A/N: Here we are with another extended bit with Rose and the Doctor… Next few parts are already written, just testing the waters with the opening; just need a little something to kick the muse in the rear and get her doing her job right for once. As always, read and review - reviews = love, love = Rose/Doctor fun. No reviews = In Silence, Prayer. :P

Disclaimer: I so obviously don't own Doctor Who; I just like to borrow the characters and mutate their inner voices. Please don't sue, my house is small, my car is useless and my dogs are pains in the arse, but they're all I have.

Scientific Method

Part Two: Learning the Rules

By: Danae Bowen

Rose Tyler lay in her bed that evening, staring up at the ceiling and thinking over the days events. The Doctor had miscalculated their landing time and they'd landed the night of the Greek invasion of Troy, arriving just in time to witness the end of the Trojan victory party and the opening of the gift horse. Sure enough, Rose had found herself trapped in the giant wooden horse, tied and gagged while the Doctor raced around to preserve the timeline threatened by the presence of some new and exciting alien being whispering into Helen's ear. In the end the Greeks were put back on the path to victory, the city of Troy fell as it should, and Rose and the Doctor celebrated with their new allies as they danced around bonfires on the beach.

Though the events of the day were common, Rose's mind swam with confusion as she struggled to fall asleep. That morning in the kitchen had thrown her off, distracting her enough that she'd not even heard the Greek soldier as he'd snuck up behind her and quickly pulled her off to the great vessel within the Trojan walls. She did, however, hear the Doctor's outrage as he stormed about, threatening each and every soldier until one dropped the platform, allowing the ancient alien aboard to rescue his young companion. She also saw the desperate fear in his eyes as he tried to surreptitiously check her over while loosening her ropes, his fingers running softly over the burn marks on her wrists before travelling up her arms, her neck, under her hair to release the cloth gag that was cutting off any words that may have been forming.

They'd returned to the TARDIS in comfortable silence, occasionally stopping to laugh at the antics of Helen and the games she'd played between the two men. Neither mentioned the heat of their morning encounter, neither dwelling on the dangerous energy building between them until their hands parted and they'd separated to their own rooms for the evening. Now, alone, Rose was left remembering the fierce pounding of her heart as she lost herself in the Doctor's temporous gaze. They'd been ignoring it for ages, this thing between them, since the day she'd met her first Dalek. She'd thought when he regenerated it would fade; it wasn't this Doctor that almost sacrificed the human race in exchange for her life, it wasn't this Doctor that held her as they danced around the console, and it wasn't this Doctor that had laid his life at her feet while her body burned from within. Instead of fading, however, the draw to him grew stronger. She couldn't turn him away when he held his hand out for her while the Sycorax ship burned in Earth's atmosphere. She remembered the way his eyes darted down the front of her shirt while her body had been in Cassandra's possession. She couldn't forget the fact that the last words on his lips as he'd descended uncontrollably into the pit below the impossible planet had belonged to her. Every day they grew closer, and while the Doctor may not be ready to admit it, Rose started to think she was.

Helen of Troy ended an entire civilization in her battle to be with the man she loved.

Surely Rose Tyler could, at the very least, shake up the status quo a little, and maybe help an old Time Lord open his hearts again to love. All it would take is a little determination and a lot of courage, two qualities of which Rose had never been short.

"Better watch out, Doctor," she whispered into the darkness, "I'm a girl that always gets what she wants."

Whether it was Rose's imagination or whether the ship had been listening in, the human girl didn't know, but when she grinned into the night she swore the lights flickered approvingly mere moments before the comforting hum of the TARDIS's resting engines drifted her off into a deep sleep.

~~~3

Seducing a Time Lord proved to be slightly more difficult than the small amount of experience Rose had available. On Earth, the young blonde was able to toss her hips just so, cast a pointed expression in the direction of whatever male she'd set her eyes upon, flash an irresistible grin and the boy would invariably have fallen at her feet. On the TARDIS, Rose found the same task far more daunting. Not that the Doctor was immune to her charms, far from in fact, but breaking him down was a greater challenge. The days following the Trojan fiasco were spent testing the alien, finding his weaknesses.

With the memory of the heated morning run in still fresh in mind, Rose decided to repeat the same situation and compare the results. Rather than waste time, that morning she appeared in the kitchen wearing one of the Doctor's dress shirts half buttoned and a pair of silk pyjama shorts that she normally ignored as they cut far too high up her thigh for her own comfort. She'd pulled her unruly blonde locks into a pony tail rather than brushing them straight and made her way through the corridors, thinking first of a pot of tea, second of tracking down the Doctor and seeing what he thought of this particular look.

Once again the TARDIS had rearranged the kitchen, the refrigerator positioned poorly, the door squeezing Rose against the archway as she reached for the cool milk carton, opening it as she spun around without realizing the Doctor'd come up behind her. Rose's momentum brought her elbow across the Doctor's chest, jarring the carton of milk, splashing it up and down her throat and chest. As a very undignified sound escaped her lips, the Doctor's eyes latched onto a droplet of milk making it's way down the hollow of her throat and disappearing below the lapel of her half open shirt. Rose swallowed heavily, frozen in place by the intense expression building in the Doctor's features. Her heart thumped heavily, her breath coming in heavy gasps causing further droplets to continue their course downwards. The shivers that began coursing through her were caused less by the path of the cool liquid passing between her breasts and settling wetly against the fabric of her shirt, but more from the lack of distance that separated her and the Time Lord. She could feel her own body heat radiated back at her, his breath blowing hot against her neck; his fingers twitched as another droplet disappeared, his tongue darting out to wet his lips, his teeth ground tightly together. His mouth opened, lips forming words she couldn't comprehend as he at last lifted his eyes to hers, cocking his head to the side, eyes questioning.

She forced herself to take a deep breath, re-oxygenating her blood as she brought a smile to her face. Trembling fingers reached out to squeeze his hand reassuringly, relaxing her expression into one of quiet confidence. His own expression relaxed as he stepped away from her shaking his head.

"She never thinks about where to put the refrigerator. I'll have to have a talk with the old girl." He chuckled wryly, running his fingers through his hair as he backed out of the room slowly.

"Yeah, do that," Rose grinned, sucking her lip between her teeth, and sinking slowly into a chair.

She watched him move down the corridor, muttering to himself under his breath as he went. Quietly she chewed on her thumbnail, considering her next move. If nothing else, the Time Lord had shown a vast display of self control. She grinned. Just going to have to work harder next time.

~~~TBC