
She staggered a few more steps, and he moved to meet her halfway. Then, her arms were around his neck and her nose was buried in the fabric of his coat and his fingers were kneading her back. She breathed him in and his scent filled her. The soft bristles of hair at the back of his neck tickled her finger tips, and the cool touch of his lips against her crown made her shiver with contentment. She had never felt so at home in this universe as she did in that moment. He was her home. Wherever he was, she was home.
He pulled back from the embrace, holding Rose steady with gentle hands on her upper arms. "Let me look at you… You, Rose Tyler, are a sight for sore eyes!" His eyes flickered to her lips and her tongue darted out, wetting them involuntarily.
She looked up at him, sinking into the bliss of his fathomless gaze. "Doctor…"
His hand came up to cup her cheek, and tipping her face, he drew her toward him, pausing for just a moment. "This alright?"
Her heart was thundering at his impossible proximity, after having been parted for so long. His lips were so close to hers. How could there be any question? Rose choked the words out. "Yeah… course."
He closed his eyes, and leaned his forehead against hers. "I didn't want to… I couldn't assume that you… That is, I needed to know, first, if…" His words trembled in the space between their lips.
"There's no one else. Never could be. Only ever you." The words poured from her mouth.
He pulled back, meeting her eyes again. "Oh, that's good… That's brilliant!" His smile lit the room, and his eyes reflected his relief: deep, brown pools of unshed tears.
Rose's eyes flickered shut as he finally bent to kiss her, his cool, dry lips pressed to hers for a fleeting moment before he began to retreat again. "Don't leave me," she insisted, her arms looping around his neck, pulling him back to her lips.
"Never. Never again." The rumbling timbre of his voice sent pleasant jolts of heat straight to her core as his lips glided over hers once again. His arms reached around her back, tugging her against him, and their hips met, rolling together, in a steady give and take, setting the rhythm of the kiss. His lips were moist against hers, constantly moving, mouthing her, suckling, desperate and needy, and their noses bumped as she deepened the embrace, opening to him. He tasted of honeyed tea and banana bread and she couldn't get enough.
Too soon, his hands moved to her cheeks, holding her still as he gently broke away from her, with tiny nibbles of her lower lip. Panting, she gazed at him, taking in all the minute features of his face that had eroded from her memory: the smattering of freckles across his nose, darkened against his flushed skin; the dimple in his cheek; his long, dark lashes; and the slight bend to his slender nose.
He was beautiful.
Her hands reached to trace the lines of his face, faltering as a memory taunted her, unbidden. I'm still just an image. No touch.
He took her hands in his own, squeezing them, offering an apologetic little smile, as though he could read her thoughts. "I'm really here. And I'm not leaving; not without you by my side."
She swung their joined hands between them, and looked up at him shyly through her lashes. "So, I can come with you?"
"Only if you want to... I hear you're well-established here at Torchwood, and have been absolutely brilliant: you've earned a degree in Temporal Physics; spearheaded the Dimension Cannon project; made friends… and your family. Rose, you have a life."
"I'm not leavin' you! All that work I did was to get back to… to you. I'm not throwin' all that away, now!"
"Rose…"
"I'm not! I'm not leavin' ya!" Tears of anguish tumbled down her cheeks.
"Your family… Tony, your mum. Rose, I want you to be sure. I want you to understand what this means. I can't guarantee that we'll ever be able to return."
"I understand."
"Do you?"
She nodded, sniffling through her sobs. "I've been through this, Doctor. The last couple of years, without you… I know what's at stake. "
"Or… I suppose… I could stay here…"
Rose's tears stopped abruptly, a flicker of hope flaring in her heart. It died almost as quickly. She looked him in the eye, firm and resolved. "No, no you couldn't. The TARDIS… she'd die, wouldn't she? The temporal energy of this universe is incompatible. She wouldn't be able to recharge."
"No, she would eventually perish. But Rose, you would have your family."
"And what about you, Doctor? You would die too, slowly over time. You would die inside."
"Living a life day after day, with you? Nah! A brilliant adventure."
"And then what, Doctor. When I'm gone, and the TARDIS is gone?"
He ducked his head, looking at the ground, and shuffled his feet.
"Doctor…"
He eyed her through his fringe. "I'd manage, Rose."
"No. Not goin' to 'appen. Ya 'ear me? I won't allow you to do that. That's jus'… wrong."
He shuffled a little more and looked up at her, his posture relaxing. Relaxing in relief, Rose realized, that she hadn't insisted they stay.
"Alright then," he conceded
"Alright." She closed the distance between then, and nestled against him, her arms encircling his waist. He pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her crown. "We'll be alright, Doctor. Together."
-oOo-
A short time later, she proudly showed him all her work on the dimension cannon, work that would never again be needed.
"It's all just useless junk, now..." She offered him a weak smile.
"Useless? Rose Tyler, without the dimension cannon, I would never have made it back to you."
"Pull the other one, why don't ya?"
"No, I'm serious." He bumped her with his hip as they walked along the hall, back to her office. "It was your pushing and shoving at the walls of the void that weakened them enough for me to push through."
"But we never got any positive readings back. Not one."
He raised his eyebrows at her, giving her a pointed look.
"Unleeeess… those anomalous readings! Those echoes. They weren't echoes at all. Those were you, pushing back from the other side."
"Give the girl a prize!" He turned to kiss her nose. "But then you lot stopped using the cannon."
"Yeah, Pete scuttled the project."
"Fortunately, the damage had been done (you won't hear me say that very often) and I was able to harness enough energy to push through the rest of the way and open a rift. It's stable for now, but it can't last much longer. I'm afraid we'll have to leave tomorrow morning."
Rose sighed. "I never liked long good-byes, anyway. It only makes things worse. And it's plenty of time to say everything I need to say. To be honest, I've been planning this for months, ever since I started work on the cannon, just in case one day I'd leave and wouldn't come back. I've made scrapbook journals for everyone, especially for little Tony."
The weight of her leaving was heavy on her shoulders, but it was a burden she was willing to endure to be with the Doctor. She leaned into his shoulder, seeking his support. "I'll have to say good-bye to everyone who knows who I really am. Mickey, Jake, the rest of the cannon team."
"Well, we better get started, then."
-oOo-
The next morning, Rose Tyler stepped through the TARDIS doors, her tears ruining the brave façade she was attempting to maintain, as she looked back at her little family, standing in front of the Tyler mansion, Jackie holding Tony, and Pete with his arms around them both. Her heart twisted with sorrow at the thought of leaving them behind. She would still have Mickey, though, a friend who had been there for her all her life when she had needed him most. He was already in the TARDIS, waiting. Now that his gran had died, he wanted to return to his home universe.
"We need to go, love," the Doctor murmured, placing a hand on her shoulder. "The rift is beginning to destabilize."
He stood behind her, and as she leaned back against him, he wrapped his arms around the front of her. They must make a lovely picture, Rose thought, framed by the TARDIS doorway. A parting gift for her mum, proof that Rose would be happy in the life she had chosen. She raised her hand in a parting wave, any words she wanted to say stuck in her throat. She blew them a heartfelt kiss instead, and she and the Doctor disappeared into the TARDIS, closing the doors behind them.