A/N. Hello again! Keep in mind, although this fic has both Rose and Martha (with the former having quite a claim on the ship's pilot), the story is nowhere as intense in the quarrelling 'department' as… well, I'm sure you know which one. Love and Medicine is coming next. Look, I'm keeping to some kind of order! Naah. I really am not. Hope you enjoy and find a second to review! :)
Belong
Chapter One
"Must you go?" Rose has known something like this was bound to happen eventually. Has prepared herself for it… No, not really.
The Doctor eyed his companion apologetically. "I wish I did not have to. I really do. But distress calls of such proportions, such intensity… I must go fix it, no matter what it takes."
Rose sighed at him pointedly, determined not to show her feelings in front of the alien. "So this is goodbye?"
He started. "No! No, Rose. Call it a break. A holiday."
"It is a farewell, then."
A break from the Doctor… it was inconceivable.
"Look, Rose. I hope the situation on that bloody human-hating planet is nowhere as bad as my scanners show. But I won't risk losing you. A year is the longest it could take."
"Where is the question?"
The Time Lord blinked, not understanding.
Rose was looking at him expectantly. All he needed was ask her if she were going to wait for him…
The Doctor grabbed her by the hand instead. "Are you going to- to-" love me still? Rose has never said it. Wanted to, he knew… But his foolish Time Lord self was changing the subject right before the girl was about to approach the sensitive topic. They were getting to it, would have eventually-
"For a year?" She exhaled, her frustration both seen and felt.
"Maybe less! Hopefully," he smiled at her expectantly, cursing inwardly. Why did these things have to happen, in the first place? He knew the multiverse was full of varying species, each with their own preferences and dislikes… But why this? He was used to dealing with saving planets from destruction… Earth considerably more often than other places… But his faithful companion, friend and more… so much more Rose Tyler has travelled together with him, always. No matter how dreadful, no matter how dangerous a situation on a planet has been, she has always found a way to accompany him on his trips.
"I am not leaving you behind, Rose." Not ever was ringing in her head.
"Yeah? Just for three hundred sixty-five days?" Rose shook her head at him.
"Yeah," the Doctor seemed as broken as the companion has been at the revelation.
"I will be waiting," she muttered to herself.
"You are the best, Rose Tyler," the Time Lord grinned at her. "Rest assured, the moment I return-"
"You what? Doctor?" If he was enjoying breaking her heart further, she was going to allow herself go through it all. All the loss, all the pain… Go ahead, pour salt on my wounds. I am ready.
The Doctor peered at her face longingly. All of a sudden, every single opportunity missed to do this was reminding him of itself. "Sod it," he exhaled, gluing his lips to hers. If this was the last time in a year he would get the chance to show her-
"I love you too, Doctor," she broke away from his kiss. "But this is neither the time nor the place. We haven't even spoken about what we are to each other. Not properly. The sooner you leave, the sooner you return, yes?" Rose's unbelievably even voice was suddenly almost infuriating him. "Please, go now," she pleaded. The TARDIS has conveniently landed in her flat. As if this has all been a part of some wicked plan to separate them.
Stunned, the Doctor looked around him.
"That's your room," he stated the obvious.
Rose sighed. "Go already, Doctor. I'm sure you have more important things to deal with."
"What, like this? You are, dare I say it, kicking me out?" The Doctor attempted to joke.
"Just like you have," Rose glared at him, talking in the same even tone.
"But- I have explained it all to you, love. I want you safe!" Self-control was leaving him by the second.
Rose saw it, knowing she was about to break down any second now herself. "A year, yeah?"
"I promise. No, I swear it. Please, Rose. Trust me!"
She nodded, not finding the strength in herself to actually hug him goodbye. Before the Doctor entered the TARDIS, he cast one last look at her. No, he really shouldn't have...
Rose waved at him and turned away from the TARDIS, her body trembling with sobs.
"It's going to be fine, darling! We are going to find you a job, you will get yourself a bloke and all will be fine again!"
"Shut up, Mum. Do you really think I could just forget him?"
"A year is a long time, dear! Plus, you will need to get on with your life!"
"The Doctor is my life, Mum!"
Jackie sighed, resigned. Her daughter was always going to win, no matter what – whom - the argument was about. "Fine. But if your life is not returning in a bloody year…"
Rose has kept her reply to herself.
Exactly a year has passed. Rose Tyler has got herself a job in a library. Not without some help from one of Jackie's boyfriends, but that much has always been kept a secret from her. Or so her mother thought.
"I have told you the Doctor wouldn't come for you. I'm so sorry, baby."
Her mother has been telling her so every day. Repeatedly. Rose has stopped paying any mind to it after the second week of her doing it.
"The day isn't over yet," she spoke without any sort of emotion heard in her voice.
"You are right, sweetheart," Jackie agreed. "But what if-"
Rose shook her head at her Mum. She knew he was coming.
"I'll just go make you a cuppa, darling!"
"Better make sure your friend gets in no trouble for getting me a job, yeah?" A wide grin appeared on her face as the familiar blue box materialised on the carpet.
She smiled at the sight of the familiar sparkling eyes. "Hello? Has someone been expecting me?"
"You're late," Rose exhaled in mock-anger.
"One minute and forty seconds late! How does that count?"
"Oh! Jackie!" The Doctor grinned fondly at the woman, having noticed her standing nearby. "It's been a while!"
"Let's just hope this is the last time you leave my Rose like this!" The feeling burning in the alien's eyes was one Jackie knew very well.
"Not again. Never again, unless Rose asks for it."
The girl grinned, delighted. "I'm off, Mum! Thanks for everything!"
Jackie sighed, not even expecting a hug goodbye from her child once the alien was here again.
"We'll be here soon enough, Mum!" The young Tyler assured, only getting a doubtful smile in return.
The moment the companion entered the ship, its door slammed shut.
Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Hm. How should I punish you for making me wait for so bloody long?"
"Do you mean the year or the one minute and forty seconds?"
"Both," the girl breathed at him excitedly.
"Rose… there is a thing I have to tell you before-"
Suddenly, even the TARDIS seemed to have quieted her hum. Rose was waiting.
"I, I don't know how to begin explaining-"
"I'm Martha, and I'm the Doctor's new travelling companion," an unfamiliar black woman has finished his sentence for him. "Or should I say you are the new one?"
The Doctor cursed. That was not how… not at all how this was supposed to work out!
"No humans allowed, right, Doctor?" Rose drawled, keeping his eyes locked to hers. Every single thing about Rose's composure, the tone of her voice, the look in her gorgeous brown eyes spoke of one thing, Heartbreak.
"No humans were allowed on that one, I assure you, dear…"
"But?"
"Right when I was on my way to get to you, a different distress signal caught my attention, and-"
"You being the gentleman… Yes, I get it. You have made me wait for you for no reason at all. Why do I even-" Rose's distress has made the ship send her pilot a very clear mental sign of disapproval.
"I think you need to rest first, darling."
Rose exhaled. "Sorry, Martha. This is entirely personal."
Quarrels were an ordinary thing back where her own family was concerned. The dark-skinned companion left the console room without objection.
But so did the Doctor and Rose, having been brutally thrown into a room… one both of them recognised very well.
A/N. The rating of this story should go up. Eventually. The moment our favourite Time Lord makes up for his… er… decisions.