Rose toyed with the knot under her chin, making sure her new bonnet was tightly fastened. She fiddled with the register, then straightened the log book and leaflets for a third time. When the door jangled and opened, she jumped.

Simon Bartl walked into the store and joined her at the counter.

"The sheriff is headed back to his office. Finished his noon meal a little faster than usual when he heard you were waiting to pick up the Doctor." Simon smiled. "Lea mentioned I might want to give you the rest of the day off. It isn't a terribly busy day, so if you'd like to go pick up your husband and come back in the morning, I can handle the store for the afternoon."

"Really?" she asked, moving around the counter. "Thank you!" She touched his arm briefly, glancing at his customary stack of papers. The page on top showed a chart on pricing trends for cloth, nothing that might indicate he was more than he seemed. She left, moving briskly toward the jail.

She ignored the stares she felt from walking without an escort. If Lea could tolerate this sort of thing and still be such a good person, Rose could deal with it if the town decided she wasn't "proper." It wasn't like she'd be alone, wasn't like she hadn't been looked down on before. It had become less common since she'd been traveling with the Doctor, easier to forget about since she knew she was better than those sorts of looks made her feel.

When she pushed through the door to the sheriff's office, Bob was sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. The Doctor was speaking.

"...make any sense, does it? Running a town with two or three different people making the decisions, and no talking between them."

"Mrs. Tyler," Bob said, sitting up and sounding relieved. "If I could just have you sign this form, you folks can be on your way."

"Okay," she said, sitting and looking toward the Doctor, who grinned at her.

"Hullo."

"Hi." Rose felt almost shy. It had felt like things were changing between them, touches becoming freer, unguarded moments more frequent. After having this time apart, would things go back to normal like she'd wanted?

Did she still want it to?

She signed the paper that stated she would try to keep the Doctor out of trouble, smiling to herself. It didn't seem to matter whether they tried to get into trouble or not; it found them anyway.

She took slow breaths while Sheriff Bob put away the paper and rifled through his keys. She was excited to be with the Doctor again, and nervous, and relieved, and-

"Right then," said the sheriff, standing, and Rose stood, too, moving to the cell where the Doctor waited with his arms crossed. "You're gonna behave now, you hear?" He unlocked and opened the door.

"Won't lose my hat again," answered the Doctor, tapping the referenced item and stepping out of the cell. He stood next to Rose, dropping his hands to his sides.

"You folks are free to go, then," the sheriff said, returning to his desk and immediately shifting his attention to paperwork.

The Doctor looked down at Rose, his blue eyes scanning her face, and she smiled up at him. He held out his arms.

"So, how do I look? Any worse for the wear? Certainly slept better."

Rose stepped toward him and wrapped her arms around him, hands slipping under his open jacket, face pressed against his chest. After a moment of tense surprise, the Doctor relaxed, returning the embrace. They stood there for several long seconds before the sheriff cleared his throat. She pulled back, and the Doctor let his hands slide along her arms, catching one of her hands in his and grinning.

"Let's go, then," he said, and they made their way out of the small jail. "See you, Bob," he said with a wave just before the door shut behind them.

"Where to?" asked Rose, looking up and down the street. "Don't have to get back to work until morning."

"This way," said the Doctor, tugging her hand and starting toward the far end of town. Rose moved her hand to his arm, resting her head against him for a moment. He adjusted, bending his elbow to allow an easier grip. "Figured we'd check the post office, see what we might find out there. Can't get in back to investigate how letters come and go from town, not without the clerk being distracted."

"So I distract the clerk, and you slip into the back? I dunno, I did just promise I'd try to make sure you behave." She smiled at him, tongue peeking through. "Think Sheriff Bob would let us share a cell if we get caught?"

Her smiled slipped as the Doctor looked at her, something heated in his gaze, and Rose swallowed, picturing him staring at her this way while they were locked in a small jail cell together.

"Probably not. Won't get caught, though, me."

"So what'd you do, then, while you were in there?" asked Rose after a beat of silence.

"Worked on the sonic with the parts I had."

"Did you get it working?"

"Not really. Still need a few bits to get the signal unscrambled enough to make all the functions work right. But, I did manage to build something that should allow the sonic to take close-range readings, so it wasn't a complete waste."

"So you should be able to figure out how letters are getting in and out?"

He grinned. "That's the plan."

The post office was relatively small, with an even smaller customer service area, packages and post office boxes spread out in the room behind the counter, with an area off to one side where people could finish getting packages ready. Rose smiled and walked up to the clerk while the Doctor meandered to the area on the side.

"Hi, Lucy, right?" she asked.

The woman smiled and nodded. "How are you settling in over at the store?"

"Oh, just fine, thanks," she said. "So, I was wondering…" She pointed at an informational chart that would turn Lucy's head from where the Doctor could slip behind the counter, carefully not watching as he did so. "If I wanted to send a package to my mum using out-of-town priority service, how would I go about that?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Doctor step behind a tall row of shelving and out of sight. She continued asking questions until she saw him slip back out from behind the counter a few minutes later.

"Thanks, Lucy, you've been a big help," said the Doctor, moving to stand beside Rose, and the clerk blinked repeatedly.

"It's been my pleasure," she said, recovering with a smile.

"We'll be back," said Rose. "See you then if not before, okay?"

"I'll be in the store tomorrow," said Lucy, "so I'll see you then."

Outside again, Rose clutched the Doctor's arm, giggling. "Think she completely forgot you were in the building," she said, "and then you were right there and thanking her, like she'd been talking to you the whole time."

The Doctor grinned at her, eyes sparkling, while she tried to compose herself. They started walking.

"Did you find anything?" she asked finally.

"The device they use is very much like the one the sheriff uses to send paperwork to whoever's in charge. Seems to be some sort of short-range teleportation device that gets ignored by the systems in place to catch big electronics."

"Could you tell where it was going or how we could use it or anything?"

"Nope."

"So…we learned nothing new, then?" she clarified.

"Nope."

"Well okay then." They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, no real destination in mind. The town grew quieter, those who'd finished a late lunch having moved back inside, others having returned home laden with cooking supplies for the evening meal. "I've been trying to think about who it might be that we're looking for. Had a lot of time to think last night."

"Didn't sleep that well?"

She shook her head, ducking it to hide her blush as she recalled what a good portion of the night had been spent thinking about. Not that she'd done anything with those particular frustrations, sure he'd have been able to tell if she did. "Anyway, I don't think it's any of the people who are actually in charge, like the mayor or the sheriff. What do you think about Andrea?"

"Don't think it's her. Could be, but she's always out and about, and I don't think she'd have the time to deal with paperwork from the sheriff."

"Paperwork. What about Simon? He's always working on papers. I've tried to look at them, but haven't seen anything worth getting excited over."

"Could be him. Maybe Lea. Seems smart enough not to carry evidence around if she doesn't want to be found out."

"Hmm." Rose had trouble considering her friend as a suspect, but then, whoever it was that was keeping the TARDIS from them was only doing a job. "I dunno. We've been to her house, right? And the bar, and the shop, and she doesn't really go anywhere else. You'd know if you were that close to the TARDIS, wouldn't you?"

"Possibly. Would depend on whether there's any additional shielding. Could also be a separate holding facility."

"So it could be Simon or Lea." She smiled, thinking about the pair. They seemed to be more open around each other, more relaxed, especially Simon. If that last bit of hesitation about being a couple could go away, maybe they'd let something slip, if one of them really was in charge of the immersion. If they weren't, it had seemed like being a couple was something they each wanted, and it was possible they just needed help getting there. "Maybe we can do something to help get them together," she said aloud.

"Why would we do that?"

"Because," Rose said with a sigh, "they love each other, but they're both holding back. They just need a good push in the right direction."

"Or maybe they're fine as they are. They support each other, share meals, help each other out. Maybe they don't need to be pushed into a relationship because they're already in one."

"They aren't, though, not properly." They turned onto the smaller, residential street. "I mean, yeah, they're together a lot, but I've watched them, you know? And they both want more. Sometimes that other stuff just isn't enough. Sometimes people need to hear that they're loved, yeah? And sometimes we need things like…" She trailed off, cheeks blazing. In front of the hotel, they stopped, and the Doctor turned to look at her. She tried to keep her breathing steady, but even - or maybe especially - knowing that the Doctor could tell when she was turned on, it wasn't easy talking about sex, not with a man she fancied who hadn't made it clear he felt the same. "Well, you know," she finished, looking down at her feet.

He stepped closer to her, gently tilting her chin up with his free hand, the other sliding down to link with hers. "What do you need, Rose?" His voice was low, rough, his eyes intent on hers.

"N-Not me," she said, licking her lips. "I was talking about them, about Lea and Simon."

"And sex. That's all you humans think about: sex."

"Yeah, you've mentioned." Rose felt heat flooding her body, setting nerves on edge. They were standing close, so close their feet were nearly touching. They seemed alone in the street, and the Doctor tilted his head toward hers, moving his hand from her chin to her cheek, his cool touch almost shocking against the heat in her face. The contrast grew as her traitorous mind suddenly wondered, graphically, how his fingers would feel against the other decidedly-warm areas of her body.

"Is that what you want, Rose?" he asked, eyes darting to her lips as she licked them again. "Is this?"

He dipped his head, lips moving the few inches they needed to press against hers. She gasped against his mouth as a jolt of electric energy shot through her. His movements were almost leisurely as he tasted her, sliding his hand to the back of her neck, tilting her head for a better angle. When he sucked gently on her lower lip, she was shocked out of her immobility, pressing her body against his and eagerly returning the kiss, completely oblivious to who else might be around to see Rose Tyler and the Doctor, snogging on a public street, unaware of anything but herself and him and how they touched.

Then she felt tapping on her shoulder.

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