Disclaimer: Nothing's changed since the last chapter. I still have no ownership


"Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep. Dreaming about the things that we could be. But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard. Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars." - One Republic


Donna Noble kind of had a crappy year. No, crappy was the polite way to put it when someone asked, though they never did. And that was if you included that period just before the new year when she was supposed to have gotten married but watched her fiance betray her then get eaten by a giant spider thing. In all fairness, that my not have been in her control but everything that followed was. She had been made an offer to travel with Martian Man and Rose, to see the stars and far off worlds, but she let a little thing like fear get in her way. And from there it only got worse.

Because even just a short time with the Doctor had seeded in her a sense of wanderlust she'd never had before.

With what money she could scrap together by selling Lance's stuff (which, in her mind, was part hers), subletting their apartment, and what she had from her employment at HC Clements, Donna traveled. She planned to see the whole world only to discover that even attempting things barefoot would cost her the legs she'd need to walk, as well as her arms and a few other body parts. But she did Egypt, sorta. The travel guide version. It was hot and uncomfortable, and full of rules, but she did it.

And then she came back to London. What was only supposed to be a couple weeks stay at her Mum's place turned out to be, well, so much longer. Her Dad passed away in that time, suddenly and early on in her supposed short stay. Heart attack. Under too much stress, though Donna wasn't sure where it stemmed. After that, her Granddad moved in and it was about the only good thing that happened since. She couldn't hold a job, one of the many downfalls her mother pointed out, had to sell her car for some extra cash, and simply couldn't get her head out of the clouds. Or, rather, her mind off the stars.

A hobby of Donna's was investigating strange reports around the London area. Anything that could have remotely linked itself to the Doctor, well, she went poking around. She even went to visit the Canary Wharf Memorial on the anniversary of the event she didn't remember and waited. She couldn't remember if Rose had said her last name, so she sat on a bench a great enough distance away to see everyone coming and going, hoping to glimpse the young woman.

But nothing turned up the Doctor.

And that's what had lead her to Adipose Industries that morning. Because honestly, from the moment she read about it in the paper she simply didn't believe a word of it. Not a thing. And Doctor or no Doctor her curious mind wanted answers like it never had before. Using her essentially useless health and safety badge (careful to cover that the probation date had passed), she infiltrated the premises and managed to get not one, but two copies of their client list and swiped a gold capsule thing that kinda looked like a pill that the company was giving away.

She used her stolen client list and tracked down a young woman who was having great success with the diet plan, and asked her a few questions.

Donna had to admit, right before the woman disappeared into nothing, leaving only a pile of clothes on the loo floor while a small, pudgy, white thing waved to her before jumping out the window, that maybe the pills worked. Well, they did, she supposed, but the little white thing tipped her off that there was a lot more going on. Something, perhaps, alien. And so help her, the Doctor had to be investigating this.

But regardless of her snooping, her investigating, the feeling of accomplishment, twenty-minutes in her mother's presence while sipping a mug of tea was all it took to make her feel like nothing. Unimportant. A waste of air.

So before her mother could damage her psyche to the point where it would be feasible that the Doctor wouldn't want her around anyway, Donna went up the hill to see her Granddad.

"Aye, aye, here comes trouble." He greeted her as he hobbled toward his telescope.

"Permission to board ship, sir?" She asked with a salute and a smile, games from her childhood coming to mind at such a simple question.

"Permission granted," Granddad said, and Donna came up closer to him. "Was she nagging you?" He asked, the gleam in his eye saying he already knew the answer. Probably got a fair bit of nagging himself before coming up the hill.

"Big time," Donna laughed as Granddad plopped down in a collapsible folding chair. "Brought you a thermos," She said as she handed the container of tea to him.

"Oh, ta," he said as he took it from her, unscrewing the cap and pouring himself a cup.

"You seen anything?" She asked, hoping for a story of a strange thing in the sky.

"Yeah. I've got Venus. Here, come and see." He beckons before pulling out another chair for her to hit more comfortably. Donna helped right it before plunking down, leaning into the the telescope so she wouldn't move it away from how Granddad positioned it. "That's the only planet in the Solar System named after a woman."

"Good for her," Donna mused. "How far away is it?"

"Oh, it's about twenty-six million miles." He replied as if letting her know the drive time to the nearest newspaper stand. "But we'll get there, one day. In a hundred years time we'll be striding out amongst the stars. Jiggling about with all them aliens. Just you wait."

"Don't suppose you've seen a little blue box?" She asked, staring up at the stars sans telescope. Hoping. Dreaming.

"Is that slang for something?" Granddad asked, and Donna gave him a chuckle.

"No, I mean it. If you ever see a little blue box flying up there in the sky, you shout for me Gramps. Oh, just you shout." She said with reverence, remembering her brief time with that alien and his sweet human girl.

"You're not yourself, Sweetheart." He said softly, kindly, saying the words Donna knew her mother was trying to say. "You just … you seem to be drifting."

"I'm not drifting," Donna said resolutely. "I'm waiting."

"What for?"

"Magic. Magic, and stardust, and love."

"Oh, ho, ho same old story. A man," Her Granddad teased her with a chuckle.

"No, not like that. It is a certain man, yes, but he's already given his heart away. And I don't care about that, because if I find him." She paused, taking a deep breath, amending herself. "When I find him he'll give me what no other man ever could, a life worth living." She searched the stars, found the brightest one she knew not to be Venus, and wished. It was a childish notion, but in many ways she was chasing a childish dream, a fairy tale. So Donna Noble wished and prayed for a sign, a sighting, anything that would lead her back on that beautiful ship with her Captain and his companion.

As if it had heard her heart and could only ever grant one wish, the star blinked out of sight.

At least that's what Donna hoped had happened.

~DWDWDW~

Nearly a decade after she began traveling with the Doctor, Rose was getting a glimpse of what her life could have been like of he never came back. Kinda. She'd had to have jobs throughout the years while she was with him as they went undercover or were stranded, but this was London her time. Three years after the calender date they met, and she was in a call center selling stuff to people over the phone.

The daily grind of the some-what domestic routine is what put the thought in her mind by day two. The Doctor would wake her up, gently kissing her jaw and whispering in her ear until she stirred, then she'd go about getting ready for work. Work. A job. She'd leave the TARDIS while shouting that she was heading out, her partner somewhere in the bowels of the ship shouting back that he'd see her after. She'd land the ship, walk by the same blue car that always seemed to be parked in the alley she'd chosen as their landing spot, and off she'd go. The conversations with customers were mind-numbingly repetitive, and at the end of her shift she'd take what information on the company she was able to leave with (educational purposes, to be better sell), grab some fish and chips, and then go home.

She was entirely thankful that he came back the second time and she'd left everything behind, even if there were days and times she would never have recognized the woman she became.

"Good morning," She started her next call. "I'm Rose, and I represent Adipose Industries. Oh good, you've heard of us." She said, trying hard to mask her disdain at the excitement on the other end.

"Sign me up, sign me up right now!" The over eager, older sounding woman said on the other end as a shadow fell over her cubicle.

The presence was distinct, electrifying, sending the hairs on her arm on end as every nerve in her sensed her Time Lord standing close by.

"Well okay, Beverley, I'll just need your credit card information, and in three weeks you'll get your first three weeks of pills." Rose said as The Doctor sat in the chair beside her.

"John Smith, health and safety," He said, likely for the benefit of anyone listening, and flashed her the psychic paper.

Something definitely off here. Also, my memory of those glasses was not nearly as accurate as it should've been.

She met his eye, and he smirked while giving her a once over.

Rose rolled her eyes as she attuned her whole brain to her conversation with Beverly. An advantage of her unlocked Bad Wolf skills was that large, computer like brain of hers. Not like a Time Lord's, the Doctor had explained. She could only think of three things at once before getting a headache, and while making calculations was child's play, too many possibilities would send her mind in a spiral until she retreated into it and sorted it all out.

But for things like this, listening to two people at once, it was fantastic.

"Yes, you'll be billed forty-five pounds in a week."

"Are there any free gifts? Pens? Tote bags?" Beverley asked.

"Well, not those. You get an 18 carat gold Adipose Industries pendent." Rose said as cheerfully as possible, tapping her finger against her desk and indicating to the Doctor what she was talking about. He picked it up, looking it over.

"Oh, no tote bag?" Beverly said, sounding disappointed.

"18 carat gold, mate." Rose replied. "You could always sell it for the metal and probably get enough to cover three months of your pills."

"Oh," Beverly said. "Never thought of that."

"Rose," The Doctor said, and while she didn't turn to look at him while she finished up with good ol' Beverly, he continued. "Can you print us off the client list?"

She brought it up on another screen, flawlessly going between her collection of information from her over eager client and getting the Doctor what he needed.

"Where's the printer?" He asked her.

She muted her mic. "By the plant." She pointed, and he popped his head up.

"Brilliant," He said. "Paper?"

"One would hope," She replied before she ended her call.

"Excuse me, everyone, if I could have your attention." Miss Foster, the CEO, called over the room, and Rose rolled her eyes and got to her feet. Glancing down, she noticed the Doctor crouching lower, and furrowed her brow but didn't ask. "On average, you're each selling forty Adipose packs per day. It's not enough. I want one hundred sales per person per day. And if not, you'll be replaced. 'Cause if there's anyone good at trimming the fat, it's me. Now, back to it."

Rose sat down as the up tight blonde left the room with her lackeys in tow.

"And you were hiding, because?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"She was running the media conference I sorta snuck in to. The things she said, the name of the company," he shook his head. "Tell you about it at the end of the day." He said, bolting up and likely heading to the printer. Rose sighed, shook her head, and was about to close the client list when he popped back in her cubicle, leaning against the wall. "Funny thing," He said, rubbing his eyebrow before pulling on his ear. "Got to the printer, and…."

"Waited too long, someone took your list." She smirked, hitting print instead of close. "Best hope it wasn't anyone who would find that suspicious." She smiled up at him with her tongue between her teeth.

He chuckled in his throat. "Oh, are you going to punish me later?" He asked casually.

"Oh I can think of dozens of ways of punishing you, but none that you'd like," She quipped back, and he looked genuinely hurt before he winked and turned away. She vaguely heard him say hi to someone before he disappeared, and she peeked over her cubicle wall to make sure he got his papers this time. The view of him walking away wasn't too bad, either.

"Seriously?" She heard the woman from the next cubicle over growl. Clare, or Karen, or something. "You're married. Can you not flirt with the hot, available men?"

"Who said he's available." Rose replied, paying her cubicle neighbor no more attention and returned to her work.

~DWDWDW~

When she arrived back to the TARDIS at the end of the day, she heard the Doctor talking to himself, trailing off just as the door opened. His ears turned red, "I kinda forgot you weren't here." He admitted as she shut the door behind her.

"So just talking to the TARDIS then?" She said as the ship hummed happily for being recognized.

"More myself." He admitted, rubbing his face as Rose carried their takeaway up the ramp and toward the jumpseat. She plopped down, and he sat next to her, putting his feet up on the edge of the console and dropping an arm around her. "I was just noticing that those capsule are actually a bio-flip digital switch, specifically for the aid in Adipose reproduction."

"Sorry, what?" Rose asked, looking up at him.

He smiled fondly, dropping his feet and picking up each of her legs. After removing each of her shoes and dropping them carelessly on to the grating before taking one foot and kneading it. Rose's eyes rolled back in her head, and he chuckled in his throat.

"Adipose reproduction." He started explaining. "To my understanding they have a nursery planet which is sixty-four percent lipids. Each family has a designated zone, and those zones are seeded with, well, seeds made up from the genetics of the parents." He paused, switching feet. "I'm rusty on how they limit or increase the rate of reproduction, but essentially they use bio-flip switches a lot like the ones you lot are giving away with those pills. Which makes me wonder if maybe the human race isn't being used to seed new Adipose."

"Mmm." Rose hummed in agreement, enjoying the way his cool fingers found spots in her feet she didn't know were needing a rub.

"Have you been listening?" He asked with joy and a bit of cockiness in his voice.

"Seeding fat for babies, pendent looks like a switch. Got the gist." Rose replied. "If you hadn't been working miracles on my feet I'd have listened better."

"One can't help knowing all the pleasure centers in the human foot when one's mate is, in fact, a human. Besides, isn't this what husbands do for their wives after a long day of work?"

"Not my husband," She teased, grinning as she knew the affronted look he'd have without even seeing it.

"Oi, we're close enough. Sorta bonded, ring on your finger for five years."

"No ring on your finger." She countered.

"Not a Time Lord thing," He retorted. "And I did say I'd ask you in the next decade. Only been five years."

"Only. Hate to say this, Doctor, but if even Jack is starting to doubt you'll actually come around."

His lips pressed to hers, which Rose realized a moment too soon that it involved his adjusting his position to be half on top of her. "I promised," He murmured against his lips. "I wouldn't do that lightly. Just want everything to be perfect when it happens."

"Never gonna be your perfect Rose again, me." She said softly, opening her eyes to see his warm, loving brown ones locked on her gaze. "Done too much, have had too little redemption."

"You've never done anything that wasn't necessary," he said, quiet but firm. "My life in danger is your life in danger, which means it's all been self preservation."

"So how do you explain that week you could barely look at me?" She challenged.

The Doctor stood, rubbing his hand along his face. "It wasn't what I would have done. I didn't see the threat like you did, and, well, as I've said before, I couldn't look at you for a week because I realized I could have risked your life. You were there, dead in my arms for a couple minutes, and all I could think was how close I could have been to a to be the one to take that blast, and we aren't entirely sure what will happen if I regenerate. Time was I could be reckless and know you'd be alright, but now …."

"Oh, yes, of course, blame me for your being a little more cautious of your life." She growled, because this was how the argument always went.

The Doctor sighed. "Not tonight, please, please not tonight. It's been four days of not seeing you all that much and I don't want us to get into another spat where you go drinking on some planet with Jack which results in two months of what ever it is you two do."

Rose took a breath, closed her eyes, and focused.

She was not a bad person. She doesn't take life lightly. He was not placing blame, she knew that. They'd talked about this, and Bad Wolf was more blessing then curse. She was not the same as she was when they met, but then again neither was he and in more than just the obvious ways.

He cupped her cheek, defenses down. Love, concern, reassurance, regret, it flowed freely into her as his forehead touched hers.

"You will always be my perfect Rose." He said softly. "No matter how many thorns you think you have." She snorted, and the joy the pull of her lips had on him crashed over her. "I'm going to head to a couple of the clients' homes, pose as a door to door interview for the company. I could always use a gorgeous assistant."

"And what does this assistant do, exactly?" She asked, opening her eyes to see the argument had left his entirely.

"Take notes, notice the things I don't, generally show me up about fifty percent of the time. The usual."

"Alright, think I can manage that. After tea, I'm starved."

~DWDWDW~

It was the address closest to the TARDIS, so the walk was only about a half hour tops. She'd changed to flats, because no matter how comfortable those glorious, unearthly heels were there was no way she'd risk twisting her ankle in them.

Pulling the psychic paper from his pocket as they approached the door, the Doctor dropped her hand after sending one last little beat of affection. He knocked, and Rose straightened her blazer as they waited.

A thin enough man in his mid thirties opened the door, looking between the two of them, eyes lingering on her just a little longer.

"Hello, Mister Roger Davey, we're stopping by on behalf of Adipose Industries to ask you a few follow-up questions." The Doctor greeted with a smile, flashing the psychic paper which Roger glanced at briefly.

"Oh, yeah, sure, come in, come in." He said, stepping aside and letting them into his small, nice town house. He gestured for them to take a seat on the sofa, which both complied as Roger sat in the armchair. "Was a little pudgy after the divorce, absolutely had to find a way to shed it because nothing else was working." He said, still glancing at Rose fleetingly. "I've been on the pills two weeks, now. I've lost fourteen kilos." He said with a touch of pride.

"Blimey that's quite the drop in that amount of time." Rose said, looking him over. "Can't really need to lose that much more."

"Well, my goal was twenty kilos so I'll still use them for another six days to get there, maybe eight for a bit of a buffer." Roger replied.

"You make it sound like you're guaranteed a kilo a day." The Doctor noted.

"Hasn't wavered at all. One kilo, exactly. Wake up, and it's disappeared overnight." He said, pausing to consider. "Well, technically speaking it's gone by ten past one in the morning."

"What makes you say that?" The Doctor asked cautiously.

"That's when I get woken up by the burglar alarm. By the time I get it all shut off I figure I may as well weigh myself. "

"Burglar alarm?" Rose asked, arching her brow. "That doesn't worry you, neighborhood like this?"

"Not like it's bad," Roger reasoned.

"That's exactly it." Rose replied, standing and heading toward the kitchen, looking around for a back door. She noted one heading out to the back garden. "Grew up in the Estates me, and if we heard alarms it was no big deal. But I also know that anyone else would be a bit more concerned."

She heard Roger and the Doctor follow her in, and she turned to look inquisitively at the owner of the house.

"Well I was at first. Same time every night, driving me mad. Always just get to sleep and the alarm goes off. I've had experts in, I've had it replaced, I've even phoned Watchdog. But no, ten past one in the morning, off it goes."

"But with no burglars." The Doctor stated.

"Cat burglars maybe," Rose smirked, gesturing to the cat flap on the bottom. The Doctor knelt down, poking it with his sonic.

"It was there when I bought the house. Never bothered with it. Not a cat person."

"Well, maybe you're the type of person a cat likes?" Rose teased.

"Single and alone, sounds about right." Roger joked, putting his hands in his pockets as he rocked on the balls of his feet.

"Don't think it's cats," The Doctor said, and Rose looked down at him as he he looked up. "After all, the fat just walks away." He then stood up. "Well, thanks for your help, Roger. Tell you what, maybe you could lay off the pills for a week or so."

"You don't need'em anyway." Rose said with a wink, patting Roger on the arm and containing the giggle threatening when he blushed fiercely. She and the Doctor left Rogers house, looking up and down the street. "Where to now?" She asked.

"Well, now we should…." He stopped when something started beeping in his pocket.

Without much effort, he pulled out a palm sized device with three points and clear casing that had a bunch of lights on it. And without fully explaining, he started running.

"I'll see you at home," She called back, noting the hand in the air to state his acknowledgment before he turned a corner. "Don't get yourself killed." She grumbled to herself as she turned and started her walk back to the TARDIS.

Deep down Rose knew she should have gone with him, but she just didn't have it in her. He could have gotten hurt, or killed, or captured, and she'd have to hunt him or those who hurt him down if she was still alive, but she still let him go.

Because she was sure the last Time Lord in existence didn't always appreciate having a guard dog growl at anyone who so much as glares at him.

What must have it been like these last five years? Sure her instincts have simmered in the last couple years, and she didn't always react violently when there was perceived harm. But some part of him had to have hated how she was always right there. How emasculating must it be for him to have his mate be the one to toss around the bad guys around, or jump in and protect him from even the most minor threats. He never said anything about it, but she was sure it probably got to him on occasion. Hence why they likely started arguing earlier.

The TARDIS hummed in her mind the second she saw the blue box, a mix of comfort and chastising. 'You're not a bad person,' paired with, 'and don't you dare think otherwise.'

"Yes, yes," She mumbled as she fitted her key in the lock and turned it, giving the exterior a loving pat before stepping inside.

Rose walked up the ramp, her eyes falling on the hand in the jar under the console where the Doctor insisted they keep it, trying very hard to ignore the way it glowed gold for a second. She'd pointed it out once, but after staring at the hand for hours, the Doctor and her conceded that maybe she was seeing things. Then it happened again, here and there over the last five years, and every time she caught it she either tried ignoring it entirely or shivered involuntarily.

As much as she loved his hands, she really wish he didn't have the spare one kicking around where it could be all glowing and creepy.

Plopping down on the jumpseat, she shifted her body so she could lay back and close her eyes for a spell.

She'd no idea how long she was laying there before the doors opened, closed, and she heard him slump against them.

"I lost'em." He grumbled, and she opened her eyes to see him pulling on his hair.

"What were you doing, anyway?" She asked, sitting up and hugging her knees.

"I was using my animated lipid detector. It beeps when it's near thinking fat. In other words, it's an Adipose tracker."

She waited. "And…"

"And?" He asked as he came up the ramp, sitting on the spot she cleared for him.

"And what else does it do?"

He furrowed his brow. "It blinks a whole bunch?" And then he grinned. "I can make things that only have a single purpose, Rose."

"It's a first with me." She said, smiled with her tongue between her teeth.

"Oi," He said, getting her to giggle and he smiled brighter. "I miss that sound. You don't do it nearly as much as you used to."

"Getting better, though, yeah?" She asked.

He kissed her hairline, "Absolutely." He agreed. "So I feel as though we should move on to phase two of this mission tomorrow."

"Phase two, huh? What's phase two?" She asked, scooting to lay back on his lap. His fingers automatically moved to her hair.

"Phase two is we shut down this breeding operation that's going on. I don't know why there are Adipose being gestated on Earth, in humans, but it's got to stop. Because soon enough there will be millions of the little things running around, and that could mean trouble."

"Oh?" Rose said around a yawn.

He chuckled. "Still after all this time I forget just how human you are." He said, shifting his arms beneath her and lifting her effortlessly off his lap and down the hall to their bedroom.

Still blue walls with hardwood floors, accents of pink and blue with dark furniture, the only things that changed over the years were pictures added or changed, cosmetics cycled through, and the reading material resting on their night stands.

Rose was still awake enough to do it on her own, but she allowed the Doctor to undress her, handing her her sleep clothes while he stripped down to just his pants, and curled up in bed beside her. "You planning on sleeping too?" She asked.

He shrugged, "Planned to. Big day tomorrow, should be as well rested as possible. But if you had other activities in mind."

"Goodnight," She said in a sing-song way before giving him a kiss and curling into his side.

"Goodnight, Precious Girl." He said with reverence, long letting go the lack of day and night in the TARDIS argument and simply let things be.

~DWDWDW~

The nightmares came as they always had. Blood spilled by her own hands, and her uncaring, unfeeling. Faceless, insignificant, in her way, they all died and she walked away from the carnage with the strut of a goddess. Because Bad Wolf was that, and even with all her glorious time power taken from the body she'd chose she was still known, still feared, still unstoppable. And no one, absolutely no one, was above her.

Not even a Time Lord.

She woke up shaking, cold, sweating, and crying. The Doctor was clutching her tight, whispering her soft, soothing words in both English and Gallifreyan. The fingers of one of his cool hands stroked her hair in short, reverent strokes while the other hand drew his alphabet on her exposed stomach.

"They're safe," He whispered. "You didn't hurt anyone, it's fine, every thing's alright."

She laughed through a sob. "Aren't you supposed to say that I'm safe?" She said sardonically.

"I could see what you were dreaming of." He admitted. "So much contact with each other, walls down from sleep, was hard not to see."

"I'm sorry," She whispered, the tears still coming rapidly though her breathing was steady.

"You've seen how often I dream of the day I …. You know what it's like for me, you don't have to apologize."

"You say that every time," She noted, running her fingers along his chest, under the sparse hair.

"Because you always feel the need to apologize." He countered, kissing her forehead and easing his grip on her. "Here for each other, Rose. Better or worse, dreams or nightmares, always."

She smiled at that, leaning back and not stopping him at all as he kissed her deeply. She didn't give pause as he gently rolled her on to her back, nor when the hum of the TARDIS slowly quieted as if she left the room. When he hovered above her, her hands went in his hair to ensure he wouldn't pull away. She nodded as best she could when she felt him tug on her bottoms.

It wasn't habitual for them to make love after one of them had a nightmare, but tonight she needed it. She needed to be grounded, to know she could still love, feel, and he knew it.

~DWDWDW~

She went to work for the last time that day, feeling a little less rested than she'd like but she wasn't about to complain. Rose went in wearing her flats, pants that looked closer to the yoga variety than the professional kind, but made sure to wear a gorgeous sweater to detract from the dress down.

She only half heartedly took calls, and never once did she input anyone's credit card numbers. Bad enough, she realized, that these poor fools were being virtually impregnated with aliens, but now she realized that they invaders were making a profit off it. She hoped the banks were prepared to correct a few million charges.

Just as lunch rolled around, she was sent a text message. Fully expecting it be Jack, she was surprised to see a blocked number.

Unknown: Use your super phone to track this number. Come see me when you can.

How and when did the Doctor find a cell phone?

Rose shook her head, set aside her head set, and used her phone and a handy app to track him. It paid to have a phone from the future, even if it was only a few years ahead of this one.

The tracker lead her down to the basement, and her HC Clements familiarity was creeping up on her once again as she came to a small metal door. Thankfully, no Torchwood logo. She'd have to have had a few words with the Captain if there had been.

"I know you're out there, hold on." She started at the Doctor's voice echoing with out reverberating, and the whir of the sonic following shortly. The small, metal door swung out, and he stood in the doorway looking quite proud of himself and his hiding spot.

"Seriously, broom closet?" She eased with an arched brow, crossing her arms and shifting her hips.

"Much more than a broom closet in here," He said, beckoning her in.

"Better be more than you, too." She said before heading inside as asked.

Once she was inside the small space, he closed the door and soniced the lock. She arched an eyebrow, and he twitched his before he became serious and turned to the wall behind him. He removed a panel, revealing a large machine with green back lighting.

"What is that?" Rose asked, shifting around him to have a better look.

"I think this is the computer that regulates the bio-switches. From this machine one could increase or decrease the amount of Adipose born per night. And make it so they would be born at night, the less likely to draw attention if most of London's asleep." He explained as Rose looked it over, her brain calculating everything she could see.

"Triple deadlock," She noted.

"Yep," he grumbled, popping the 'p' anyway.

"So what's your plan?" She asked, looking it over for something he might have missed.

"Probably going to wait around here until everyone leaves, take a gander at the CEO's office, see what turns up. Wanna join?"

"Could do," Rose said, straightening up, having a look up top. "But I could hack the system. Find the codes to shut this down."

"Not a bad idea." The Doctor agreed. "So I guess we'll just … wait."

"You stayin'? Not much more you can do in here." She said as she turned toward him.

"I can think of lots of things we could do in here." He said as he glanced around the space.

"When did you become so licentious?" She asked furrowing her brow and shaking her head, crossing her arms and careful not to accentuate anything.

"When did you become less so?" He asked in turn, mirroring her pose.

She grinned. "Five years, not even married, and look at us." She stuck her tongue between her teeth for a beat. "Not even in my thirties and already we seem like an old married couple. What's it gonna be like when I hit a hundred? Or Older? How long do Time Lords live?"

The Doctor considered this. "I have two regenerations left, providing I don't decide to get into some kind of mischief and you can't save me, we could have a few thousand years left." He said, moving his head back and forth.

"Well, a slight drop in normal activities isn't gonna kill ya, so pace yourself. Thousand years is a long time." She said, reaching out and fixing his tie, pointedly avoiding his affectionate gaze for fear he may feel too domesticated if he noticed. "Now, I need to eat. Shall we go out together or are you happy in your cubby?" She did glance up then, and he grinned manically before rifling through his pockets.

He pulled a brown paper bag out of his left one.

"Made you lunch, Sweetheart." He teased, handing it to her as his expression suddenly changed to thoughtful. "Oh, Sweetheart. Never called you that before."

"Yes you have," She said absently as she opened the bag to see a fancy looking sandwich, a banana, and bottle of water.

"When?" He asked, and she considered when that happened.

"Huh," She said when the fuzzy memories fluttered through her mind. "Maybe you haven't." She replied, realizing that this could be the point he starts the habit that future Doctor had.

"Oh well. Anyway. You may eat your lunch here in my cubby, or you can go back up to your cubicle and munch at your desk."

In response, Rose got down on the floor, sitting lotus style as she pulled out the sandwich and took a bite. The Doctor joined her, though neither spoke much in that time. It was nice, quiet, the calm before the storm, and Rose was grateful for the moment when she was unsure what was going to come.


A/N: See you Sunday or Monday.