Degrees and the Doctor
Thanks for the reviews! I'm on holiday now so hopefully updates will be a lot faster- especially as I want to finish this story on Christmas Eve and this gives me, what, a week? Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me
"Hey Jack, wait up!"
The ex-Time Agent stopped in his tracks and swung around to greet the Doctor. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, the Doctor decided to ask the question that had been burning at him all morning.
"So, did you have a good night?"
Jack raised an eyebrow at the cheeky expression on his friend's face. "Yeah, went to the bar with Jont, met up with Rose…"
"…and Jen," the Doctor interrupted,
"Alright," Jack grinned, "What do you know?"
The Doctor smirked. "Let's just say me and Rose are very happy for you both. We both think it's really cute,"
"Do I want to know what you two were doing when you saw me and Jen?" Jack asked,
"Probably the same as you two were going to do,"
"Did you go to the TARDIS?"
"Of course. Where did you go?" asked the Doctor, curiously,
"We didn't," Jack stated clearly, "We just chatted and kissed until we went to our own separate beds,"
"You mean the amazing Captain Jack Harkness didn't have a one-night stand?" teased the Doctor, "You've changed."
Jack frowned, a retort ready on his tongue before he was interrupted by a simultaneous beeping coming from both of their wrists. They froze, looking worriedly at one another.
"Rose!"
The Doctor quickly activated his locator and studied the hologram intently. "She's in a room two doors down from her own," he reported, "C'mon!"
They both set off running as fast as possible, hoping that Rose was OK and safe.
Rose stared nervously at Kall.
"What do you mean?" she asked, slowly,
"Oh, come on, Rose!" Kall exploded, "Stop trying to hide it! I've known for a couple of days since that lecture on Monday!"
"How?" she whispered,
"I was watching you through the lecture theatre door after the Doctor asked you to wait behind," Kall admitted, "I saw you kiss him, Rose!"
Rose sat there, her heart thudding as she fought not to panic. Her hand quickly slipped down to her watch and pressed the alert button. She knew she needed help and fast.
"Why didn't you say something?" she questioned calmly, "Why wait until now?"
"I wanted to check I hadn't imagined it," Kall said, starting to pace, "I kept a watch out all through Tuesday but you rarely came out of your room. But I knew I was right yesterday in the tutorial." He stopped pacing and turned to stare at Rose. "You really need to learn to be more subtle. I don't want to know what you were doing under the table, especially from the Doctor's reactions, but come on, I wouldn't be surprised if Lavia, Jen and some of the other students have cottoned on."
Rose paled.
"And then the last straw came this morning when you stuck up for the Doctor and looked at him in a more than sympathetic way. And then when you went back afterwards, claiming you'd forgotten your pencil case! Rose, you don't have a pencil case!"
She blushed. She'd been hoping her friends wouldn't pick up on that minor detail.
"So, what are you going to do?" she asked, quietly, "Are you going to squeal on us?"
Kall looked at her, about to answer, when the door suddenly crashed open, the Doctor appearing in the frame. His eyes took in the scene before he strode in.
"Rose?" he asked,
"He knows," she replied, "About us,"
"OK," the Doctor said, kicking the door closed behind him. He walked over to the pair and extended his hand to Rose. She immediately took it and was pulled to her feet and into his chest, where his arm draped securely around her waist. "Are you OK?" he checked.
She nodded. "I just thought you'd better be here as I wasn't sure where it was going,"
"It was the right decision," he nodded before looking at Kall, who was watching them intently. "When you said he knows about us, how much does that mean? Everything or just our relationship?"
"Just our relationship," Rose clarified,
"But I would like to know everything," Kall suddenly said, "Such as, who exactly are you and what are you doing here?"
"Why don't you believe that we really are who we say we are; a lecturer and a student who just happen to be in a relationship?" asked the Doctor, linking his fingers with Roses', as they both stared at Kall,
"You don't act like them," said Kall, "Plus, I reckon that Jack person is involved with you somehow. He's always hanging around."
The Doctor laughed. "You're very observant, Kall. So tell me, why does it bother you so much that we might not be who we say we are?"
While he waited for Kall to answer, he sat down on the bed; Rose crawled to sit between his legs and leant back against his chest.
"I need to know who everyone around us is," Kall said, finally,
"Us?" asked Rose,
"Me and…" Kall sighed, "Me and Lavia. I need to protect her,"
"Who from?" said the Doctor.
Kall sighed again. "I can't tell you,"
"Is it to protect her from the possible abduction plot?" asked the Doctor.
The young man looked up in shock, "How do you know about that?" he demanded, "You're not the kidnappers, are you?"
"Of course not," the Doctor snorted. He stood up and walked over to Kall. "We need to tell each other the truth about what's going on."
Kall nodded silently before a sudden knocking at the door aroused their attention.
"Kall?" asked Lavia, walking in,
"My lady," Kall said, acknowledging his head,
"Oh," she said, seeing Rose and the Doctor, "What's going on?"
"I was just discussing something with them," Kall explained.
The Doctor and Rose watched in interest as he took Lavia's hand and kissed the back of it.
Suddenly a lot of things made sense to Rose- and a few things didn't.
"Are you two in a relationship?" she asked bluntly.
They glanced at one another before Kall nodded.
"We have an arranged marriage," he said, "Before we were even born, Lavia's parents made an arrangement with my parents that their firstborn would marry my parent's firstborn of the opposite gender. And that's us."
Lavia nodded, grasping his hand with hers.
"But, you two never seemed to get on, especially in the first couple of days here!" exclaimed Rose.
Lavia and Kall laughed.
"We didn't," Lavia explained, "We were told we had an arranged marriage only a few months ago and by that time, we'd had time to decide we didn't like each other. We were outraged when we were told we had to come here together,"
"Yeah," Kall continued, "So as you saw, we constantly bickered and fought with one another. But that all changed exactly one week ago. Rose, do you remember walking in on fighting last Thursday evening?"
She nodded, leaning against the Doctor who had returned to sit on the bed.
"After you'd disappeared off and Jen had gone to find you, I returned up here and I found Lavia in tears. She was scared about the possible abduction plot against her and she didn't think there was anyone here to protect her,"
"Wait, you knew about the plot?" said the Doctor,
"Yeah, I overheard Mummy and Daddy talking about it with some other people back on Piripi," said Lavia, "I wish they'd just told me."
Kall squeezed her hand. "Yeah, so anyway, I asked her what was wrong and after quite a bit of persuading, she told me her fears so then I told her that that was what I was there for,"
"So, the only reason you're here is to protect Lavia?" Rose assumed,
"Yeah, and also because our parents thought it would be a good idea to have to live together before we get married," grinned Kall, "And it seems to have worked. We've talked over our problems and we're giving it a go. Lavia's actually a nice person once you get past all the snootiness,"
"Oi," Lavia laughed as she shoved her fiancé, "You know it's all an act." She turned to Rose. "Sorry if I've appeared rude but it's how I've got to be,"
"It's OK," she reassured, "I understand. Gods, you two. I'm actually impressed. You're a lot more subtle than us!"
"Oh, so you mean you two are an item?" said Lavia, not sounding in the least surprised, "I'd thought you probably were, what with the under the table stuff yesterday and the hanging back after the lectures to talk to the Doctor excuse."
Rose and the Doctor blushed.
"So don't you want to know exactly who we are after revealing all your secrets?" asked the Doctor.
Kall straightened up. "Please tell us. Why are you here?"
"I got a message a few weeks ago from the Principal of this university," the Doctor explained, "We came to see him and he enlisted mine, Rose's and our friend Jack's help in protecting you, Lavia,"
"You mean you're not actually a lecturer at all?" said Lavia,
"Nope," said the Doctor, "Neither is Rose really a student or Jack a janitor. We're all undercover. It's been fun really,"
"So you're not working against us?" Kall checked.
Rose shook her head. "We're with you all the way. We promised to watch out for Lavia and we're gonna do it." The Doctor nodded in agreement.
"We should join forces," he recommended, "That way, you'll always be safe, Lavia."
She nodded as Kall spoke. "But why didn't someone tell us. I've been wasting time suspecting you two when it's someone else,"
"That's a good point," said the Doctor, "We did have suspicions about you as well."
Kall sighed. "OK, let's pool our ideas, if you've got any. Maybe you've seen something I haven't and then we might be able to sort this out soon."
The other nodded and they set to work. It had been a surprising and informative afternoon.
Much later, the Doctor and Rose snuck down the corridor and into Rose's room. They collapsed onto the bed together after securely locking the door.
"What a day!" Rose sighed, cuddling into his side, "Seems so long since this morning when we woke up on the TARDIS,"
"Mmm," the Doctor murmured, playing with her hair, "It's weird how Philip didn't tell us that Kall was also guarding Lavia,"
"Maybe he doesn't know," Rose suggested, unsuccessfully trying to cover a yawn, "I'm tired,"
"I'm not surprised. We didn't get much sleep last night," the Doctor said, with a wink.
Rose grinned before a thought struck her. "How come Jack didn't come? I thought the panic button alerted both of you,"
"He did but we decided he should wait outside and only come in if I activated the button again. A sort of back up plan, you know. Guess he probably bumped into Jen and then got distracted,"
"I'm glad he's found someone," Rose smiled, "I always felt bad that we had each other and he had no-one,"
"Yeah," her lover agreed, "C'mon you, let's get you into bed. You're falling asleep,"
"In your arms, s'good," she mumbled, before standing up and changing, "Are you staying?"
"Do you know, I haven't slept in my own bed since Monday night?" the Doctor stated,
"Alien slutboi," Rose teased, pulling his arms around her, "Is that a yes then?"
The Doctor held tightly onto her and tipped them onto the bed; Rose squealing as he landed on top of her. He framed her face with his hands and kissed her deeply before drawing back a few inches and staring into her eyes.
"For you, anything."
Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received