A/N Hope you like the book scenes because it might be a bit confusing to some if you don't know the whole story, but I can't wait to hear what the people who haven't read it think… I stared at the page and then laughed hysterically for about ten minutes after I read the last one. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Happy reading everyone! (and like always, please review!)
I'm not happy with the "Fear Her" scenes at all but I'm pretty happy with how "the Stone Rose" turned out.
ALSO! I'VE GOT A FEW REVIEWS IN THE PAST CHAPTER OR TWO ABOUT IT BEING A REUNION FIC OR NOT. AS A REMINDER, I'M DOING BOTH! SO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE DEAD SET AGAINST THE REUNION YOU JUST STOP READING WHEN I SAY THAT CHAPTERIS THE LAST BEFORE THE REUNION.
P.S. I was going to do "The Stone Rose" first but I wanted to save that scene for last so I could end the chapter on a totally awesome note! Hope you guys who haven't read the book love it, it'll probably end up in you wanting to read it… at least if I hadn't read it and I read this then I'd want to. Meh, whatever.
Disclaimer: I own no rights to Doctor Who, this is only harmless creativity.
Chapter 10 The Stone Rose – Fear Her
"30th Olympia." Martha looked up to see a huge banner spread between two houses to cross the street, the Doctor explaining as they walked beneath it.
They were on a normal enough street. Martha and the Doctor walked a few paces behind the other two, the casual stroll much more relaxed than anything else from the past few hours.
Rose looked ecstatic and linked their arms, pulling him closer and skipping slightly to keep up. "No way! Why didn't I think of this, that's great." Both Doctor's beamed at her enthusiasm and Martha wondered if she ever lost that or if she ever disappointed him. From the looks of things, it would seem not.
"Only seems like yesterday a few naked Greek blokes were tossing a discus about, wrestling each other in the sand with crowds stood about, begging - no, wait a minute, that was Club Med." He laughed uncontrollably at his own joke while nudging Rose who was now looking at him as if he was insane, which of course he was, but more so than usual. "Just in time for the opening doo dah – ceremony tonight, I thought you'd like that. Last one they had in London was dynamite. Wembley, 1948; I loved it so much I went back and watched it all over again. Fellow carrying the torch, lovely chap, what was his-"
As the Doctor continued to yap Martha was paying close attention to Rose whose eyes were trained on a post littered with pinned up posters, bold print saying 'MISSING' across them all with pictures of children. Her stomach dropped and she started feeling as though she should give up trying to look for nice, happy memories in between all the disastrous ones, it seemed Rose and the Doctor were even more jeopardy friendly than what was usual in the Doctor's travelling.
"Mark? John? Mark? Legs like pipe cleaners but strong as a whippet." The Doctor continued, oblivious as he sorted out his muddled thoughts. Martha relished in seeing this side to him because it was extremely rare that he showed it anymore.
"Doctor-" Rose called out. She had said in plenty of times in the past memories but the more he heard it the more the Doctor wished he would hear it again. When on Earth he would constantly, pointlessly, chase flashed of blonde hair or a pink sweater. Sitting alone in the TARDIS he would fruitlessly wish that when he stepped outside her doors that she would be there waiting and she would call his name just like she always had; even when the TARDIS disobeyed his co-ordinates and he didn't know where they had gone his hearts would speed up and his breath would be stuck until they reached the outside and there were no zeppelins in the sky.
"You should really look." Rose called after being ignored a couple more times, now standing directly in front of the post.
"Do you know those - those things?" He finally walked over to her and Martha couldn't help but laugh at his next sentence. "Nobody else in this entire galaxy's ever even bothered to make edible ball bearings. Genius."
The Doctor looked down at her defensively. "What? They are!"
"Right, okay, sure they are." Martha managed through her faded giggles.
The Doctor in the image took in the posters and his expression turned serious. "What's taking them, do you think?" Martha's thoughts took a slightly surprised turn. It was very abnormal for the Doctor to be the one asking what someone else thought. Usual, at least with Martha, he would simply figure it out, let her help with the small stuff unless he was physically unable, and then tell her what to do. It was then, when she realized he was starting to put even more trust into Rose, that she began wondering just how long they had travelled together. The amount of adventures they had seen against the amount that had probably been left out probably made up at least a couple of years, not to mention the fact that they had yet to finish. The only way she knew it wasn't a huge number of years was that Rose hadn't aged all that much. She wondered what the girl looked like now; if she still smiled as brightly or spoke so enthusiastically.
"Snatching children from a thoroughly ordinary street like this. Why's it so cold? Is something reducing the temperature?" The Doctor continued, looking down the street in search of anything unusual.
They continued talking and trying to figure it out when something equal parts funny and revealing happened.
"Aren't you a beautiful boy," Rose spoke while approaching a small cat in the yard. The Doctor, not watching her swung around with a big smile.
"Thanks! I'm experimenting with back-combing… Oh," he finished when he saw and registered the cat. Martha burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. The Doctor shot her an annoyed look and crossed his arms in irritation.
You couldn't just skip that could you? He mentally asked the TARDIS. He felt her hum out her version of laughter and huffed even louder, pouting as the two girls continued chuckling at him.
"Oh, be quiet Martha Jones, I'm sure you've done worse than that." She just smiled at him in good humor, knowing instinctively he wasn't really upset with her. Though she was laughing, and definitely found it hysterical, she also noticed how serious the Doctor in the memory was, the disappointment potent and earnest. She felt a twinge of sympathy, for once Rose was being the oblivious one.
They watched almost absentmindedly, slightly bored, as the rest of the scene panned out, getting slightly more interesting when a… well Martha really couldn't tell what it was, attacked Rose. She rolled her eyes another countless time as the Doctor rescued her and they hugged just for that, seeming to more and more find any excuse for the extra contact. They were then transported into the TARDIS.
"I was attacked by a pencil scribble?" The girl exclaimed disbelievingly as the Doctor disabled the… thing and rushed into a long winded explanation.
"Scribble creature. Brought into being with ionic energy. Whatever we're dealing with, it can create things as well as take them. But why make a scribble creature?"
The conversation continued like that for a minute before Rose was the one who came up with something. It seemed to Martha like she was beginning to figure these sorts of things out just as much as the Doctor did. Martha had been travelling with him for months and still she usually wouldn't have any idea what was going on at all until he explained it in detail. She wondered if she was slow or if Rose was fast, settling as she thought of how the latter was more likely.
"The girl." Rose stated simply.
"Of course!" He paused and looked down at Rose. "What girl?" His forehead crinkled in confusion and Martha wished she would get one up on him like that, just once.
The Doctor smiled reverently, thinking about how he had never been challenged in quite the same way that Rose challenged him. She was one of the only humans he would ever call intelligent – not just in an academic way – and she was definitely the only one he had ever thought of as beautiful. He might have hid behind "for a human" but whenever he brought it up what he really meant was for anyone.
"Something about her gave me the creeps, even her own mum looked scared of her."
They were standing unnecessarily close to begin with but at she thoughtful expression he lent his head down even closer, a cheeky expression crossing his face as he smiled at her with half-faked pride. "Are you deducting?"
Rose looked at him with glee, conspiratorially narrowing her eyes. "I think I am." The real Doctor smiled absentmindedly at reliving these moments, ones he never shared with anyone else he travelled with. She learnt so much, understood and loved so much.
"Copper's hunch?"
Without hesitation or pause Rose eyed him, dead serious and straightened from were she was leaning on the panel. "Permission to follow it up, Sarge." Martha giggled not really having any idea what they were on about but finding it funny anyway, pondering how many inside jokes they had.
They were then in a room with a woman and a little girl. "I'm busy Doctor." The girl said harshly, not the voice of a child at all as she left the room.
I guess Rose was right then, Martha thought, assuming correctly that this was the girl she had a hunch about.
The Doctor called out to her in disappointment. "Oh, come on, Chloe! Don't be a spoil sport!" He followed her into the hallway and it was only then Martha began to wonder where Rose was, not seeing her in the kitchen anywhere. "What's the big project? I'm dying to know! What're you making up there?"
Suddenly her question was answered as a terrified scream came from upstairs – "Doctor!" – with Rose's unmistakable voice and they were immediately transported into a bedroom in what appeared to be the same house just as the Doctor burst in through the door, Rose leaning forwards as if she were being pulled into the cupboard in front of her that was glowing a sickly red, a threatening, growling voice ringing out loudly.
"I'm coming to hurt you."
The Doctor ran to her and slammed the wardrobe doors shot, not glancing inside as he grasped the top of Rose's arm in an unmistakably protective gesture. It was slightly weird to see the Doctor so touchy-feely to begin with but as it was escalating Martha found it bordering on hurtful, though she really should understand, after all the more he was physically connected with Rose the easier it should have been to understand why he didn't like such things anymore. But she still wished he cared for she that much, nothing could change that.
They were then back down in the kitchen, the TARDIS seeming to be going with shorter scenes for the moment, changing quickly every minute or so. This one showed the Doctor practically swooping to the counter and swiping a jar of marmalade off the worktop, unscrewing the lid and dipping his fingers into it, sucking the jam off while totally oblivious the incredulous looks being thrown his way by the other woman and Rose.
He paused as he must have felt their stares and looked at Rose imploringly. She shook her head mouthed 'no' at him and he looked for all the world like a naughty schoolboy caught red-handed. He glanced at the woman who had her arms crossed and was almost glaring at him and meekly replaced the lid, pushing the jar back into its place.
The Doctor smiled and wished, for a split second, that he had some marmalade, brilliant stuff that it was. It was yet another thing he was always thankful to Rose for. Whereas many of his other companions were to meek or intimidated to say anything to him, if he was doing the wrong thing Rose was the first to let him know; she kept him in line, told him when he was being too rude or "alien" but also made sure to acknowledge when he did something right or something that was especially difficult for him. She was so… perfect and he hated it that it was only now he was beginning to realize how true that statement really was.
And just like that they were back in the TARDIS again. The Doctor was fumbling with some sort of device, putting it together while Rose sat on the captain's chair next to the console.
"You knew the Isolus was lonely before it told you. How?" What the bloody hell is an Isolus? Martha asked herself, not bothering to ask the Doctor for fear of him going into a long winded explanation and missing the rest of the scene.
The Doctor nudged Rose off the chair and sat himself down, still working on the device.
"I know what it's like to travel a long way on your own. Give me the stina magnetic erm-" he stopped trying to name it and nodded frantically at something she held in her hand. "-thing in your left hand!" She watches him with a tiny glare at his attitude, Martha left to wonder if he realized he was digging himself into a hole.
"Sounds like you're on its side." She put the thing in her left hand into the device, eyes never leaving the Doctors face.
"I sympathize, that's all." Of course he does.
"The Isolus has caused a lot of pain for these people."
"It's a child!" He blew forcefully it the mechanism. "That's why it went to Chloe, two lonely mixed up kids."
Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Hmm, feels to me like a temper tantrum because it can't get its own way."
The Doctor then became exasperated with her. "It's scared! Come on, you were a kid once. Binary dot." It was fascinating that even when they were in an argument of some sort they still communicated and worked together perfectly, Rose handing him the binary dot while carrying on with her point, absentmindedly chewing on some gum.
"Yes! And I know what kids can be like. Right little... terrors." That definitely wasn't what she was goin to say, Martha silently snickered at the girl.
"Gum." Martha screwed up her nose as Rose spat out her gum into his hand and he plugged a part of the device with it. He did that yet a few weeks ago she had been given a lecture on keeping the TARDIS "clean and germ-free" – unbelievable!
"I've got cousins." Rose continued unfazed. "Kids can't have it all their own way. That's part of being a family."
"What about trying to understand them?" She began to think that this was probably the longest they had gone keeping up an argument, or debate.
Rose turned away, smiling slightly as though she thought she was about to win the discussion. "Easy for you to say. You don't have kids."
The Doctor didn't look up from the contraption as he murmured out his next words. "I was a dad once."
"What did you say?" Martha spoke the words with Rose, them both giving their own Doctor's identical looks.
Martha's Doctor swallowed, he knew that was going to bring up some question. Even though it looked like it he wasn't oblivious to the effect his words had on Rose he had just chosen to ignore it, hoping she would forget that the words had carelessly dropped from his mouth, while at the same time he had been glad because it was one less thing he had to hide from her.
He didn't look at Martha as he responded. "I don't want to talk about it," knowing if he had said the same thing yesterday she would have pushed and gotten angry he was so closed off, but happy when now she simply shot him a tiny, forgiving and understanding smile and went back to the scene.
"I think we're there!" The other Doctor said at the same time as him, standing and walking to the console. "Fear. Loneliness, they're the big ones, Rose. Some of the most terrible acts ever committed have been inspired by them. We're not dealing with something that wants to conquer or destroy."
Rose was clearly still reeling from the revelation just as Martha was as she simply stared at him in shock through his rantings.
"There are a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive, wormhole refractors. You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold." He looked up then to see Rose's arm outstretched to him, not realizing it had already been like that for some time and grinning, reaching out to take it.
At any other time he would have had the right impression; in fact if Rose hadn't seen the screen blinking Martha had hardly any doubt she would have done it anyway to play along with the Doctor's sentence like he thought she was. But this time Rose laughed at him. "No! Look, I'm pointing."
The Doctor looked at the computer screen and got extremely excited, now practically bouncing around the TARDIS in a way that had happened a few times since the beginning of the memories but which Martha had never seen in real life.
"It's the pod! It is in the street! Everything's coming up Doctor!"
With that they were ripped back into the house and the girl's bedroom, Rose bursting in frantically, the Doctor nowhere to be seen. She ran to beside the possessed girl and picked up the picture she had just finished, Martha appalled to see the Doctor and the TARDIS, not having been told what was going on but figuring it out in less than a second at the pictures appearance. Rose looked down at it, horrified.
"Leave me alone! I want to be with Chloe Webber! I love Chloe Webber!"
Rose's voice was a forced calm as she looked down angrily at the child, obviously trying to remember the Doctor's words of tolerance. "Bring him back, now."
"No."
Rose turned away and lowered her head, hand coming up to rub it in frustration and desperation. She very quickly spun back and grabbed Chloe by the shoulders, shaking her slightly with the force of her move, the thought of the Doctor being taken from her clearly being almost too much for her to handle, it usually being the other way around.
This time her voice was strong, vicious and rising in volume. "Don't you realize what you've done? He was the only one who could help you, now bring him back!"
"Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!" Rose became defeated and her face softened. Martha had the beginnings of tears in her eyes as she saw the desperation in the poor girls eyes, not sure how to deal with what was essentially an innocent being. She saw the Doctor shift beside her and wondered if he had seen this before, if he had been able to see her from the drawing.
"I know." Rose spoke softly, letting the girl go and standing. "I know." She looked again at the picture still grasped tightly in her hands.
"Doctor, if you can hear me, I'm gonna get you out of there. I'll find the pod." She turned to the woman watching from the doorway and raised her voice again, commanding in such a way Martha hadn't seen before. "Don't leave her alone, no matter what."
They saw a quick flash of Rose smashing a door violently with a pickaxe – making the Doctor grin with an insane amount of glee and pride - but just like that they were outside to the street, surrounded by happy children getting hugged and kissed by their parents and family.
Rose was standing among them, smiling with less sincerity than the rest and Martha quickly deduced the reason why when the Doctor did not make an appearance.
"Doctor," she whispered to herself, half hearted smile fading as an old woman came up and thanked her for every thing.
The Doctor took a step forward before visibly holding himself back, not for the first time, and looked at the image regretfully, wishing now he had gone to her first, not realizing how much he had worried her.
"Rose," he whispered out in response to her calling his name, like an instantaneous reaction to hearing her voice call for him.
"Where is he? He should be here." Her voice shook as the scene fast forwarded and now showed her sitting on the ground, leaning against a front door, hands clasping together like she wished someone else was there to hold it. Martha saw the Doctor's hand twitch at the same time with the same urge. She looked up as a man approached her slowly.
"Maybe he's gone somewhere."
She looked down again, tears almost free from her eyes. "Who's gonna hold his hand now?"
Without anything else they stood inside the house again and Martha wished the Doctor would come back soon, her eyes immediately seeking out Rose and finding her, still close to tears. "Eighty thousand people, so where's the Doctor?" Her voice quivered even more and she utter three of the most honest and true words Martha thinks she'd ever heard spoken. "I need him."
She then watched in shock as the careless and utterly oblivious Time Lord showed up on the turned on television and carried the Olympic torch. She turned and once again couldn't suppress the urge to slap him on the shoulder.
And once again he muttered the same words, "I know," wondering how he had been so unaware back then.
The Doctor was then walking down the same street, though now the sun was setting and it was dark, Rose creeping up behind him, grin already forming. Martha waited, knowing another close, celebratory hug was to come just like always.
"Cake?" She called up, holding out a small cupcake decorated with edible ball bearings, making Martha remember a time she had made some in the TARDIS on a boring day. When she had offered some to the Doctor he had refused to eat them until they had ball bearings on them. She now wondered if that was because of Rose or if he really was that obsessed with the decorations.
The Doctor laughed at her and Martha was surprised when instead of the two of them being swept up into a mutually desperate hug he walked up, took it and exclaimed "top banana!" before taking a delighted bite.
Maybe this time there wouldn't be a hug… that would certainly be a change.
Rose watched him as if him eating a cupcake was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen. "Mm. I can't stress this enough; ball bearings you can eat: masterpiece!" Rose watched for a few more seconds before throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him to her, holding tight and grinning into his shoulder.
And there is it. Martha smiled, knowing she should have never doubted it as she saw the Doctor's grip tighten further behind Rose's back.
"Ooh, I thought I'd lost you."
"Nah, not on a night like this; this is a night for lost things being found. Come on!" They walked down the road together, not holding hands but their sides brushing together every step, walking side by side even closer than usual.
Martha and the Doctor followed a pace or two behind and to one side, listening intently, though the Doctor was looking up at the sky and smiling a little less than before.
"What now?" Rose asked.
"I want to go to the games! What we came for!"
Rose nudged the Doctor in the side. "Go on, give us a clue, which events do we do well in?" She looked up at him imploringly, smiling.
"Well, I will tell you this: Papua New Guinea surprises everyone in the shot put." Martha laughed as he spoke around a mouthful of cake, loving his childish side.
"Really? You're joking, aren't you?" She giggled at him. "Doctor, are you serious or are you joking?"
He just smiled at her again and shrugged. "Wait and see!"
Fireworks exploded overhead and the Doctor reached for Rose's hand, having it immediately, naturally slip into his, sides still contacting each other.
"You know what; they keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will."
With that Martha felt the Doctor beside her tense to impossible stiffness as he remembered what he felt that night, how he should have taken it into further account. The Doctor next to Rose stopped and looked down at her seriously. "Never say never ever."
"Nah. We'll always be okay, you and me." She frowned when he didn't reply and nudged him slightly again, unsuccessfully trying to draw his gaze back to hers as she became more nervous with his lack of response. "Don't you reckon, Doctor?"
The Doctor kept his eyes trained on the sky and stiffened, imitating Martha's Doctor only not quite as intense.
Martha began wishing the man would have just agreed with Rose, for once let them have a nice moment without it being ruined… but that wasn't what happened.
"Something in the air. Something coming."
"What?" Rose asked, now also looking up, happiness draining away as all four of them no doubt remembered the prophesy that had been laid upon them by the Beast back on that impossible planet.
"A storm's approaching." The Doctor whispered forebodingly as Rose glanced at him and shivered, neither really putting as much stock into the words as perhaps they should have.
Martha had hardly any time to really process all that had been said before the night was washed away and they were placed somewhere that was obviously in the middle of the day, the TARDIS clearly trying to get passed the worst and get back to, what Martha assumed to be the last of, the good.
The doctor was walking in a cavernous room, one Martha could identify, having looked frantically around, as the inside of a Roman temple. She gasped as they approached and she saw a statue at the front of the room, the Doctor coming to stand just in front of it. It was beautiful, though she didn't quite understand why the Doctor would be so interested as he stopped, his face falling in disappointment after a few seconds of looking upon it.
The Doctor smiled at the statue, remembering how hi hearts had quickened at seeing her, though he was quickly disappeared.
"Rose is prettier than you." The Doctor muttered at the statue in frustration, frowning while the other Doctor let his face grin widely as he recognized the place and time, feet bouncing as he became instantly giddy, trying not to think of what came right after it.
Right, he finally says something like that and she's not around to hear it, his current companion thought in frustration, wondering when they would just get it over with, not for the first time.
"Thanks." Martha knew straight away that it was Rose's voice, though why she would be hiding behind the statue she wouldn't have a clue. The Doctor in the image frowned again in confusion and the current Doctor rethought about how stupid he had been; how had he not recognized that voice? If he were to hear a single word from her he knew he'd know it instantly. Oh well, it was probably a good thing he didn't figure it out, time lines and all that.
He blinked lazily as his crowded Time Lord brain caught up with the new scene.
"It's not going to work. It's too late; she must have been stone too long." The Doctor couldn't remember how defeated and heartbroken he had felt in that moment. Living separated from her with a basically impenetrable barrier between them was bad enough but at least he knew, or could hope that she was safe and knew that she was with her family. But then, thinking that she was actually dead even if it was only for a few seconds; it was excruciating and he wasn't sure he'd live through it when it actually happened. Because even if they stayed separated the one thing he knew with absolute certainty was that he would feel it, the day Rose Tyler was gone from all universes, and he wasn't sure how he was going to live in a multiverse that didn't have her in it.
Martha took in that Jackie was making an appearance for the first time in quite a while and laughed when she saw that it was to yell at the Doctor, though the situation seemed to be quite serious she couldn't help herself. Doctor shook his head, angry and desperate and obviously running out of vital ideas.
The scene quickly fast forwarded to the Doctor emptying the contents of Rose's purse all over the floor of what Martha now noticed to be a museum. She finally paid attention to what was going on and gasped at the statue that stood in front of them. It was an exact replica of Rose… it was beautiful, so perfect she wondered who the artist was.
The Doctor held up a single earring next to the statue and suddenly looked a million times happier than what she assumed was only a few seconds ago.
"It's the same one," awe and relief saturated Jackie's voice as she stared at the jewelry in much the same fashion as the Doctor.
"She forgot to put it back on." The Doctor's voice had dropped to a whisper, one he often used right when he seemed to be figuring things out. "So Rose, the real Rose, is only wearing one earring, which means that this – this isn't Rose. I've got to go back and find her. This better be enough."
He ran off, Jackie catching him before he went back into the TARDIS and asking him where the statue came from. The Doctor's response was simply a wide, face splitting grin and look of self-worship as he turned and left without a verbal answer.
Of course, I should have known. Only the Doctor would be content to sculpt Rose all day and make her so utterly perfect. She didn't have time to fall into a pit of her consternation before another shift began.
Martha looked around and wondered what they were doing in… a forest? Quite a different change in venue. She had noticed since the memories of this new adventure had begun the Doctor had been quieter but not morose and he had a particular look on his face, almost like he was looking forward to something and he wanted to hurry things along. She put it out of her mind, figured she find out in good time, and looked back to see Rose awaken.
Rose gasped and spluttered awake, dazed and confused. The Doctor stood in front of her and when her eyes finally locked coherently on his face she lunged forward and grabbed him in a huge hug, eyes teary and joyful, mouth still set in a grimace, trauma and last memories still too close for her to be completely unscarred. The Doctor grinned widely and held her to him tight and unrelenting. Martha wondered how long they'd been separated, they looked even happier than they had on their last adventure and that and the one before that were hard ones to beat. It must have been a long time.
It was child, the TARDIS made its unexpected presence known as the scene began to fast forward, the term being used much more affectionately than the last time it had been used between the two of them. That was the longest they had been separated and our Doctor was in quite a state.
I can imagine, Martha responded amusedly.
They came into it when the Doctor happily tucked his arm through Rose's and tugged her along with him. "You're lost without me," Rose told him playfully, tongue in her teeth as she still grinned up at him. God how he missed that smile. The present Doctor half smiled wistfully, wondering if she still smiled like that, smile falling slightly as he thought about how unlikely it was; especially if her felt anywhere near as wrong and incomplete without him as he did without her. It sounded corny and clique but it was so real.
"Don't I just know it," he replied cheekily, eyebrow rising as he continued. Underneath the playfulness Martha thought they both knew exactly how right Rose was in her statement. "If anyone ever asks me what sort of friend you are I tell them, Rose Tyler, I'm lost without her! Rock solid that's what she is."
Martha lightly whacked the Doctor on the arm. "Not nice," was all she said in way of an explanation. Rose grinned until the last part, glaring viciously and growling, unsuccessful in keeping her faux anger and burst out laughing in the middle of the apparently "menacing" sound. The Doctor followed after a second, mirth not far behind while their linked arms never parted.
And with that Martha sighed in mild annoyance as the image erupted into something new once again, it was getting confusing.
A fight had broken out in the room. Martha gasped and stumbled back in horror as everything happened so fast, the Doctor leaping forward in front of a young girl just as an old man did the same. They contacted each other and the Doctor was frozen into place, his skin instantly turning to perfect, unblemished stone as the same happened to the other girl as she fell and Rose got entangled in the mess, pushing the man to the ground and accidently impaling him on his own dagger. Martha had to physically stop the bile rise in her throat as his own blood pooled around him on the floor.
The blonde looked at the man as if she were about to cry when her eyes widened in sickening realization and she turned hesitantly, obviously hoping she wouldn't see what she thought she would. She saw the Doctor, hands outstretched in an attempt to save yet another life, face frozen in courage for an eternity.
Rose picked up an empty glass phial off the floor, obviously suppressing gasping cries and desperately tried to get a drop out of it onto the Doctor's unmoving head, choking on her own breath and suppressed tears as sobs broke out of her and gradually gained in volume. She finally gave up and pled with the Doctor.
"Doctor, oh Doctor why did we have to come here, it's all my fault. All that stuff about modeling, I wish you hadn't listened to me, I wish you'd never come here." The sound of thunder rolled over them but Martha didn't get to see what happened next as the scene changed quickly again, it seemed the TARDIS was trying to get to somewhere quickly now.
She was about to question the Doctor about what was going on when he blinked tiredly and sighed. "It is much too complicated to explain it now. Maybe later."
She took that to mean she'd never know.
They stood in the same room as before, Rose holding the same phial but now it had remnants of the sickly green liquid left. The hopelessly optimistic expression on Rose's face as she once again tipped the phial over the statue of the Doctor had Martha holding her breath in anticipation. She smiled in pleasure when the statue began to regain color and wiggle its fingers and toes. She peeked at the Doctor to see his reaction to all that was happening to see such an expression of complete concentration yet utter joy at the same time that her curiosity rose to new heights.
"One of my favourite memories." He stated simply, eyes twinkling for the first time in… she couldn't even think how long. It was amazing and she had an inkling to what might be the cause.
Though she had her suspicions her mouth still dropped further than it ever had before, eyes widening impossibly and she couldn't suppress the tiny giggle of amazement and disbelief as she saw just what exactly the past Doctor did when he was free.
His face spread into an unbelievably thankful smile and he grabbed Rose by the shoulders, pulling her into a tight embrace; that, of course, wasn't the odd thing. They stayed there for a few seconds, both euphoric at being reunited and glad to be in each others arms after whatever exactly had happened to them. Then, over Rose's shoulder both of them saw the Doctor's expression change, a hint of desperation and wild abandon glinting in his bright eyes. He pulled back from their hug, looked Rose in the eye, hers growing in surprise as she correctly read his intentions a second before it happened and he pulled her quickly to him, his lips descending on hers.
It wasn't long, nor was it physically deep or visibly passionate but that sort of action from the Doctor was simply amazing. It lasted a few seconds, the Doctor's arms clutching at Rose's waist while hers rested on his chest, one lax while the other grabbed and held tightly to his lapel and pressing herself forward just slightly. Those couple of seconds were so pure and innocently passionate and… accidental yet perfect that Martha had to literally tell herself to breath to keep from forgetting. She heard the Doctor's content sigh from beside her and saw, out of the corner of her eye, for she could not rip her gaze from the scene, him lightly run his tongue over his lip in remembrance, as if he could still savor her taste.
He pulled slowly and gently away from her, no awkwardness between them as they stood impossibly close simply grinning widely at each other as they had always done, arms still half around each other.
"Wotcha," Rose intonated playfully, smoothing down his suit with her palms, just the slightest shake visible, though her voice was steady if not a bit breathless.
Hmm, I wonder how that felt. The darker girl couldn't help but think as she saw the still dazed look on Rose's face as the Doctor smiled crookedly back at her. "Hello," he responded in their seemingly customary greeting; she wouldn't be surprised if that was what they said first when they were finally reunited, because they would be, she knew it. His eyes shone in happiness, the recklessness still there, as if for once he was forgetting his own rules and absolutely loving it.
Rose took a breath and laughed shakily. "I think you must be real, my imagination's not that good." They continued grinning at each other, gazes locked in a misleadingly casual stare when the two of them, Martha and the Doctor all knew it was a lot more than it appeared.
It was an affirmation. They understood it probably wouldn't happen again but it didn't matter, because it did happen and that stare was the both of them making promises to acknowledge that fact; to not let it make them awkward with each other or to hide away in the backs of their minds till they convinced themselves it didn't actually happen.
The Doctor had held to his promise. He thought of that kiss every day now, wishing he could feel even a modicum of that sort of emotion again, knowing when he saw her next he wouldn't be wasting anymore time. He was going to let all of his arguments and rules go for one tiny human girl. He delighted in the fact that sometime in the past day his thoughts of seeing her again had gone from if to when, it was only a matter of time, even if that time was decades ahead of him.
And for the first time since that day at Canary Wharf he turned to Martha and showed her something she'd never seen before. He really, truly, smiled.
A/N FOR THOSE WHO HAVE READ THE BOOK: Okay so I know, dramatic and I let my imagination run away with me a bit with the kiss but it was only given about a sentence in the book and I was like: No! That deserves about two pages of description and explanation thank you very much! Also, I made a mistake and forgot Mickey was in it so I replaced his lines with Jackie, hope you don't mind.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK: YES, that actually happened it wasn't just me adding another thing in at random. Of course, it wasn't that extended in the book but I had to do it, their first kiss deserves something freakin' awesome so I did the best I could without changing very much. All dialogue is exactly the same.
Coming up next (assuming I can fit them both in one chapter but if I can't I'll update really really quickly for you :D): ARMY OF GHOSTS AND DOOMSDAY!
ALSO, SORRY THIS IS ANOTHER UNCHECKED CHAPTER SO I HOPE THERE AREN'T TOO MANY MISTAKES.
FEEDBACK AND REVIEWS = MORE AND BETTER UPDATES!
Thanks,
Metal.
