Disclaimer: Doctor Who isn't mine. If it was things would be quite different. The BBC owns all and I bow before them.
Written for timepetalsprompts on tumblr and their weekly prompt: scars. It also sort of fits their drabble prompt as well, lost and found. Go me! :)
Author's Notes: This story most definitely follows Serendipity and I would recommend that first but it can stand on its own. For anyone leery of kidfic (which Serendipity is) please know that Tony is entirely a plot device to bring the Doctor and Rose together and the fic is mostly about them. :)
Rose Tyler looked up as the bells on the door to Bessie's Auto Shop jingled. Jack Harkness stop there for a moment, holding the door opened as he turned towards her and the Doctor.
"I'm out of here, you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Then Jack gave a cheeky little wave goodbye and existed the shop.
"Yeah, like that wouldn't be a pretty short list," the Doctor muttered as he shook his head.
She grinned at him. After two summers of working as a front desk clerk/receptionist, she was used to the teasing that was exchanged between the two men. She would definitely miss that when she returned to her college in Manchester in a few days. She didn't like the thought that except for the holidays she would likely not see either of them (but especially the Doctor) for almost a year.
"Doctor," she began.
"Yes, Rose?"
"I need to talk to you about next summer." She hesitated. She knew what she wanted, and that there was an attraction between the two of them that had been there from the first time they met in that café, but she had no idea if he would ever consider a relationship with her.
"What is it?" he asked, as he helped himself to another piece of the banana crème pie she had brought in for her last day.
"I don't think I'll be working here again next summer."
"What, why?" The bite of pie that was heading towards his mouth was abruptly put down on his plate as his face fell.
"You'll know I'll be graduating in the spring."
The Doctor nodded and opened his mouth to speak but she rushed on.
"Next summer I'll be looking for work. I need to focus on that."
"You can work still work here while you're looking, " the Doctor assured her. "I know this can't last forever, but you're welcome here until you what you're looking for." He smiled at her, but she could see sadness in his eyes.
"I know that." She paused, and in a flash of daring, took one of his hands in hers, squeezing gently. "That's not why."
The Doctor looked at their entwined hands. "What're-"
Leaning forward, she brushed her lips across his in a soft kiss and then pulled back. "I don't want to just work for you. I want more. I want something to come home to. You."
The Doctor took a ragged breath. "Rose…" For once he seemed to struggle for words. "I'm flattered, but you don't know what you're asking."
Her eyebrows knitted together. "What'd you mean? We've known each other for two and a half years. We're good friends and I've seen the way you look at me. You've probably seen the way I look at you. Jack's points it out all the time and it's real. We might deny it out loud, but it is. I want to properly be with you."
The Doctor stood up and started pacing back and forth. "There's so much about me you don't know. You don't know what I've done. If you did, you'd run as far from me as you could get. You deserve better!"
Rose shook her head. She knew he'd fought in Afghanistan. She'd learned that tidbit when she was working late one night and he had fallen asleep in his office, only to wake up screaming from a nightmare. He hadn't gone into many details at the time, but she'd knew that like so many soldiers that returned home, he had not a scratch on him (at least as far as she could tell), but emotional scars that were always there in the background.
"I don't believe that."
"My whole unit! I led them into battle and lost each and every one of them. Do you know how many widows and orphans I created that day? Not just my troops but in the village we were protecting. I should've died with them. My hands will never ever be clean, Rose!"
He turned anguished eyes on her and Rose ran to him and wrapped him in a tight embrace.
"I'm so sorry Doctor! But I'm glad you lived, and that we've found each other. I can't believe your men would blame you. Not if they knew the man I know. You're kind, funny, and a wonderful friend. I'm sure they'd want you to be happy. You deserve the chance to move on."
She paused and looked up into his eyes. "Even if it's not with me, you still have your life to live."
The Doctor sighed. "Rose Tyler," he stated. "You never cease to amaze me. I'm not an easy man to love. You deserve someone younger and better."
Rose put her hands on her hips. "I couldn't care less about your age and I've already found my better. That's you." She poked him in the chest. "Two summers I've worked here and haven't you noticed that there hasn't once been another guy?"
The Doctor chuckled. "I did notice that. Genius, me. I guess there's no point in arguing with you when you've made up your mind," he said with a smile.
"None whatsoever," she agreed. "As long as it's what you want too."
The Doctor ran a thumb over her bottom lip. "I can't imagine anything more fantastic." Then he pulled her into his arms and this time he kissed her.