A/N. Martha, oh, Martha… I am so sorry! (It will be fine. Martha will be fine. Bear with me.)
Previously…
"Anything you want," he licked his lips hungrily, yet the way he said these words has almost made Martha Jones lose her breath.
Anything…
Chapter Four
Games
"I'll take anything you can give me," Rose Tyler muttered, aware the Doctor's definition of anything had a lot of exceptions. Some words were never to be uttered, some topics were never to be touched upon … She knew her playing a woman of easy virtue was something neither of them would have even thought about, had the situation not been like this. However, she chose not to push her luck any further. Even if that could have worked as a justifiable reason for her to say and do things somewhat more open in nature.
Having firmly decided to avoid the risk of tarnishing their relationship, the fair-haired human was forced to abandon the safe path at once. By none other than the Doctor, his lips suddenly dangerously close to her ear, as he has but breathed the hasty words to her, as if afraid this were the only opportunity left for him to do so.
"Do you really think there are things I wouldn't give you if you asked?" The Time Lord was watching her intently, unmoving. Merely uttering these words to her – to Rose - was something the Doctor himself was terrified of doing.
Instead of answering, Rose gave a barely noticeable turn of her head towards Martha. It was obvious the dark-skinned girl was still mutely following their conversation, although it was as quiet as it could get and the girl could not have understood a word.
"So, as I was saying," he cleared his throat, winking at the pink and yellow human. "Allons-y?"
Rose gave him a wide smile, albeit it did not reach her eyes. "Yes." She was unnaturally tense. Nothing felt real any more. Not with the playful smirk on the Doctor's lips. Not when her blood-red lips were where his eyes were fixed on more often than not. As if he-
The Doctor's room happened to be much further away than they had expected. Just far enough for the tension to die down somewhere in the middle of the way. It only took a smile from the Time Lord for Rose to shake her unease away.
Apparently, that was enough for the Doctor as well. He stopped. Not wanting to let go of the alien, so did Rose.
"Rose?" he spoke quietly.
"Yes?"
"Rose…"
"I'm here," she tapped his shoulder good-naturedly. "In the middle of a never-ending corridor I don't remember seeing."
"That's because it has never been here before," the Doctor smiled. The TARDIS and her antics… It was clear to him this was only because Rose was back.
"Rose-" he cleared his throat again. "Tell me what is disturbing you. Please." The distant look in her eyes could only mean something was wrong. Of course, there was the call-girl thing…
Apparently, he was right.
"I don't even know how a proper prostitute should behave."
"Sad eyes, usually looking down in shame?"
"I see Pretty Woman wasn't exactly educational," she smiled softly at him, remembering the day – and the said film they had decided on watching when Rose had asked the TARDIS for something sweet to watch – as if it were yesterday.
"Not really," the Doctor agreed. Not when his companion had gone all teary in multiple parts of it. "But I suppose it's for the better," he eyed her thoughtfully. "Unless, of course, you are up for making it even more challenging," the Gallifreyan teased her softly.
"More… what?" Rose did not dare to hope he meant more intimate. Even something as ordinary as kissing was a no-no for her Doctor. They were touching all the time, anyway.
"Er- something more… more believable."
With you shying away from anything out of your comfort zone? "More believable, as in- me being the call-girl, you being the client? How is this even supposed to work?" Rose forced a smile.
His eyes widened. "Rose!" However quiet, it sounded nearly deafening for both the Doctor and his blonde companion still in the TARDIS corridor. The alien knew they were too far away from the two girls to be heard, yet he mused uncomfortably.
Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Shush, Doctor. I am trying to play by the rules we were given. Would you please cooperate?"
The Doctor's eyes were unconsciously following the movement of her lips again.
The blonde caught his stare. "What?"
"You're beautiful, Rose," he said simply, careful not to allow any of his masterfully-hidden emotions slip through.
"Will you say it more often now that I am wearing this lipstick? Or do you have a secret liking of people wearing your clothes?" Rose smiled, afraid to take his words for granted.
His suit jacket was visibly too tight for her, but Rose said nothing on it. It was very likely going to stay one of the most personal experiences concerning the Doctor's things touching her bare flesh.
"If it's you wearing it," he shrugged, suddenly looking away, albeit allowing a playfully flirtatious tone colour his voice. "It's not often we get to share clothes like this."
The companion sent him an intense look, happy he turned back to meet at least the last glimpse of it. "Would you rather we did?" she breathed. "Doctor?"
"How do you think?" his voice was no louder.
Rose bit her lip, not in the mood for games, the situation complicated as it were.
The Doctor immediately saw her tension returning and proved he truly was the best one when it came to dropping the subject. "Should we continue looking for my room, or?"
Rose cleared her throat. "Yeah. The sooner this farce is over and done with, the better…"
"Is my room where the said kindergarten is, d' you reckon?" The Time Lord was visibly having much fun with all of this.
"Maybe," the girl shrugged. There were other things she needed to know. The seriousness of her expression made the Doctor shudder.
"Go ahead, Rose," he encouraged. I have spent way too much time in not telling you things.
Rose was not surprised about him being able to see when she needed to talk to him… but the fact the Doctor encouraged her to do so was a new thing. Wasn't everything?
She did not waste time, afraid he might change his mind any second. "They- Donna told me you were sad, because you thought I wouldn't be here to join you…"
He gave her a brisk nod.
The companion smiled at him sincerely. "I am here and am not leaving you, my Doctor," her voice fell the moment the Doctor sent her a warning glance, pressing their hands firmly together. Something was off. They were no longer alone.
A familiar voice addressed the Doctor. Martha.
"Need some help? I see your friend has forgotten her manners. It's only obvious she would have to leave soon-"
Rose was watching the Doctor's face darken, but said nothing.
"No. What are you doing here, in the first place?"
Martha took his question as a permission. "I realised you can't have gone far. It's not that your room is anywhere close, anyway," she smirked – dared to smirk at him! The Doctor glared at her, but allowed her to continue. The TARDIS and he would need to have a serious talk afterwards.
"I thought the sooner I caught you the quicker you got me back to where I need to be. Besides, the ship not showing you to your room immediately might mean she is against you bringing strangers on board. Of course, your call-girl might not understand the specifics, considering her probably non-existent education- no offense, dear-"
Rose blinked, trying to breathe as inaudibly as possible, knowing she should feel sorry for the disillusioned companion.
The Doctor exhaled, furious. This was it. "Martha." She tried to meet his eyes, but he looked at the other woman instead. "Are you okay?" the tenderness in his voice was self-explicatory.
"Getting used to this," Rose brushed it off.
"No offence taken," she glanced at Martha.
The Doctor was incredulous. "Yes?"
"Oh… This is a part of my daily life. Don't worry. All you need to do now is send her to her exam. We could talk afterwards, yeah?"
"And do all the other things?" he remembered the role he was supposed to be playing.
"That's what I'm getting paid for," the blonde breathed out, a seductive smile on her lips.
Martha found the strength to address the girl then. "Might I give you a personal question? Just one?"
Rose nodded.
"What is so special about you?"
"Nothing. I'd say I'm just an ordinary human woman," she shrugged.
The Doctor felt like banging his head to the wall. This was getting off-hand far too quickly, but he was determined to keep the ball rolling until told otherwise.
"Not ordinary. She's… she's a real expert in her field," the Doctor's eyes burned Rose's, who concentrated on keeping the treacherous blush off her face.
Rose glared at him, then at Martha. "It was a real pleasure talking to you, but I think you should leave us," she spoke in a business-like voice. "We have urgent things to attend to, he and I."
The dark-skinned companion did not need to be told twice.
Martha was back in console room in minutes, her face pale as chalk.
"What is it? Have you come upon them doing something?" Donna approached her innocently.
"No. Not yet. Who is she?"
"How should I know?"
"He knows her very well, apparently."
The ginger eyed her. "That's only understandable."
"What?"
Donna stared at Martha, visibly scandalised. "In simple terms? It's none of our business!"
"What possessiveness," Rose teased the Doctor moments after the girl was out of sight. "It seems she has a crush on you," she noted.
"Probably," he agreed, noticing a door right next to them. "This must be ours," he smiled. "Er. Mine. Yep. This has to be the door to my room. Ladies first!"
Rose grinned and stepped inside.
The candles must have been the old girl's idea. The clothes… her clothes, neatly folded on the king-sized bed- Rose shook her head, incredulous. The Doctor barely ever slept. "Is this her idea, too?"
His wide eyes answered the question.
"Romantic, are you, TARDIS?" Rose muttered, not expecting for a reply. The situation was very disturbing, indeed.
The Doctor was too shocked to say anything.
The pink and yellow human noticed the said photos on the walls then.
"Oh! I wish I could have had some of these with me, when-" she touched some of those she could reach tenderly, smiling at the memories.
"Promise me one thing," the Doctor spoke huskily, having found his tongue at long last.
"Anything," Rose assured him.
"Don't leave me again?"
"Never intended to," she smiled.
The Doctor's lips softly brushed the top of her head. Rose shivered.
"What is it? Does this- does this make you uncomfortable?"
Rose shook her head. Silly Doctor. "No. It's getting a bit cold, that's all."
The alien shrugged. "The temperature is fixed by the TARDIS to suit my companions' needs, you know that." He has adjusted fairly easily, barely feeling the slight increase in warmth in the ship nowadays. "Or do you mean-"
The fair-haired human shrugged. "I could do with some sleep, in theory."
"Are you tired?" The Doctor was purposefully ignoring the ship's intended plan.
Rose did not think she could allow herself to fall asleep any time soon. "No. Do you know how much time a… well, a paid-for service of- sexual nature takes?"
The Doctor grinned. "As if I knew."
"Well… we could have a… a quickie… or…" Rose was red in shame, the candle-light only intensifying the effect.
"We could, he agreed. "But with you being the highest-class call-girl, known across the galaxies? I don't think a quick shag would do."
A/N. Talking does not mean anything. As of yet. :)