Title: Changing Customs
Rating: PG
Character/s: Nine/Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 143: Foreign Customs. Set during mid-Season 1.
"Um, Doctor?" Rose muttered quietly so the dangerous-looking group gathered around them wouldn't hear. "Is it just me, or does this seem like a wedding ceremony?"
The Doctor snorted. "Of course not, Rose. It's a greeting custom of this planet. Give it time, you'll get used to the cultural differences."
The panther-like creature in front of them clasped the Doctor's hand in Rose's, and the group bared their teeth expectantly.
"Kiss now!" the creature hissed.
"Ah. The customs seem to have changed."
Rose rolled her eyes and pulled him into a kiss. Best to keep the crowd happy, after all.
Title: Alien
Author: Queen of the Castle
Rating: G
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 3: Alien. Set during 'Rose'.
The Doctor and his ship were alien. If she hadn't seen it herself, she wouldn't have quite believed it. Oh, he didn't seem exactly like any other normal bloke, what with blowing up her job and the living plastic. Still, his hand, though cold, had felt human in hers.
She'd been looking for an escape without even realising. An unexpected alien seemed just about perfect to her.
Still, as she ran towards the big blue box, away from Mickey and her life, she nonetheless found herself hoping that he wasn't all that different to humans in the ways that mattered.
Title: Beautiful
Author: Queen of the Castle
Rating: PG
Character/s: Rose, Nine
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 19: Dressed / Undressed. Set during 'The Unquiet Dead'.
The wardrobe room has no lock. The privacy of her room is too far away, though, if she finds she needs to add to her costume. So she shucks her clothing right where she stands beside the clothing racks, knowing the Doctor could find her naked at any moment.
Wouldn't that be interesting.
She's a little put out when it doesn't happen. Just a little.
But the Doctor makes up for it, albeit in his 'I'm an alien and I can't admit these things properly' way, when he takes one look at her, now dressed, and tells her she's beautiful.
Title: Routines Without Domesticity
Rating: G
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 64: Tea. Set during Season 1.
It was one of the few routines in a life as far from domestic as he could manage.
"My Mum always did this," Rose had said the first time she'd set the kettle to boil. "One last cuppa at the end of the day."
The Doctor hated to think about sharing anything beyond an affection for Rose with Jackie Tyler. But he'd heard the tone of sad longing in Rose's voice. For her, he managed this one mutual custom.
Every (relative) night, they drank tea together in the kitchen. Rose smiled softly each and every time. It was worth it.
Title: The Press of a Button
Rating: G
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 74: Exterminate. Set during 'Dalek'.
He's killed her. The Doctor has killed Rose Tyler with just the press of a button. He stupidly thought, after they somehow survived through that missile in Downing Street with barely a scratch on either of them, that they could get through anything together.
Maybe that's the problem. They hadn't been together this time. He let her go off alone, and so he wasn't there to save her. Worse, he's the one who condemned her.
As if it wasn't permanently scarred into his mind already, the harsh cry of 'Exterminate!' will haunt his dreams for an entirely new reason now.
Title: The Precarious Tightrope of Reality
Rating: PG
Character/s: Rose, Nine, Mickey, Jack
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 84: Charade. Set during 'Boomtown'.
Rose flirts back at Jack, but she never initiates it herself.
Rose agrees to go to a hotel with Mickey, but being with him feels like purposely falling into a safety net when she should be at least trying to walk the precarious tightrope.
She's almost glad for the alien interruption, because both she and Mickey know it's a charade. She loves him, but it's over.
She and the Doctor are the ones dancing now. Around each other rather than together, granted, but that's just for show. Rose knows what she wants.
She just wishes they could drop the act.
Title: Experienced Rider
Rating: PG
Character/s: Rose, Nine
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 88: Spook. Set during Season 1.
"Woah!"
Rose's horse suddenly reared. The Doctor was at her side in a flash, one hand steadying her and the other running over the horse's neck, calming it.
"I'm fine," she said. "I must've done something."
"No, something's spooked it."
A minute later she was on his horse instead, with him sitting behind her. His arms rested on either side of her body, holding the reigns. "There you are. Experienced rider, me. No worries of a horse knocking you off now."
Rose knew he actually wanted her close in case of trouble, but said nothing, simply leaning back into him.
Title: Going Against the Grain
Rating: G
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 103: Gracious / Ungrateful. Set during 'Father's Day'.
She had no concept of just how much he'd put himself on the line in that moment when she'd asked if they could try again. He'd known it was a terrible idea. It went against everything he'd ever believed to risk a paradox just for her peace of mind. But it was what she'd wanted, so he'd agreed. Of course he'd agreed. How could he say no to her?
Now Rose was acting like she had every right to throw that in his face. For a moment, he wondered if she had more in common with Adam than he'd realised.
Title: Inexplicably Drawn to You
Rating: G
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 105: Last Call. Set during 'Rose'.
He doesn't normally actually invite people onto the TARDIS. He certainly never expected to invite someone now, with the Time War still hanging over his head like a raging storm.
But she's fantastic, and he can't help but want to have her along.
She says no.
One invitation should have been more than enough. It apparently isn't. He refuses to beg. So he leaves her behind.
He can't help but go back for her.
She gets this one last offer and that's it. If she says no, he'll never see her again.
She doesn't. She says yes.
His hearts pound.
Title: Conflicting Desires
Rating: PG
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 107: Wrestling. Set during Season 1.
What was the use of a Time Lord who couldn't even master himself?
The Doctor wondered that as his double heartbeat sped at the sight of Rose bending over to grab something from a storage box underneath the console.
Part of him wanted to protect that still-far-too-young girl from all of the things in the universe that might hurt her. Another part of him seemed very much to want to become the exact sort of thing from which he wanted to protect her.
Rassilon, but he wanted her. Wrestling with himself over that fact was sure to drive him mad.
Title: So Alien
Rating: PG
Character/s: Rose, Nine, Jabe
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 108: Plant. Set during 'The End of the World'.
She's a tree who talks. Who flirts, even. And the Doctor flirts right along with her.
Right, Rose thinks. Clearly there's a lot to get used to, travelling through time and space.
The Doctor goes off with his tree friend. Rose makes a joke about it, because she can't quite admit that she doesn't want him to go. It's not that she really minds that he's apparently found someone. It's just... all of the people around her are so obviously alien, and he's less so. He grounds her.
Rose takes a deep breath and prepares to stand on her own.
Title: Too Easily Swayed
Rating: G
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 110: Fool. Set during 'Father's Day'.
He almost didn't blame her at all for the stupidity of changing time. It was her father, and she was right there and already immeasurably upset. Of course she wanted to save him. And of course she didn't understand the consequences. Not even he'd immediately realised how much that one mistake could cost.
It was himself he blamed. He knew it was a bad idea to take her there in the first place, and an even worse idea to try again. It made them vulnerable, but he hadn't cared. Because she'd asked. And he could never say no to her.
Title: Looking For An End
Rating: PG
Character/s: Rose, Nine
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 159: Useless. Set during 'Rose'.
"You were useless," she says. Even though she obviously means it as a joke, he knows it's true. He'd be dead right now, but for her.
He's not entirely certain whether to thank her for preventing that.
He realises then that he's been more reckless than ever since the War. He's been completely useless at getting out of trouble once he's found it, looking for an end without realising it.
This bright young girl seems like she'd keep him in touch with the universe.
He asks. She says no.
He knows that he needs her, though. So he asks again.
Title: Poetry
Rating: G
Character/s: Rose, Nine
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 161: Poetry. Set during Season 1.
"Can't we go to an uprisin'? Or maybe catch the nearest guerrilla war?"
"Harriet Jones was right. You're a violent little human, aren't you?"
"Come on. I wanna save some lives, or go hurtlin' through space in some tin can that's barely worth the name 'ship'. Not just sit around listenin' to melodramatic rhymes."
The Doctor scoffed. "Oh, Rose, you shouldn't have said that. Now I have to show you just how wrong you are."
"An alien invasion," she begged. "Any invasion, you pick. Please."
The Doctor wouldn't yield.
Rose sighed, knowing she was beaten. "Right. Poetry it is, then."
Title: Holding Her Ground
Rating: PG
Character/s: Rose, Nine
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 173: Ordnance. Set during 'Dalek'.
Rose's first thought in the momentary panic of having a massive weapon pointed at her is that the Doctor never carries a gun, so that can't be the Doctor. The second thought is that she needs to get out of the line of fire now.
But then Rose sees the wild look. It's the same one that's been hidden behind his eyes since she met him. Her brain unfreezes, and Rose realises that this is the Doctor as he was at the end of the Time War.
She can't let him go back to that. So she holds her ground.
Title: Comfort Food
Rating: G
Character/s: Rose, Nine
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 177: Chips. Set during 'The End of the World'.
Chips have always been comfort food for Rose. She still hasn't quite managed to work the weight off from the time after the Jimmy Stone debacle. She'd needed a hell of a lot of comfort.
The Doctor, she thinks, already understands this about her. She asks for chips instead of addressing whether she wants to leave, and somehow he knows that she just needs that bit of reassurance, of home. She savours a vinegar-smothered chip in her mouth. He grins as he watches her, and it's infectious.
She pokes her tongue at him, and knows that things will be okay.
Title: Magic in the Universe
Rating: G
Character/s: Rose, Nine
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 190: Nebula / Nebulous. Set in Season 1.
"So there's such things as mind-readin', teleports, spaceships, and super-intelligent sponges, of all things. But you're tellin' me that with all that in the universe, magic doesn't exist anywhere? In all of time and space?"
"A lot of things get called magic, but that's just primitive species trying to describe the fantastic. There's always another explanation."
Rose shook her head. "I don't believe that. That's just you bringin' it back to science."
"Everything is down to science, Rose."
Rose took his hand in hers, and looked out at the beauty of the nebula the TARDIS had landed near. "Not everythin'."
Title: The One Worthwhile Thing
Rating: G
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 198: Dog Days. Set during 'The Parting of the Ways'.
He has to blabber on about Barcelona and dogs. Otherwise he'll have to face the fact that he's dying, and that he'll never see Rose again. Not with these eyes, anyway.
She smiles when he jokes about dog's noses. He needs to see her wonderful smile. He needs to hold on to that memory when he goes. Because if there was one thing he did in this incarnation that was worthwhile, it was going back and asking her a second time. That smile alone would have made it worthwhile. But there's so much more than that.
He misses her already.
Title: Boyfriends
Rating: G
Character/s: Nine, Rose/Mickey
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 209: Domestic. Set during Season 1.
"Oh, come on," Rose said. "We've gotta go refuel in Cardiff anyways. I'm just asking you to tell me what time you're aiming for so I can let Mickey know. Is that so hard?"
Of course it is, the Doctor thinks. He's not keen on having her boyfriends anywhere near him or his ship.
He tells himself that it's because he doesn't want her making his TARDIS all domestic. How many times does he have to remind her that he just doesn't do that?
He refuses to consider that maybe he really doesn't want to admit she has a boyfriend.
Title: The Angel on His Shoulder
Rating: G
Character/s: Rose, Nine.
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 222: Oust. Set just post-'The Long Game'.
"Was that a good idea?" Rose asked.
"What?" the Doctor snapped, his temper still short.
"Leaving Adam there like that."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "He must have been very pretty for you to still want him on board."
"No," Rose denied. "I'm glad you threw him out. It's just... that head thing. What if someone finds out? It's not exactly as if it's not noticeable. Imagine if 21st century humans got their hands on that."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "All right, we'll check on him. Honestly, you're such hard work."
Rose just grinned, her tongue sticking out teasingly.
Title: All That Was Left
Rating: PG
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 238: Expunge. Set during 'Bad Wolf'.
She was right there only moments ago, the Doctor reflected with strange detachment. She'd been running towards him, so close to the safety of his arms, and then she wasn't.
She'd been completely obliterated. He might have found it easier to quantify if there'd been a body, but she'd been so thoroughly expunged from the universe that all that was left was the dust he was running his fingers through.
The Doctor yanked his hand away as if he'd been burned. That couldn't be the last memory he had of touching Rose. The thought horrified him.
She was really gone.
Title: Invisible Spaceships and 'Our Song'
Rating: PG
Character/s: Nine, Rose, Jack
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 245: Flummox. Set during 'The Doctor Dances'.
He doesn't need Rose to say that she doesn't see the Doctor as a man. Invisible spaceships and 'our song' make it clear enough. Then she completely confuses him by instantly changing her mind the minute he insinuates that maybe he's more of a man than she realises.
She's got the attention of her handsome 'Captain', who seems to be about everything Rose looks for in a bloke. Rose could have Jack at a moment's notice. So the Doctor really can't figure out why she's suddenly looking at him that way instead.
Humans. He doesn't think he'll ever understand them.
Title: Keeping Him on His Toes
Rating: PG
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 288: Sterling. Set during Season 1.
She argued with him constantly, refusing to take his word for anything or let things lie, no matter how many walls he put up around himself. She was ridiculously prone to getting into trouble, so that she managed to nearly get herself or both of them killed in most of the places they visited. She let pretty boys hang around, and cared a bit too much, and generally annoyed the life out of him half of the time.
He never wanted her to leave.
Rose Tyler was a sterling companion. If nothing else, she kept the Doctor on his toes.
Title: Bigger Than You
Rating: PG
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 300: Ichor. Set during Season 1.
"Ow. Ow!" Rose cried out. "Stop touching it!"
The Doctor sniped, "Well, it wouldn't hurt if you'd told me you were injured, would it? Yes, that's definitely infected. There's puss and discharge and –"
"Ugh!" Rose interrupted. "Gross. I get the point. Sorry for not tellin' you, but you had bigger things to deal with."
"Bigger things than you?" the Doctor asked. "Never. You get hurt, you tell me."
"All right," Rose grumbled. "I've learned my lesson, swear. Now, can you fix it?"
The Doctor helped Rose back to the TARDIS, muttering under his breath about apes the whole way.
Title: Taking the Blame
Author: Queen of the Castle
Rating: G
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 44: Sick. Set during Season 1.
Rose moans piteously as he gently sets her down so he can unlock the TARDIS doors.
"Hold on," he says softly.
When he lifts her again, she thrashes weakly against him. Not even her loose fist whacking his already too-large nose makes his grip falter. He's done enough to hurt her.
It's his fault for not remembering the 8709 Indo-Chinese plague. Even the locals, with superior immune systems, were ravaged by it. Of course Rose would be affected.
If the TARDIS couldn't cure her in time, he'd never forgive himself.
"Just hold on," he repeats, and this time he's begging.
Title: Things She Can Never Do
Author: Queen of the Castle
Rating: G
Character/s: Rose, Nine, Jackie
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 47: Missing. Set during 'Aliens of London'.
She's been 'missing' for 12 months, and her Mum's been frantic. Not so frantic that she didn't make up some story about au pairing in France to appease Rose's relatives, mind, but she still feared Rose was dead.
"I can't do that to her again," Rose tells the Doctor.
But Rose already knows that there's no chance she can stay. She's seen too much, and there's so much more out there. How could she forget that?
And it would mean leaving him. She's only been with him a few days, but Rose already knows she never wants to do that.
Title: The Beginning of Something Fantastic
Author: Queen of the Castle
Rating: G
Character/s: Nine, Rose
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 48: Beginning. Set during 'Rose'.
When he steers a young blonde woman out of danger, he has no idea that he's begun something fantastic. He quickly notices that she has potential, but so do millions of other people on this planet and this time alone.
He meets her again and thinks that if he'd been the sort of man who went out of his way to ask people to travel with him, he might consider her.
When she saves his life and really impresses him, he does ask her along. Twice. And that's when he knows that he's started something very different with this girl.
