"There's been a fire in the lab! Everything's burnin' up! There was still people there. I've got to go! You lot stay here. I'll keep you posted," Pete said in distress, rushing out of the house.
"No, I'm comin' with you!" Rose protested, following her father to the car.
"Oh, me too. Can't miss out on that!" The Doctor chimed in happily.
Arrangements were made, and moments later, the TARDIS materialized in front of the Vitex headquarters.
The whole floor number fourteen was on fire.
He held her hand as they ran across the street, past the firemen, straight into the building. Running into trouble was what they seemed to do best. Why should that day be any different?
~oOo~
Two weeks with the Doctor and Rose was already used to being in trouble. No wonder, really, as it happened every-single-day , and she didn't really mind. She hated to see suffering, pain and loss, but they always saved what they could, and in the end, they solved a great deal of problems all over the universe. This time, they had to save the one thing her father was most proud of: his company. Rose would never forget all the late nights her dad had spent at the office or his tired eyes in the morning at breakfast, when he never failed to kiss her on the forehead before leaving for work, even though he slept for what, two, three hours a night. And her mum, always packing him lunch and making sure that he'd get some peace and calm after he got home from work, even though she too worked a full-time job until just a few years ago. Her parents loved each other, and they both worked hard for their current life.
Losing Vitex would likely destroy her dad. It was his pride and joy, she knew that.
They've ran into their first obstacle as soon as they crossed the street. The firemen, policemen and medical personnel wouldn't allow them inside, no matter the Doctor's stubborn persuasion. Figures, the emergency crew considered them to be regular civilians, which she very well may have been, but the Doctor most certainly was not. Besides, the fire didn't start until the fourteenth floor, and according to the Doctor, that's where they'd find all their answers. Conclusion: they had to come up with a different solution, as fighting their way through dozens of fit blokes was just not going to happen.
"There's a back door? We could go through that," she offered. They were standing by the TARDIS again, after being threatened with immediate arrest if they didn't leave the firemen alone. The Doctor was a bit too loud, and she a bit too unwilling to surrender.
He pondered her suggestion and then shook his head. "Naaah, there's bound to be more of them higher up. Why did the psychic paper say that I was a professor of fireology? Is it broken? New screwdriver, new psychic paper, and guess who's gonna do all the work..." he grumbled, pacing back and forth.
"Well, we've got to get up there! The whole floor is burnin' up! There might still be people in there!"
"What we need to do," he said thoughtfully, "is get up there and find the source of the fire. This isn't an accident, Rose. Jin'lar likely used the labs for his own benefit, and remember, in Earth's time, the whole thing happened just a few hours ago! This might be some sort of a, weeeell, emergency back-up system, if you will. The creator is gone, everything goes boom! Rather primitive, that. And a little violent. Me, I'm not a big fan of violence. Talking, talking is what solves problems! Or my sonic screwdriver. That is, when it actually works."
"You mean we have to jump straight into the fire?" she asked in disbelief. She still wasn't quite over him so obviously running away from her like what, twenty minutes earlier, and now this...
His face brightened considerably at her question. He grabbed her by the shoulders with a manic, happy grin on his face, and she almost thought he'd pull her in for a hug, but of course, he didn't. Why on earth would he? Get a grip, Rose! There's a fire going on!
"Now, Rose Tyler, that is brilliant! Yes, yes it is! Although, we won't be jumping into the fire. We'll be flying into it! Come on!"
He pushed her inside the TARDIS, nearly making her stumble and fall, but when she lost her balance, his hands quickly grabbed her by the waist to keep her upright. The strangely intimate contact made her feel uneasy; like she couldn't decide whether she wanted him to bring her closer or to leave her alone. She steadied herself and shied away from him, then went on to the consoles. When she looked back over her shoulders, she found him dazed, but it didn't last long. He shook his head and followed, that smug, happy grin finding its way back on his face.
"We'll just fly the TARDIS straight into the lab! I'll activate the shields, so we'll be able to step out and look around without getting too scorched. It'll just be a tad warm. Warm is nice, isn't it? You humans always complain about the cold! Then I'll just do some, err, jiggery-pokery on whatever's wrong, fire's fixed, everything is peachy! Now then, hold on tight!"
Giving her no time to react to his insane idea, he pulled at the levers and sent them flying for like, two seconds, during which she managed to nearly twist her arm while she held on to the railing. Another thing to be aware of when traveling with the Doctor: he simply can't drive his ship without it turning into this, um, earthquake of sorts. 's alright, though. Part of the fun.
Flying straight into a fire didn't sound that fun, but it was her dad's company. She took a deep breath and followed the Doctor out of the TARDIS, prepared for the worst.
She might have thought herself prepared for just about anything, but she was not quite prepared for what they found upon arriving at their destination.
The flames were very close to them, not close enough to burn their skin, but definitely close enough to make her feel much, much too hot. They weren't far inside the lab, no, in fact, the staircase was just a few feet away from them... And down the stairs, behind a couple of firemen who were trying to douse the raging fire, were her parents. Yes, both her parents, the pair of them seemingly frozen as they watched their daughter step out of a blue box, which appeared out of nowhere, mere seconds before.
"ROSE! Rose, what on earth-"
"Sweetheart! Oh, Rose, what are you doing here? What's this? How'd you even get in here? Are you alright?!"
"Lady, you've got to get out of here! I said, no civilians! You're gonna get hurt!"
"That's my daughter, right there! Get her out!"
"Miss! Sir! Are you okay?"
Everything was a blur, her surroundings steaming hot and hazy. How would she ever explain all this to them? How did they even manage to come up when she and the Doctor were not allowed to? Probably 'cos her dad owned the company, but still... It wasn't safe for them to even be there! They weren't supposed to be there. She planned on telling them one day, she did, but not now, not like this.
"Rose." His familiar voice, soothing even if slightly distressed, pulled her out of the shocked state she found herself trapped in. "Rose, this can wait. You need to help me. D'you see that table over there? With the vials?" He pointed to their right, and she reluctantly forced her gaze away from her parents and onto the piece of furniture. Yeah. Table, vials, got it. She nodded.
"I need to get there. Need to destroy them, or the fire won't go out. But the ship's shields don't reach that far. I've got this... This, err, extinguisher. Thing. Of sorts. Weeell, technically it's not exactly an extinguisher, but! You've got to keep it active so I can pass through, alright?"
He bore his eyes into hers, looking at her intently but also carefully, as if sensing how she was feeling, tuned in to her distress. She'd never be able to explain any of this to her parents, not ever, not to mention that she wanted them as far out of danger as possible. It was one thing when she and the Doctor ran into trouble, and another when her family was involved.
Right. Fire. She had to concentrate, and quick.
"Yeah. Okay." She gulped, surprised with the shivers that ran down her spine despite the heat around them. Her parents kept shouting at her, as did the firemen, but she couldn't pay it any mind right now. She had to help the Doctor.
He reached into his pocket and produced a strange, alien contraption, one that sort of created this- this shell around him. She had no idea, not really, only that it worked. He made his way through the flames and buzzed his sonic at the multi-colored vials.
She remained focused on the task at hand despite her own personal distress, until she felt somebody's arms take a tight grip on her shoulders, making her lose balance, and the Doctor - his protective shell. She turned around in fear, only to find her dad with a fireman trailing behind him, shouting at them all to get out of there right this instant.
"Rose! Go on, love, we've got to get out!"
Her heart leapt up to her throat. He was not supposed to follow her in there. There was so much fire! He could get hurt!
"Dad! Get out! The Doctor, he's... He's..." She turned her eyes towards the Time Lord just as the vials exploded, spilling all sorts of liquid all around. She escaped her father's grip and ran to the Doctor's side, checking if he was alright.
In mere seconds after the explosion of the vials, the fire on the whole floor just... Disappeared. It wasn't doused, it didn't cease spreading, it just stopped all together, the only remainder of it being a room filled with smoke.
The whole floor went silent. To Rose, it wasn't all that surprising, not after those two weeks of travel, but it was still rather impressive. To the others, well...
Her mum was staring at her, stood behind two firemen who refused to let her through until they all froze, shocked by the sudden turn of events. Her dad stood beside the TARDIS, his fists tightly gripping thin air instead of her shoulders, all color drained from his face.
"Rose," the Doctor whispered, leaning down to reach her ear, draping his arm over her shoulder. "We need to go. Don't want the TARDIS to stand out even more today."
"Rose?" her father mouthed, otherwise still seemingly unable to speak. No wonder, really. What they witnessed was hardly your usual rescue mission.
"Rose! Pete!" Jackie shouted, breaking the spell they had all been under as she slipped past the astounded firemen and made her way towards her family.
"What the hell is goin' on, you two? John Smith?" Pete asked sternly. "You're the one who brought her here, and then you... You..."
Rose was about to interrupt him, protest against putting it all that way, but the rescue team beat her to it. The firemen ran towards all of them in a cloud of smoke, and before Rose agreed to the Doctor's insistent pleas, they were all given masks to protect them from choking on the smoke and hastily escorted out of the building.
She heard the Doctor sigh heavily as he followed her, leaving the TARDIS behind. Was that safe for him to do? What if they'd just pry the ship open and look inside? She froze and looked back at him, finding him resigned but not upset.
"The TARDIS?" she whispered worriedly.
"She's fine, don't worry. I'll get her later."
So the time machine was fine, and the building seemed to be fine, too. But as Rose felt her mum and dad wrap their arms around her and lead her down, out of Vitex, she couldn't help but wonder if she would still be fine at the end of the day.
~oOo~
Hours passed before she was truly able to talk to her parents. The Doctor snuck away for a moment to get the TARDIS once everybody left the fourteenth floor, even though it was already all over the news. Mysterious police phone box found at the site of one of the biggest fires of the year! However, after it disappeared, everybody assumed that the witnesses were simply incoherent from all the smoke and tension involved in putting out such a big fire, so the Doctor didn't get in as much trouble as she initially expected. In fact, everybody disregarded it, just the way they usually did.
When he left, she was half convinced that he'd just run away again. It was weird, really. She trusted him - in theory. It was a young friendship, vulnerable and uncertain, and him just running away from her like that, she didn't know what to think. To be fair, she didn't have the time to think since it happened. First her parents, then the fire, and now...
The cleaning up, investigation and all lasted until the early hours of the morning, and the Doctor stayed close to her throughout, but did not crowd her. They were all busy, the questioning and everything took some time, and only after they finally left Vitex were they able to truly talk. In all honesty, Rose dreaded that particular conversation like nothing else.
They all stopped in front of the TARDIS; her parents, she and the Doctor, and both her mum and dad eyed the time machine suspiciously, looking at Rose with apparent worry. It was very chilly and she shivered from the cold. Her mum pulled her in for a hug which she was happy to return, and when Pete joined in, Rose took a deep breath, deciding that there'd be no more lies.
"Rose, what was that up there? Doctor Smith?" Pete demanded as he let go of the two women in his life, his eyes flitting between the Doctor and Rose. Jackie remained silent, allowing her husband to handle this part of the whole ordeal, but Rose was certain that she'd go mad soon enough. Sigh.
She tried to keep the tone of her voice even as she said, "Mum, Dad, I'm going to travel. With the Doctor."
Mouths fell open, brows furrowed, Jackie even gasped, and Rose wished for some support, any support. She looked to the side for a split second and found the Doctor standing next to her, shooting her a comforting look. She felt better, although a part of her wished to hold his hand... But then she remembered the strange shiver that ran down her spine whenever she did so, and she shook her head at the stubborn thought.
"Traveling where? How? You don't even know the man!" Jackie cried, no longer satisfied with observing their exchange.
"Your mother's right, Rose. You've met him what, a month ago? And three weeks worth of that, he's been gone to god knows where! Just 'cos he's clever doesn't mean he's to be trusted!" Pete's voice grew louder, more insistent. "And you! What were you thinking, taking my daughter up there? How did you even get there? And that... You..." Now at a loss of words, he fell silent, his eyes nearly drilling holes in the pair of them.
Before Rose got to speak up, the Doctor said: "I haven't been entirely honest with you, Mr. Tyler. Weeell, not very honest at all, in fact. You see, the thing is, what happened up there - you very well know that you can't explain it in your human terms, can you?"
"What on earth are you even talkin' about?"
"What he's trying to say is," Rose pitched in, finding an opening for her own arguments, "The whole thing with the TARDIS-I mean, the blue box, and the fire and all, it's all connected, dad. The Doctor saved Vitex... Not just now, but before too! Think about it! The lift was all messed up, people were disappearing and they didn't remember what's happened to them! He's not a-"
"That's enough!" Pete shouted, silencing them both. "Rose, what has this man done to you? He's a straight up lunatic alright, but you're a big girl! You ought to be able to tell these things apart!"
"You could've died in there, sweetheart!" Jackie sobbed.
Rose's heart clenched. She looked and looked but could not find the words to explain something so unthinkable.
"He's done a lot for me, dad! You were there, you saw it! This thing-" She pointed at the TARDIS. "It's not just a box, yeah? He's not advertising paint! It can travel, and he's-"
The Doctor released a deep breath and interrupted her, "Ooh, alright. How about we just-" With that, he opened up the TARDIS, allowing Rose's parents to peek inside. "Cut this short? Bit boring, all this. Never liked domestics much. I've already said that, didn't I, Rose?"
He grinned at her, a smile that was both reassuring and smug, and then walked inside the ship, confidence in his stride. He stopped at the consoles, leaning against them, looking at the three of them in amusement. Jackie placed both of her hands over her mouth, eyes open wide. Pete stared, mouth agape, out of words.
"This is who I am!" The Doctor exclaimed. "This is what I do! I save people. I save planets. I travel. Not always flying around like that, though. No, that's not very good, too much attention - although, I do like to show off my rather superior driving skills, but-"
"Mum? Dad?" Rose muttered, placing her hand on her mum's arm.
Jackie turned towards her slowly.
"But this- this thing, it's a bloody box! How the hell does that even work? Rose, have I been drinkin' last night? 'cos if I was, blimey if I'm ever doin' that again! Pete, look at this! What on earth is that?"
"Come on in!" Doctor shouted from the inside.
Rose's shoulders slumped in resignation. She couldn't handle the conversation herself. How could she even begin to talk about aliens and planets and moons? The Doctor was right to show them the TARDIS; it was actually nice of him. But this couldn't have been easy on her parents.
Hesitantly, the two people she loved the most in the world took their first steps inside the time machine, and she trailed behind them, preparing herself for war.
Of course, the TARDIS was a culture shock. It was for her, too. It took time and even tears to explain that she had traveled through both time and space and intended to continue doing so, but it was also liberating to not have to hide things from her parents anymore. It was a long, exhausting conversation, but she put her foot down and it was decided she would be packing a few things and leaving with the Doctor. Her parents looked at her, both hurt and clearly worried about her; both previously charmed by the Doctor, now very wary of him. He took note of it and tried to keep quiet, interjecting only to explain some more or less confusing technicalities. She appreciated his presence, and eventually caved and grabbed his hand as her mum started crying, asking her not to go.
I need to, mum. There's all this stuff out there, all these things, and I... I don't really belong here, y'know? I wanna travel. There's just... So much out there. It's amazing, mum, really is.
Those were her exact words, and her dad's piercing blue eyes nearly made her change her mind. He was so proud of her always, he loved his company and hoped that she would too. He hoped that she would reap the benefits of his hard work for the rest of her life. She wanted to say, maybe it's just being put on hold. You never know with the Doctor. But she didn't, because she hoped that it wouldn't be so. She wanted to stay until he ran away from her for good, clasping this new life until it was forced away from her.
She hugged her parents tightly and promised to come back frequently. She wasn't gonna change her mind, no, but hurting them was in turn hurting her too, and it was... It was just hard.
When they left, she found herself feeling torn between wanting to jump straight into a new adventure and needing a moment to come to terms with her rather life-changing decision. She'd always have her parents to fall back on; her safety net, her one true home, she knew that. But choosing traveling over the future they wanted for her was also something she'd never erase from their memory. She briefly wondered if they'd always consider themselves, and what they had to offer, second best in her eyes.
Or maybe she was just over-thinking the whole thing? Possibly. All she knew that was that they worried about her a great deal, and that her dad must have been feeling so disappointed. He always wanted her to take over Vitex...
She sighed softly. The Doctor took the TARDIS out into the Vortex, so she opened up the door, still somewhat scared of the beauty that awaited her outside the ship, but also finding comfort in it. It was becoming an almost familiar, if somewhat frightening sight.
He lingered in the console room with her, wordlessly keeping her company. She felt his eyes on her, but she did not turn back to face him. Essentially, they were strangers. He ran away from her mere hours ago, too. She still chose him over her family, her future. Was that the right thing to do?
Rose sat down, legs swinging carelessly, but she made sure to cling onto the ship with both her hands. She didn't trust the whole thing that much, yet.
Rose, you can go traveling if you like! Blimey, I'll pay for it! Jus' don't run off with this lunatic! Honest to god, I wish I'd never hired the man!
Sweetheart, this is all bonkers, 's what it is! Aliens and spaceships and things, I can believe that alright, but my daughter goin' up to see them? No! It's not safe, darling! He's dangerous, that man, that's what he is!
You ought to stay here with us, love. If you don't wanna work at Vitex - fine! Jus' don't-
A lone tear traveled down her cheek. Why was this such a big deal to them? She'd visit, often. 's not like she'd be gone forever.
Oh, come on, Rose. She knew why. Because it was dangerous. She didn't care for the danger, not really. It was thrilling in a way, exciting. Soon they'd go off on another trip and she'd stop feeling so bad about all this... Maybe.
She did not hear him as he approached her, only heard his voice when he spoke up, suddenly right next to her.
"Are you sure about this?" he muttered in a low, careful tone.
"About what?"
"Weeell, this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not really an expert at all these human emotions, but- No, hold on. Of course I am an expert. I'm an expert at everything! But," he paused as he sat beside her. He'd never sat that close to her before; there was only so much room in the doorway, so both their arms, their sides and their legs were connected in this strangely unsettling way. "Even I can see that you seem rather... Unhappy."
She wiped her tears away and looked up, boring her eyes into his. He looked concerned, worried, perhaps a little unsure.
"You're not gonna ditch me again, are you?" she asked instead of responding to his question.
His expression was gravely serious as he said, "Nope. No, I won't."
"Then I'm sure."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Reaaaally really?"
She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips, nor the blush that crept up on her cheeks when his expression brightened upon seeing her smile.
"Yeah. Guess you're sorta stuck with me for now."
"Sounds good to me!" He grinned and bumped her shoulder with his, then pointed at the stars, each of them breathtaking in its own, celestial, eternal beauty. "Where're we going now, then? I've been picking for too long. It's your turn, Rose Tyler!"
"I dunno about you, but I'm pretty knackered. I'm goin' to need a few hours of sleep before we go anywhere at all."
He groaned in mock-annoyance. "So this is what I get, eh? You lot sleep your lives away! Go on then, sleep if you like. I'm giving you four hours! Rose, did you know that Leonardo da Vinci slept for fifteen minutes, just once every four hours? You should try that. He was a brilliant man, da Vinci. Not completely right in the head, mind you, but-"
"Yeah? That sounds just like you, then," she blurted out and then corrected herself, "I mean, the not right in the head bit, 's exactly like you."
"Oi! It's not my fault that your human brain can't quite keep up with my superior Time Lord intelligence, is it? Although, you are pretty fantastic." He smiled at her earnestly, and she liked the way he said fantastic; like it was a borrowed word that he suddenly liked the sound of. Her heart sped up ever so slightly, and his proximity combined with the messy hair, a rather gorgeous set of brown eyes, freckles and a delightful grin, made her realize that it was time to go. She signed up for the whole thing, yeah, but it just wouldn't do to still find him attractive. It'd just make things harder.
Against her own better judgment, the corners of her lips curled up in an honest smile, and she silently wished for him to keep his promise, to not leave her again. Barely knew him, already liked him.
As a friend, of course.
His expression changed when she did not avert his gaze; he studied her with interest for a fraction of a second and then cleared his throat, looking back at the stars.
"For a human, that is. Can't quite compare to a Time Lord, but weeell, I s'pose you'll do..."
She laughed out loud, knowing better than to feel insulted, smacked his arm and lifted herself off the ground. She bid him good night, and twenty minutes later, she was in her bed.
She dreamt of him and the skies up above, both equally vast, magnificent and mysterious at the same time.
~oOo~
She felt better the next day, all things considered. She called her parents first thing, told them she was okay and that she missed them, had breakfast with the Doctor in the galley (she didn't think he had slept a wink, but didn't ask him about it), and then they were off.
What followed were days filled with adventures of all sorts. Sometimes it'd all be fine and dandy, most times there'd be trouble, but all of the time it was amazing. The universe was frightening in its never-ending variety, but the Doctor guided her through it expertly, and she hadn't even spent a month traveling with him before she found herself in synch with the odd Time Lord. They ran together, escaped together, devised plans together, and it was just sort of as if they fit. Of course, in between all the trouble, there was a lot of laughter. He was nothing short of eccentric, a tad rude, very talkative, and although he didn't seem to know how to handle maintaining a friendship, she quickly began to refer to him as her friend, if only in her own thoughts.
Most of the time, when they were on the TARDIS, she was either sleeping, showering or tending to some other necessity. She often found him in the console room, tinkering with this or that, the tip of his tongue sticking out as he focused and then, as she assumed, cursed in a foreign language when something went wrong. They did not intrude on each other, and she didn't really insist on sitting around with him. He had a gorgeous media room with thousands of games, movies and books to choose from, so she was never bored. As much as she grew fond of the Doctor over the month she had spent traveling with him, she also knew more than well that he had a side to him that was most probably darker than what she had witnessed. He'd grow silent if she asked too many questions, his eyes becoming stormy, expression indifferent. He sometimes didn't know where to stop either, and his lack of humanity scared her at times. She didn't need to remind herself that he wasn't really human. It showed through the cracks in the armor he seemed to wear on a daily basis.
She gave him the space he seemed to need, but then, four weeks in, he started to seek her company in the evenings. He'd make up daft excuses to get her to stick around and watch him mess up yet another kitchen appliance or listen as he told her about the Great War of This-Or-That-Planet, stuff like that. She could tell that he struggled to come up with a reason, but fought it just to get her to stay.
She liked it better than she ought to have.
See, thing was, with all his oddities, he still remained ridiculously attractive, Rose still (unfortunately) remained well aware of it, and the electric current that pulsed between them whenever they touched, that was still there, too. At the same time, there were still days when she wasn't sure if he'd call her a friend or a mascot, a traveling companion, someone to fill the emptiness that he never spoke of. She just didn't know him all that well, adventures or not.
But then, somewhere around the fifth week, they were in the console room, just talking. The Doctor made the TARDIS translate his native language into English just so that she could read a line in some book, and a question occurred to her.
"Hold on. D'you always have to make the ship translate Gallifreyan?"
"Weeell, yes. She doesn't do it by default. Didn't feel necessary."
"So, wait. That means you're speaking English right now?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"'course I am, Rose! What sort of a genius d'you take me for? I can speak over a thousand languages! There's no need to overwork my poor TARDIS, is there?" He stroked the console affectionately, forcing Rose to suppress a chuckle.
"And if you'd say something in your language, would it be translated?"
His focus shifted away from the ship and onto her. Her eyes were filled with curiosity, his - with uncertainty.
"Nope. Not unless I'd play with the settings a tad. Although, I'm not so sure about how well she'd handle translating speech..." he mumbled, looking back at the screens. "Perhaps if I'd adjust the speech infiltrators..."
She lightly elbowed his side to draw his attention back to her. He was wearing a pair of rather thick glasses, which she thought suited him well. He pulled the specs down the bridge of his nose and glued his eyes to hers in a mute question.
"D'you think you could... I dunno, say something in your language? In Gallifreyan. I wanna know what it sounds like. If you don't mind?"
His mouth fell open for a split second. He froze just like that, gaze locked with hers, and through those brown eyes of his, she could almost see the inner conflict. He wasn't easy to read by any stretch, but his face was so expressive that she was starting to pick up on the signs. He looked as though he was in pain, just as he did every time his planet, his home was even mentioned. She never dared to ask him about it.
"Or don't. I mean, it was just an idea, yeah? 's okay if you don't want to, Doctor, really-"
"No, it's fine," he interjected, swallowing down the turmoil and offering her a small smile. "I'm just not sure if your human ears can handle the sound of pure Gallifreyan, Rose. It's really rather exquisite."
She smiled back at his excuse and said, "Go on, then. Try me."
The Doctor's expression changed again, now devoid of any signs of jest. He turned to face her fully, his eyes almost overflowing with emotions she found herself struggling to name. Aaaand there it was. Her heart was racing again. This whole getting a grip thing hadn't been going according to plan, not really.
Just as she thought he'd never speak up, words spilled from his lips. The language was melodious, almost like a song, sophisticated and fascinating. And the tone of his voice - oh, that was something else entirely; his voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, soft and husky, like she'd never heard it before.
She had absolutely no idea what it was that he just said, but she loved the way he said it. He could've told her the recipe for a tomato soup for all she cared, the way he looked at her was...
No. Stop.
She gulped and broke the silence before it became too uncomfortable, finding herself uneasy under his watchful stare. "It was lovely, Doctor. What did you say?"
He closed his eyes, delaying the response by mere seconds, and then chuckled, shaking his head as he turned back towards the screens, breaking the strange tension that lingered between them.
"Ha! That's a bit too much for one day, don't you think? Not telling you!"
"What?! Come on!" she cried, but the more she insisted, the more he laughed and refused. Insufferable bloke, really. It's always the good looking ones that act like that, isn't it? 'course it is. She was stupid to even bother; she promised herself not to think of it anymore when they parted for the night, but 'course, she could hardly think of anything else. That was stupid of her, too.
Even more stupid to sneak away from her bedroom that night, into the console room, for once hoping not to find him there and having her wish come true. He must've gone to sleep, for once.
She already knew that the ship was sentient, a living being that nudged her mind whenever she was onboard. A new friend, much like the Doctor. Maybe the time machine could help sate her thirst for knowledge.
"Hey, um," she whispered, her fingers gently touching the consoles, "Look, I know you can help me. I'm really curious, y'know? About what he's said earlier. I mean, I know it's probably not important, but still... Can you help me?"
She was met with silence. The room was dark and very quiet, filled only with the hum of various machinery, not the somewhat familiar presence of the TARDIS.
"Please," she muttered, "I know you can help me. I just... I just want to know."
It didn't happen right away, but she eventually felt the TARDIS nudge her mind ever so slightly. It was an odd feeling, but not intrusive. She knew that the ship didn't mean any harm, but she still couldn't decipher the messages she was receiving.
"I don't know what you're saying," Rose admitted in a dejected tone. "I don't understand you any better than I do him, y'know."
She could almost hear an echo of laughter inside her mind as one of the screens suddenly lit up. Everything was in Gallifreyan and she thought it just wasn't gonna happen, but then...
She saw the Doctor's face, a recording of it no doubt, speaking the words she heard just a few hours ago, that half-melody, half-speech sort of thing. And then, after he was finished, his projection spoke again, this time in English.
"Since I've met you, the stars have shone brighter."
The screen turned itself off, enveloping her in darkness once again.
Darkness which was filled with only one sound.
The sound of her own heart, racing in her chest, against her will and in a direction she still couldn't predict.
A/N: Didn't quite get to explore their growing friendship (cough, cough) as much as I hoped, but now there'll only be the two of them in the picture, so that helps. Thank you so much for your encouraging reviews. I seem to be done with my writer's block and the story should be picking up pace now. :) Let me know if you liked the fluff. You're all fantastic, thank you!