Note: Should be read after; 'Castles in the Sky' and 'Judgment Day'.
"There's only us
There's only this
Forget regret,
Or life is yours to miss
No other path
No other way
No day but today."-Rent
Rebecca found that she couldn't quite catch her breath.
Laughing that hard will do that to you.
Clutching her sides, she stumbled through the Tardis after Rose, who had gone in right before her and was currently collapsed on the floor in front of the main control console, giggling hysterically. Unable to stop her momentum in time, she tripped on one of the steps and fell right next to her, eliciting another round of laughter from the both of them, despite the fact that they were soaking wet and covered in mud.
The Doctor trailed in after them, laughing just as hard as he pushed the Tardis doors shut behind him. "Did you see his face?" He asked them. "You would think that it was a bad thing that we freed all his slaves from horrible captivity from the way he sent his army after us!"
"He looked like an overinflated puffer fish!" Rebecca gasped out. "He was so angry!"
"Or an Alberanian cactus when they get wet!" The Doctor said.
Rose and Rebecca stopped laughing for a moment to look at each other in confusion. After a few seconds of silence they burst out in peals of laughter once more.
"And how are we supposed to know what an Albernian cactus looks like then it gets wet, Doctor?" Rose asked between giggles.
"I havn't taken you two to Alberania yet?" he asked them, still smiling. "Put that on the to-do list then, you'll love it. They have the best spicy Korrigan calamari that I have ever tasted!"
Rebecca wiped tears from her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so hard that she had cried. Had she ever laughed until she cried? It was an amazing feeling. "What's that buzzing sound?" she asked after pulling herself together.
The three of them glanced around the Tardis, trying to discern where it was coming from.
"Oh!" Rose exclaimed, "It must be my phone, I think it fell out of my pocket when I was on the floor."
Rebecca found it up against the bottom of the console. It was still buzzing when she handed it back to Rose.
"Hello, Mum!" she said cheerily as she answered it.
Rebecca hastily looked at the Doctor in alarm, remembering the phone call from her mother that she had recently taken and how it had almost ended in disaster.
The Doctor, seeing her expression, waved it away and pulled her aside. "Don't worry, Becks," he said amiably. "Jackie might have a few screws loose, but she's a barrel of laughs and absolutely nothing like your mother."
Rebecca looked at him doubtfully. It wasn't as though she thought he was lying, but her experiance with parental figures left her more cautious than anything else.
He gripped her arms gently. "I promise, it's fine," he said. "Cross my hearts."
She breathed a tiny sigh of relief and grinned. "That's good to know."
"Doctor," Rose asked, finally off the phone, "She's making dinner tonight and she wants us to come."
The Doctor and Rebecca both turned to her with similar expressions of horror on their faces.
"I'm going to have to meet your mother? Rebecca gasped.
"I'm going to have to eat your mother's cooking? The Doctor gasped.
Rose stared the two of them down. "Don't be like that, my mum is fantastic, and its been ages since I've seen her. And her cooking's not that bad."
The Doctor made a noise in the back of his throat. Rebecca still looked uncertain.
Rose folded her arms across her chest and gave them a look that they both knew all too well. "It would really mean a lot to me if we went," she said simply.
He looked at Rebecca, who shrugged, before looking back at Rose and sighing with resignation. "Fine," he said. "I'll change the coordinates."
"Thank you!" she exclaimed happily as she hugged them both before heading to her room.
Rebecca and the Doctor looked at each other. As if they had any other choice other than to go along with her.
Neither of them had ever been able to resist Rose when she made that face.
...
After getting changed out of her muddy clothes she made her way back to see how long they were going to be before they got there, and if she had time to grab a quick snack before then.
The console room was relatively quiet, her footsteps padding softly across the floor was the only sound aside from the comforting random humming and beeping that the Tardis continually made. Rose was nowhere to be seen. She caught sight of the Doctor, standing against the console, looking intently at the moniter. She almost called out to him but hesitated when she saw the expression on his face. It was intense and dazed and more than a little sad all at the same time, like he was caught in a distant memory. As she got closer she, with some surprise, that he was flipping through pictures of women. Some were older, some were younger. Some were blondes, some were brown-haired, and some were red-heads. But the most interesting thing was how they were all wearing completely different styles of clothes. Almost as if they were from all different time periods. And suddenly she knew who she was looking at. The Doctor's past companions.
It was something she had never thought about before, she realized. Logically, she knew that the Doctor had traveled with others, before he met Rose and her. She wasn't jealous, not at all, but she did feel slight bewilderment at herself for not thinking of them before this moment. Whatever happened to them all? she wondered.
She cleared her throat.
He turned around slowly and blinked, like he was coming up from being underwater. When he saw her he broke out into a huge grin, his eyes alight with warmth.
"Hello, Becks," he said.
"Hello," she said, a smile of her own growing on her face. His smile really was contagious. When he beamed at you, you just couldn't help but smile back.
"Where's Rose?" he asked, looking behind her.
She shrugged. "I think she's still getting changed."
"Well, we'll be there soon," he said, flipping a few nearby switches. "Best to get it over with, I expect."
She laughed. "You're not doing a good job reassuring me, you know."
He didn't say anything, just gave her a rueful glance before looking back to the console and pushed a few more buttons.
"I'll go and fetch her," she offered, "before we end up being late and getting in trouble."
The Doctor chuckled. "That's probably a good idea. Wouldn't want to needlessly aggravate the mother in law, now would we?"
Rebecca giggled as she went in search of Rose.
...
Rebecca walked into the other girl's room and sat on the end of her bed, watching as Rose stood in front of the mirror brushing her hair.
"Hey honey," Rose said as she turned briefly to flash a smile in her direction. "I'll be ready in a mo."
"Take your time," Rebecca said amiably as she tucked her legs up underneath her and settled in against her fluffy pink comforter. Despite the Doctor's warning about being late and angering Jackie, now that Rebecca was here she was comfy, and found she wasn't overly eager to leave. She loved watching the way Rose's hair fell in golden waves against her shoulders. It had grown longer since she started traveling with them both. She felt her own hair that had reached the center of her back and thought with slight amusement that sometimes the only way she could accurately tell how long they had been traveling together was by how long her and Rose's hair had grown. She caught the scent of peaches from Rose's perfume in the air with each stroke of the brush and sighed blissfully.
As her mind wandered she thought about the pictures the Doctor had been looking at. How distracted he seemed as he flipped through them. She was now pretty sure that it had been past companians that the Doctor had traveled with. It didn't bother her, she was very much aware of the fact that she wasn't the first one he had traveled with. It did however give her some food for thought.
"Do you ever wonder about the people the Doctor has traveled with, you know, before us?"
Rose put her brush down and looked at her. "How do you mean?"
Rebecca shrugged, wondering if she should have even brought it up at all. "Well," she said, "he's been around a long time, right? Traveling?"
The blonde girl grinned. "Nine hundred years, I think, give or take. He looks pretty good for such an old bloke, yeah?"
She thought of his lean frame and irresistably fluffy hair. Pretty good indeed. "Absolutely he does," Rebecca replied, smiling softly. "And I know he's traveled with other people before us. And it must have been alot of people, right? I mean, even if it was only a couple people every few years that adds up to be alot of companions."
Rose nodded.
"Well, I was just wondering..." Rebecca said carefully, "what ever happened to them?"
"I've met one of them before," Rose said thoughtfully.
"You have?" Rebecca asked.
She nodded.
"Who was she?"
Rose turned and faced her. "Her name was Sarah Jane."
"What was she like?" she asked curiously.
The blonde girl bit her lip. "I thought she was horrid, at first."
Rebecca's eyes widened. "Really?"
She laughed. "Yeah, but that was my own problem, wasn't it? I was mad with jealousy."
"Jealous? You?!" Rebecca could hardly believe it. Rose was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. And she saw the way the Doctor looked at her. What in the world did she have to be jealous about?
Rose saw her expression and smiled. "It was really the first time I had ever really thought of the Doctor having had a life before me, you know? "It sounds totally selfish, I'm sure."
She shook her head. "No, it doesn't. I know exactly what you mean." And she did. It wasn't as if she didn't think the others had been important, but it was just simply hard to imagine a time when she hadn't been with the Doctor. It had been such a life-changing experience.
Rose nodded. "After I got over it, though, I found out that Sarah Jane was really just a great lady. Strong and confident and brave. I couldn't help but like her, and I could see why the Doctor chose her in the first place."
"Why did she ever leave him?"
She made a face. "I dunno. I never asked her, to be honest. Figured it was rude. And you know what? She must have been completely mad to have left him! Don't you think?"
Rebecca grinned shyly. She had been thinking that very same thing. How could anyone choose to leave this life behind? Traveling with Rose and the Doctor was literally the best thing that had ever happened to her. Every once in a while she resisted the urge to pinch herself to see if it had all been just some crazy, wonderful dream. "Yes, but," she started, "what if she didn't leave him? What if...he left her?"
Rose didn't respond. She bit her lip and looked at Rebecca quietly. Rebecca knew she was thinking the same thing she was. What if the Doctor ever got tired of them? Would he just leave them somewhere? She felt panic claw at her throat. She couldn't go back to her regular life after all the three of them had been through together. She just couldn't.
Rose came over and sat next to her on the bed, putting her arm around her and pulling her close. Rebecca closed her eyes, losing herself briefly in Rose's embrace. Even though she was worried, she couldn't help but think about how much she loved these quiet moments with Rose. They seemed to understand one another in a way that Rebecca hadn't even known was possible. She intertwined her fingers with Rose's and thought about how lucky she was to have found not one, but two soul mates. Before she met the two of them she hadn't even believed in the existence of soul mates. Now she knew it to be true. And she had found two.
"He's not going to leave us, Becks," she said softly. "He's not that sort of person. He loves us. And the three of us together...well, it's perfect, isn't it?"
Rebecca smiled. "Yes, it really is."
Rose tugged on Rebecca's hair. "Stop worrying, yeah? Everything is wonderful. And it always will be, while we're together."
She felt warmth flood every fiber of her being. Rose always knew how to make her feel better. She leaned over and kissed her gently, tenderly. Rose's eyes were half-lidded with pleasure as she sighed and flicked her tongue against Rebecca's lips. Rebecca whimpered and brushed her hands across Rose's cheeks. Rose's grip on her tightened as she slid her tongue in her mouth. Rebecca felt herself tremble in her arms. Kissing Rose was like being slowly consumed by the sun.
"Oi!" A voice from the doorway caused them both to pull away in surprise. The Doctor was standing there, looking amused. "There'll be plenty of time for snogging later," he said with laughter in his voice. "If we survive the next few hours, that is."
Laughing, they threw pillows at him as he hastily retreated.
...
"I've always wanted to see England," Rebecca said cheerily as they stepped out of the Tardis.
"We've been to England," the Doctor said, sniffing indignantly.
"Sure, England in the past," Rose corrected. "This is the first time we've taken Becks here in the present."
A sudden shriek pierced their conversation. An older blonde woman was running towards them. Rebecca looked at the Doctor in alarm, only to find him smiling. Rose let out a whoop of her own and ran towards the lady, hugging her fiercely once she reached her.
Rebecca relaxed. This must be Rose's mother. She was pretty, in a mom sort of way. She couldn't help but marvel at the way the two obviously seemed to love each other. Rose had tears in her eyes and Jackie kept touching bits of her; her arms, her hair, her face, as if she was memorizing her features. She felt a pang and wondered what it must be like to be loved by family like that. I have my own family now, she thought, smiling to herself. The Doctor and Rose are my family. She followed the Doctor as he walked over to them. Jackie let go of Rose and enveloped the Doctor in a hug of his own. He let her fuss over him for a moment before disentangling himself, looking pleased despite himself.
Jackie turned her attention to Rebecca. "Who's this, then?" she asked curiously.
Rose linked arms with Rebecca, grinning at her. "She's with us, Mum," she said.
Rebecca held out her hand shyly. "I'm Rebecca," she said. "I've heard a lot about you, it's nice to meet you, Mrs. Tyler."
Jackie waved her hand. "Mrs. Tyler makes me sound so old! Call me Jackie, if you like. Any friend of my daughter's is a friend of mine." She turned to Rose and said, "Mickey's there too, when I told him you were coming he couldn't keep himself away."
The Doctor groaned softly. Rose shot him a look.
Jackie ignored them, turning back to Rebecca. "Mickey's an old family friend. Anyway, I hope you're hungry? I made a huge pot of potato and leek soup."
Rebecca resisted the urge to look at the Doctor, instead she smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much, I am absolutely starved.
...
Jackie's flat was small, but irresistibly cozy. It was filled with pillows and cushions and all manner of bric-a-brac and if Rebecca's parents had seen it they would have squawked with disapproval at the lack of tidiness, but to Rebecca it was perfect. It filled her with a sense of glee to see where Rose had grown up, become the person she was today. Figuring she would want a little time with her mother in order to catch up, she stayed in the living room while they finished preparing dinner. The Doctor wandered around the room aimlessly, picking up this or that, unable to sit still, like usual. As for herself, she was perfectly content to sit on the couch and talk with Mickey. He was such a sweetheart, and the two of them really hit it off right away. He was a mechanic, and since she had worked in a car dealership before leaving her old life behind she found they had a lot in common. They swapped stories of nightmare customers and nightmare bosses and it felt almost surreal to speak of such ordinary things.
Once Jackie had finished preparing everything, they all sat at the small kitchen table. It was a tad crowded, but Rebecca found that she didn't mind in the least. She had been prepared to be worried and anxious, and was pleased to discover that she was rather enjoying herself. Despite the Doctor's earlier grumblings, she found Jackie and Mickey to be absolutely so warm and welcoming. And her cooking wasn't bad at all! At least, not really, anyway. There was crusty bread to go with the soup, and even a bread pudding afterwards. Rose chattered happily about the various places the three of them had visited. And Rebecca listened, enraptured, as Jackie told them a story of how her and Mickey were almost permanently stuck in a parallel universe the last time the Doctor was there.
"It wouldn't have been all bad, though," Jackie was saying. Pete was there, that's my husband," she explained to Rebecca. "He's dead in this world, but he was alive in that one."
"And my gran," Mickey said wistfully.
"So what happened?" Rebecca asked.
"The dimensional rift wasn't stable enough to keep them there," the Doctor said, "People aren't meant to cross parallel dimensions like that, and it essentially spit them back out again."
"What he said," Jackie stated primly.
"Well I'm for one glad you guys are back," Rose said. "It would have been pretty awful to know I could never see you guys again."
Rebecca looked at the Doctor, expecting a well timed smart-ass comment, but to her surprise he was silent, seemingly lost in thought.
"It's been too long since you've come around, sweetheart," Jackie was saying to Rose. "Are you sure you can't stay for a few days this time?"
Rose just smiled at her and shook her head, and Rebecca could tell that this was a conversation they had had many times before. Suddenly Rebecca wondered if maybe she was the lucky one, in having such a shitty family. She never wanted to go back. Ever. She could imagine that it must be harder for Rose to leave her mother than it was for her to leave her parents.
"Well, maybe Rebecca could stay for a few days, then." Mickey said.
The Doctor snapped out of his thoughts and looked over darkly.
"We could go and see a film, hang out some more," Mickey continued, looking at Rebecca expectantly.
She was confused. Why would she want to stay behind? Have the Doctor and Rose go off without her? Was he crazy? "I'm sorry," she said slowly, "but I'm not going anywhere without Rose and the Doctor."
Mickey smiled at her, turning on the charm. "But we were getting on so well, I'd love to get the chance to know you better."
Rose cleared her throat. "Mickey, leave it alone."
He looked at her, puzzled. "Why? What's the problem?"
"It's not going to happen, Mickey," the Doctor said, his voice low. "Like Rose said, leave it alone."
And suddenly Rebecca got it. He was trying to ask her out. On a date. And he didn't know he was overstepping his bounds because none of them had come out and said what her relationship was with Rose and the Doctor. They probably just assumed that they were only friends.
Shit, she thought. I'm going to have to be diplomatic about this. "I appreciate the offer, I really do," she said, "but I really couldn't do that."
"Why not?" Mickey asked.
"Because she's already got a boyfriend," the Doctor said. "And he's sitting right here."
The whole table was silent. Well, there goes the diplomacy, Rebecca thought.
"What do you mean, he's right here?" Jackie asked, completely bewildered. "You can't mean you, you're with Rose. Isn't he?" she asked, looking at Rose for confirmation. Rose nodded, trying to stifle a laugh.
Mickey looked outraged. "You're with them both?! One's not enough, eh? Not for the Doctor. No, he has to have two girlfriends, is that it?"
The Doctor folded his arms and said nothing.
"Mickey," Rose said pleadingly, "it's not like that."
He turned angrily to her. "And I can't believe you would let him do this to you, you're actually sharing him?!"
Now it was Rose's turn to get angry. "Oi! I said it wasn't like that!"
"Then what is it like?" Jackie asked. "Because I just don't get it at all."
Rebecca had no idea what to say. She felt her stomach clench anxiously. What sort of person was Jackie, really? Would she accept this odd relationship if they told her? She didn't want to be the cause of contention between Rose and her mother. She knew how much they meant to each other. What should she say?
Rose looked Rebecca and bit her lip. "Mum," she said, "I'm not sharing the Doctor with Becks. We're all in a relationship...together. Becks and me and the Doctor."
A stunned silence filled room. "You mean..." Mickey said awkwardly.
"Yes, Mickey," Rose said, smiling confidently. "I'm dating the Doctor and Rebecca. Just as she's dating me and the Doctor."
"But," Jackie said, "I didn't know you liked girls. When did this start?"
"It's not really a thing that started," she explained patiently. "It's not like I woke up one day and decided I liked girls. It's just Becks. I'm crazy about her, right? Just as much as I'm crazy about the Doctor. And I can't explain it. Not really. It's just that the three of us together feels absolutely perfect. Like it's the way it always was meant to be."
The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "There you go," he said. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
Rebecca's heart was pounding almost painfully in her chest. She felt dizzy and hot at Rose's proclamation. It really was the perfect explanation of their relationship. It couldn't be defined by normal standards, but it was the most beautifully real thing she had ever known.
Jackie looked at her. "And what about you?" she asked. "What do you have to say about all this?"
They were all looking at her expectantly. She figured honesty was the best policy. "I love your daughter, Jackie," she admitted, and was rewarded with Rose's brilliant smile from across the table. "I love her and the Doctor and want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with them both."
Jackie looked at the three of them before finally shrugging. "Well, that's that then, I guess," she said.
"You're not...mad?" Rose asked.
"What do I have to be mad about?" Jackie replied. "You once told me you were running off with an alien in a time machine to travel across space. Nothing after that could really shock me. And as long as you're happy, that's the important thing."
Rose blinked back tears. "Thanks mum."
"Bloody hell," Mickey said, thoroughly exasperated. He sat back in his chair, defeated and looked at the Doctor. "Pretty soon I suppose you'll have a whole harem of girls in that blue box of yours."
"No," the Doctor said firmly. "There is no one else. There will never ibe/i anyone else. It's just Rose and Rebecca. And it always will be." He said it with such passionate intensity that it silenced even Mickey's sarcasm. Rose beamed at her and the Doctor and she Rebecca felt her heart fill with warmth. This is all I'll ever need, she thought. Rose and the Doctor, forever and ever.
"Well," Jackie said, shrugging, "I don't know about you lot, but I could use with a bit of a drink."
...
She brought out a few bottles of wine and they spent the next hour or so swapping stories and sipping the chilled beverage, growing more and more relaxed. After a while Rebecca excused herself, saying goodbye to Jackie and Mickey with a hug and promises to visit again soon.
She stepped out of the apartment complex and took a deep breath of the chilly night air. She really loved Rose's mum, and Mickey was pretty sweet too, but after a while she felt like she could really use some time to herself. Family situations always ended up giving her a headache, no matter how great they were.
With one last look down the street she walked into the Tardis, closing the door behind her.
Once she reached her room she wandered over to her bookcase and inspected the contents. One of the best parts of her room in the Tardis was the fact that the bookcase continually changed books. When they were visiting future Mars it featured The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury and the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. When they traveled to Osaka in the 26th Century she had discovered a plethora of manga and graphic novels. Sure, she could always visit the extensive library that the Tardis had. She had done so. Numerous times. But who could beat a bookcase in your room that personalized its collection for you? The best though, was when they went to the planet Allicantis. When she checked her bookcase during that trip she discovered all sorts of fiction and nonfiction from the planet's most celebrated authors, translated from the native language into English. A entirely new world of books opened to her! It was one of the most exciting feelings she had ever experianced. She had been so overjoyed and so eager to tell the Doctor that she burst into his room without knocking, catching him and Rose in an awkward position. Rose had been so startled she had fallen right off the bed. The thought of it even now brought a smile to Rebecca's face. She ran her hand over the book spines. The Tardis really seemed to understand to to feel how important it was for her to be connected to the world through books. Feel? Did the Tardis feel? Well she certainly has a sense of humor, Rebecca thought wryly as she pulled 'My Family and Other Animals' from the top shelf. Chuckling softly to herself she stretched out across her bed and started reading.
She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she remembered was hearing the Tardis door open and then shut again. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked up to see the Doctor strolling through her doorway. After a moment's hesitation, he closed it behind him.
She raised an eyebrow. There were only very specific times when he bothered to shut her door. Usually when he wanted to see her privately.
"What?" he asked.
She didn't say anything, just cleared her throat and looked at him pointedly.
He leaned against her closed door and folded his arms, widening his eyes in mock innocence.
A huge smile spread across her face. She couldn't help it, he always ended up having that effect on her.
"What?" he asked again, looking surprised.
She shrugged. "Everytime I look at you I smile," she admitted.
He grinned back. "Ditto," he said. He walked over and sat next to her on the bed. "So you left the family gathering early." He winked. "Got tired of Jackie's bad tea, did you?"
Rebecca laughed. "No, she was great! I can just only really handle family stuff for so long, you know?"
The Doctor nodded. "I know exactly what you mean." He gestured to his left eye. "I sort of get a tic right here when I'm around Jackie and Mickey for extended periods of time."
She groaned and pushed him playfully with her shoulder. "You're terrible!"
"It's true, just you wait and see! You're stuck with us now, you'll get your fill of those two soon enough."
Rebecca didn't answer. She was concentrating on the warm bubble of happiness that had swelled in her chest at his remark. Stuck with them? She couldn't think of a better way to spend the rest of her days than with him and Rose.
"No reply?" The Doctor asked. "Must mean you're getting ready to jump ship and abandon us?" She could tell he was teasing but she could also see the unasked question in his eyes as well.
"Just the opposite, actually," she said, smiling as she looked over at him. "I was just thinking about how lucky I am that you guys want to keep me around."
The corner of his mouth shot up in a pleased grin. "And just how long do you plan on hanging around?" the Doctor asked, rubbing the back of his neck absentmindedly.
"Forever," she said simply.
Something changed in his expression. Some sublte shift that made his eyes darken slightly, and his breath catch in his throat. Rebecca knew the world had tilted somehow, she had felt it in her heart; and she knew instinctively that he would set it right again. She didn't move. She waited.
Ever so slowly he leaned over and pressed his lips against hers. In the split second before their lips met she felt herself give in to him. She was rushing along with the crashing tide, and all she could do was let herself be swept away.
She made a small sound-a murmer of desire or acceptance-and then her arms went around him. They slipped over his arms to his shoulders as she parted her lips. She ran her hands over his back, feeling the lean taughtness of his body. Her fingers curled into fists as she gripped his shirt, pulling him closer.
She felt him shudder, and suddenly the kiss was no longer gentle. Passion, barely restrained, flowed from him into her. An ache, long buried, grew in her until she was straining against him, whispering his name over and over again, like a prayer.
Then his lips were traveling over her face, raking her throat, searing her skin, then cooling it, then searing it again. She felt herself start to melt, degree by degree, in his arms. Pleasure lept fiercely inside her as she felt his hands roam across her body. His lips brushed against her again, teasingly. His tongue traced a path across her lips, daring her to set the pace. Rebecca reached up and pulled roughly at his tie, freeing it from the knot that held it in place, as she was dimly aware that he was undressing her at an almost feverish pace. She pulled the tie over his head and her fingers began a furious race to undo the buttons to his shirt. He growled in frustration when one of them caught in the buttonhole. He pulled it free, tearing it in the process.
At last, at last, at last, she thought. Hunger clawed at her until she was locked against him, her mouth seeking, impatient. Then she was wrapped up in his arms. All she could see were his eyes, their dark brown darkened with need. He lowered her gently to the bed. He pressed kisses into her throat, lingering, nibbling as she went taut against him. She whispered his name in between sighs as he continued the slow journey over her shoulders and down to the curve of her breasts, and then up again, in teasing circles. She turned her head, seeking his mouth, his jaw, his temple, as her body turned hot and cold with pleasure. Her hands were in his hair, his glorious ruffle-y hair, and when she tightend her grip and bit his shoulder he groaned, and she felt tenderness and emotion meld with desire and need. It was easy to show love, almost as easy as it was to feel it, to say it.
"I love you, Doctor," she whispered into his ear. "I'm yours."
His arms locked around her and the sound that was coming from his throat was low and almost primal. She felt his control snap like a rubber band stretched past its limit. Caught together in shared madness they rolled across the bed, seeking, taking, demanding, with a kind of greed that made her heart shudder with delight.
There were no barriers between them. There was no hesitancy, or shyness. Only wonder. And connection. And discovering each other. This was freedom, a different kind from the one he had already given her. When he finally thrust into her, the shock of vibrated through them both, wave after wave, after wave. Almost delirious with desire, they locked into their own rythem, each driving the other. Endless pleasure, sharp and fierce. Insatiable need growing like a gathering storm. As she gave herself to him, she realized that, for those lucky enough to experiance it, time could indeed stop.
...
"Not that I'm complaining," Rebecca said, smiling softly, "but that was a bit unexpected. Or were you planning this from the beginning?"
She was nestled against him in her bed, his arm around her. He looked at her, his expression somehwere between amused and exasperated. "What do you think?"
She laughed quietly. "I think I'll keep my opinions on the matter to myself."
"If anything," he scoffed, "I'd think you planned it. Looking at me like that. How was I suppoed to resist?"
She giggled. "Really?"
"Really." She didn't have to look at him to see that he was smiling. She could hear it in his voice.
"So after this, where are we heading to next, Doctor?" she asked him. "Somewhere dark and dangerous I'm sure. Am I right?"
He didn't answer right away, and after a moment she glanced up and was surprised to see a worried and almost pained expression on his face.
"Doctor," she asked, "what is it?"
He replied quietly, "Did Rose ever tell you about the time that I almost lost her?"
She felt like she was experiacing emotional whiplash, from how quickly the mood and subject had changed. Her eyes widened. "No, you never told me about that. When was this? What happened?"
The Doctor propped his head up with his hand as he looked at her, rubbing his eyes with his other hand before starting. "It was over a year ago, now, I suppose. We were here, in England. Started off as a regular visit with Jackie, matter of fact. But of course the 'regular' didn't last for very long." He grinned momentarily before the haunted look came back into his eyes. "Essentially, there was a tear in the dimensional rifts, a quantum anomoly that caused a hole between our dimension and one beside it. There was a whole big battle with cybermen and daleks."
Rebecca's mouth dropped open in horror.
He waved his hand. "That's not the important bit. What happened was that Rose risked her life to close the hole and in doing so she almost fell through herself."
"Couldn't you have just flown the Tardis in there and gotten her?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No. Travel between dimensions is impossible without ripping a hole in the universe. And that particular hole was a dead end. A void. Nothing living could have survived there, or escaped. She would have been lost forever."
"But she didn't fall through, or get sucked through or whatever," Rebecca replied. She felt a slight shiver of dread roll through her at the thought of Rose being gone, lost in a fathomless void. It chilled her to the core. "What happened?"
"I caught her," the Doctor said matter-of-factly. "I was lucky and caught her."
"Well that's that, then," she said as she tried to dispel the grief she felt pulsing in her chest. What if the Doctor hadn't caught her? She wouldn't have ever had the chance to meet her. Would have never had the chance to fall in love with her. She thought of Rose's laughter and the way it always sounded like bells ringing. She thought of her blond hair that was reminiscent of sunshine, which was so appropriate because that's what she brought into people's lives. She thought of the light smell of peaches that always seemed to cling to her. That beautiful woman lost forever? And how close it came to happening? It made Rebecca want to weep.
The Doctor read her expression and kissed the tip of her nose. "Yes, it ended up being fine. But what about the next time? Or the time after that? You two are human." He smiled sadly. "Beautiful, wonderful, fragile humans. You're like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever."
Rebecca winked. "Carl Sagan."
He grinned back at her. "You read too much. How am I supposed to impress you with my vast knowledge of quotes if already you know who said them?"
"Well, you can always try to impress me in other ways," she said as she slid closer to him and laid a kiss against the pulse in his neck.
He caught her chin with his finger and tilted her head up to meet his lips. She thought, not for the first time, that she would never get tired of kissing the Doctor. She had been in quite a few relationships in her time, and kissed quite a few people. But there was something singularly unique about kissing the Doctor. No one had ever kissed her the way the Doctor kissed her. She had never before known, had never imagined, this kind of reverence. Most men always seemed to want to rush through the kissing bit, eager to get to what came after the kissing. But the Doctor always set a slow and heartstoppingly beautiful pace, as if he had all the time in the world.
Which, being a Time Lord, he probably had.
He ran his tongue over her bottom lip before softly dragging his teeth across it, biting down gently. She moaned lightly and as her mouth opened he slipped his tongue inside. She pulled him even tighter as their tongues slowly caressed and danced in a hot melding of mouths and teeth and lips. Her whole body felt like it was throbbing to the beats of his two hearts. She saw sparks flashing against the backs of her eyelids as she floated in a hazy sort of bliss.
She thought that she could probably kiss him for forever.
He broke the kiss reluctantly and as he pulled away Rebecca opened her eyes, her lips still tingling, her eyes still glassy.
"I've loved everyone I've ever traveled with," he said softly, his expression growing serious once more. "But you two..." he hesitated, "You and Rose...I don't think I can live without the two of you. What happens if somewhere down the road there's a situation in which I can't catch her? Or you?" His grip on her tightened. "I love you both, but what if that isn't enough? What happens if I'm not quick enough or not strong enough or just not...good enough to look after you? If I was smart, if I was good, I would just leave you both here where you're safe. I'd stop bringing you into situations that could be potentially dangerous. But...I just can't." He covered his eyes with his hand. "I...can't be without you two."
There was an edge of desperation in his voice that matched the desperation in their earlier lovemaking. With a sudden flash of insight she realized that the Doctor was terrified. She thought back to her earlier conversation with Rose and it dawned on her that he was just as afraid of losing her and Rose as they were afraid of losing him. Maybe that's what love was. Wanting the other persons safety and happiness more than anything else, more than your own. Rebecca could hear the slight tremor of panic in his voice, and with all her heart all she wanted was to soothe him. "Then we'll look after ourselves, Doctor," she said firmly. "And we'll look after each other. You didn't bring us on board to be damsels in distress. We're a team now, right? You don't have to carry the burden of protecting us all anymore. We'll do it together."
"And what if," he said so softly she could barely hear him, "one day even that isn't enough? And I lose you? Or her? Or both of you?"
She ran her fingers through his already touseled hair. "Then at least we'll have had today." She framed his face with her hands. "We plan on staying with you, always, so you can't spend all your time afraid of what the future may bring. If you do that you don't enjoy the here and now. And that's what's important. The present."
"I've lived a long long time, Becks," he said. "I've traveled with a lot of people. And I've lost so much. It scares me to death to think I might lose you too."
"I saw you looking at those pictures earlier," she said slowly. "They used to be your companians, right? Is that what brought this on? Remembering them?"
"Partially," he said. "But also being at Jackie's for the first time since I almost lost Rose just really put things into persepctive. It made me start to worry about what might happen to her, and to you."
She nodded. She might not be a Time Lord, but she completely understood what he was feeling. "I used to spend so much of my life worrying about the future, Doctor. Before I met you and Rose, I judged my life by what my parents had me programmed to think; that unless I had a well paying job, owned a house, was married, had kids, I was useless."
"Which is, of course, absolute rubbish," the Doctor growled.
"I know, I know it is," Rebecca said, laughing. "But it took meeting you and Rose to really show me what's important in life."
"And what's that?" the Doctor said, smiling softly.
"Small acts of kindness that can change the world. Always doing the right thing. Living each and every day as best you can and as if it's your last."
"Hmm," the Doctor said thoughtfully. "I must be a pretty brilliant bloke to have taught you all that."
Rebecca pinched him playfully. "Don't you take all the credit! Or I'll tell Rose when she gets back and then you'll really be in trouble!"
He smiled. "Okay, you win. I stand no chance of winning when you two gang up on me."
"Damn skippy," she said, snuggling up against him, laying her head on his chest.
He held her like that, and it could have been a few minutes or a few hours, it was hard for Rebecca to tell. She was lulled into a peaceful sort of bliss as the Doctor's heartbeats pulsed out a rythmic melody against her cheek.
"I asked you before," he said breaking the silence, "but I'll never get tired of hearing it; how long are you and Rose going to stay with me?"
She smiled. "Why, forever, of course."
He kissed the top of her head, mollified.
"And do you know what forever actually is, Mr. Super Impressive Time Lord?" she asked, looking up at him, biting her lip.
"What?" he asked, his eyes twinkling merrily.
"A long, long, long string of todays."
"Well then," the Doctor said as he pulled her up against him, "I'd say that forever is off to a really good start, wouldn't you?"
Rebecca answered him by twining her arms around his neck and leaning up to press her lips against his once more.
~*~ Finis