A/N: I apologize for the too long wait. August was flying by so fast, I almost can't believe it. Nevertheless, finally here I am and after all that tension in the last couple of chapters I've got a rather light-hearted one for you. I hope you enjoy the change in atmosphere as much as I enjoyed writing it.
As always, thanks a lot for the new follows and the new favs. It never fails to make me happy when I realize that people like what I do here.
Have a fab time, everyone. And enjoy the new season on TV!
TiaKisu :)
PurpleGuest: Indeed, BadWolf is part of herself and her life and as such she won't be able to escape it. And I agree, it is hard for Rose to deal with the conflicting emotions. But at last she's got him back. More than that even, after all that time she finally was able to mourn and I think that was a crucial moment not only for her but the Doctor, too. :)
Once again, thank you SO much for your continued support. You know it means the world to me and I hope you like this new chapter as well.
additional: September will be a rather busy month for me. I thus can't make any promises about the next update. I hope to be faster than I was this time, however, if you find me slowing down again do check out Montana's Parallax series and BlueStoneShiningWolf's works in the meantime. I guarantee you won't regret it!
Chapter 10: Late-night Talks
The alarm clock on her nightstand read 00:28 in the morning but Rose Tyler couldn't sleep.
She had been tossing and turning for the last two hours now, had even tested lying on her stomach although she didn't like the position at all. But each time she had been about to drift off the feel of soft wool beneath her fingers and a steady heartbeat had invaded her unfolding dreams like a ghostly echo until she had woken with a start and stared at how the bright red digits to her left jumped from one number to the other. Minute after minute - taunting and mocking her.
With a groan she rolled onto her back and dragged her hands across her face.
"This won't work," she moaned while glancing at the vicious device once more.
Twenty nine past midnight. It was beyond unnerving.
Finally deciding that there was no point in remaining settled in her bed and have her patience run low and lower with every second that ticked by she pushed herself into an upright position. Maybe getting a tab of water from the kitchen would help. In any case, going downstairs was better than staying here and it was not like she had something else to do anyway.
While bare feet made contact with warm wood, Rose let go of a heavy sigh.
With everything that had happened in the last two days she would have thought that despite her earlier nap in the zeppelin she'd be dead to the world in no time, however, her body seemed to have quite a different opinion about the matter.
She was restless, her brain working even when she tried to calm it down. Pictures from her time with him spiralled through her head, reminding her of so many little details she was thoroughly astounded she still remembered them at all. A smile, a sound; things he had said and others she had only ever seen written in pale blue.
Automatically she bit her lower lip when she glanced at the large window of her room, considered for one time too many in the last hours how he had entered her life again and somehow left it at the same instant.
"You better be okay out there."
The quiet command found no listener but herself, her voice too small as that anyone would have heard it even when close by. And it felt weird saying this. Weird because she knew that he resided two doors down - assigned to the guest room that was the closest to her own - and was probably disgusted by how there was a large carpet of all things in his quarters.
He was with her, and he was not. Impossible really was but a word when you were acquainted with the Doctor.
Briefly closing her eyes shut Rose turned away, left the view on the starry sky behind to head out into the corridor.
In Norway she had promised herself to make the best of the chance that he had given her and ever since she had broken in his embrace earlier this night she found that maybe there was reason, too, to believe that she could keep her word.
As had to be expected the sadness was still there - that trace of her pinstriped Doctor which made her pray to whatever deity was inclined to listen that he was happy, roaming time and space together with this brilliant redhead who was his sister in all but blood - but the pain was waning. Slowly, but it was.
Not only the one she had harboured for two years but also the one that had been hidden so well, like a thorn dug deeply into her heart – invisible yet lasting; something she had not even been aware she was still carrying it after all this time. The weight was lifted from her shoulders, with each beat of his single heart, and she welcomed the sensation.
Softly, air left her lungs at this thought, and she opened the door.
This first day with him had been nothing short of a roller coaster ride - its end a supper that had been more pleasant than she could possibly have expected.
Indeed her mum and Pete seemed to try their very best to make the Time Lord feel at ease and they had avoided asking any questions even though Rose knew that both her parents were dying to get answers. Apparently they had decided there was a time and place for that though, and that today's evening with the impromptu meal wasn't it.
Instead, albeit Rose was sure her mum had already caught up on what had happened here at home while she was gone, most of the talk had evolved around the youngest family member again and what little had remained had been filled with the latest random gossip that Jackie had picked up listening to the radio while she had put the frozen lasagne in the oven and prepared some pasta to go with the leftovers.
The excruciatingly trivial news about Craig Charles taking yet another break from filming Coronation Street had elicited an exasperated eye-roll from the Doctor that he just hadn't been able to suppress despite the company at the table, an involuntary though small smirk from her at this all too familiar sight – plus an arched brow from her step father who quite clearly had been bewildered in view of these reactions.
Fortunately her mother herself had paid more attention to her plate that moment so that there had been no damage to the mood and eventually it had been agreed that it was late enough and about time they all called it a day.
The whole time, apart from that little slip, the Doctor had held himself in rather spectacularly, not participating in the conversation unless he absolutely had to – and mostly that had been to just give his half-hearted consent to whatever had been said - but being distinctly polite and reasonably friendly considering he always claimed to abhor settings like that dinner.
For a brief moment then she had expected to be announced in charge of showing him to his room, but to Rose's surprise Pete had actually taken the lead. Going upstairs and lending his new guest one of his own pyjamas he had eventually left the Time Lord together with her, thus saving her the awkwardness of saying goodnight on her own.
It sounded utterly wrong to even mention feeling uncomfortable and being around the Doctor in one sentence, nevertheless that was exactly what it would have been like standing there among the furniture and fabrics that certainly were homely to her people but not him.
Back when she had first travelled in his TARDIS their daily routine had consisted of him sending her to bed whenever he had reckoned she needed to recover (and much to her annoyance he had become quite good at knowing when that was), not missing to complain in the same breath about how bothersome he thought it that her species kept sleeping their lives away.
It had been fun and light-hearted, and had turned to friendly hugs and the occasional peck on the cheek after he had become her second Doctor.
Somehow, there had not once been any insecurity between them but now, on this very evening, she would have not known what to do. Continue their old banters or return to their later ritual? Hug him or just wave and go? Almost it seemed ridiculous that she even worried about this in the first place and still – Rose was glad that she didn't have to make a decision just yet. Maybe, by the time they parted for the night tomorrow they had found their rhythm again already.
Taking a step outside she recalled how difficult some moments had been between her mum and Pete at the beginning, how there had been doubts and the struggle to find out who they were together and she drew comfort from that. Because turbulent as their start had been, they had built a beautiful relationship together so perhaps it wasn't too farfetched to assume that –
"O'course I thought of that. Doesn't work though, unless you want this place be blown to pieces."
Her musings were brought to an abrupt stop when through the soft darkness of the unlit hall she heard a voice make its way toward her; the sound of which she was sure to recognize anywhere and anywhen. In an instant her brows furrowed, her attention zeroing in on the words.
Was he talking to anyone? But if so, then about what and why did it involve a possible explosion?
Carefully, she moved closer to the door from under which a faint glimmer of light flowed out to play around her feet. Maybe she was just imagining things.
"Don't be upset, takes a bit of a genius to figure it out. Luckily, you got me and the idea was good actually. Well done."
Hearing that, she was at least sure of one thing: It was the Doctor speaking - only she had no idea who with. It couldn't be her mum or Tony but there was no reason to think that Pete conversed with the time traveller at this time either; which left only one resident on the list, though it seemed entirely absurd to even consider her.
"First, she needs to charge up. Can't fry the shell when she's not ready for it. Should've told you I guess."
He sounded like he was educating whoever was with him in the room and at last Rose's curiosity got the better of her.
Twisting its silvery knob she pushed the door open, startling the man at the desk near the window even when she tried to be as quiet as she could.
Leather-clad back arching and pale eyes darting into her direction, for a split second the Doctor looked alarmed before his features smoothed out and the tension in his shoulders vanished as quickly as it had come.
"Rose," he observed with obvious surprise, taking her in. Old habits died hard and automatically he searched for any sign of danger or hurt in her countenance that would explain her seeking him at this hour.
She stood in the doorway, pupils contracting as they adjusted to the light the standard-lamp emitted; her posture relaxed even when she was clearly vigilant about something he didn't yet know.
Wearing black sweatpants and a light grey t-shirt, blonde hair a little tousled from attempted sleep, she looked positively lovely. Not that he had the nerve to at least admit that to himself of course.
"Weren't you off to bed," he asked instead, studying her.
"I was," Rose affirmed, somewhat distracted, before she met his gaze. "Is a bit hard to fall asleep though when you've been napping for most of the day. Thought I'd go and get something to drink." There was a short pause and a faint shrug wrinkling her shirt, "I heard you talk about blowing something up, 'nd..."
She frowned as she trailed off, shifted on her spot until she had a better view of him. No gadgets on the table, just a piece of paper and a pencil. That was good, she hoped.
Catching on immediately for he had seen that look on her face before, the Doctor blew air out through his nose and smiled wryly though with a distinct streak of amusement. "Glad to see you still got so much faith in me."
"Henriks?" In her book, that one word – spoken as matter-of-factly as she was able to - was enough of a justification for checking on what he was doing, "Seemed safer to have a look."
Just where the friendly teasing in her tone came from again all of a sudden was beyond her knowledge, but familiar as it felt she liked it and if that hint of a cheeky grin which negated the roll of his eyes was anything to go by so did he.
After a short moment of silence during which she shuffled her feet, she finally asked what still puzzled her most though. "Who are you talking with anyway?"
Leaning against the doorframe, she waited for his answer.
"You. Sort of."
He turned, dipped his chin so that she followed the subtle gesture with her eyes – leading them to the furry creature at his feet.
The sight had Rose do a double take. Apparently it was about time she removed the word 'absurd' from her vocabulary as well.
"You're having me on."
"I would never!" He gave the perfect impression of being highly insulted by the accusation – even when the bright blue of his irises belied another story.
"Our dog," she scrunched her nose "You've been talking to our dog?"
"You'd be surprised, ears and a nose like that they know a lot of things." If it hadn't been for the conviction with which he spoke she would have bet her every money that he still was kidding her. "Language's easy to understand, too. And Rose is quite a clever one."
Almost as if to prove him right, the tiny being in question pounced on her front paws that very instant. Wagging her tail, the small terrier got up from her seat to scuffle over to the young human who she had come to like almost as much as her mistress.
Looking up at her namesake with big brown eyes she stifled a bark and tilted her head until it was obvious she wanted the blonde's attention.
Still suspicious of the Doctor's claim to have chatted with the dog, Rose complied and scooped the little girl up. Ruffling the long fur on the Yorkshire's chest, she made some cooing noises; then set herself into motion.
It felt odd to behave so casually with him nearby – normal, yet anything but. Strolling over to the armchair that was the closest to the Time Lord she was aware of how he watched her expectantly, and she was strangely nervous having his gaze on her.
"Actually," while she grabbed a maroon throw pillow from the seating surface she tried hard to sound unaffected, "We're calling her Daisy now."
"Daisy," He very nearly grunted with disdain, "Why Daisy?"
Positioning the cushion between herself and the armrest, she sat down before she replied. "It's a kind of flower, innit?"
"Doesn't mean she likes it." While Rose gently lowered the dog onto the velvety fabric, the Doctor shifted ever so little, glancing at his former companion with a smug expression on his face.
"She told you that?"
This time, rather than replying, he just grinned and how she hated it when he went all enigmatic and left her in the dark about whether he was pulling her leg or not.
"In that case, got any suggestions then?" In that moment she decided that she definitely wouldn't let him win as easily. "'Cause I'm not going to come running every time someone shouts for her."
What she didn't say was that she had been there already, which had been the reason for giving the furry fellow a new name in the first place.
"Why, she had her fun."
His blatant mirth at her expense had her gasp and then mutter under her breath, "Little traitor."
She made sure to send a half-hearted scowl the terrier's way but couldn't find it in her to truly scold the pet for quite frankly she still suspected that the Doctor just knew her well enough to pull this off without any help from his new friend.
Had he been his suited self right now, she would have had a trick or two in store to show him up but grey-eyed and always so in control of himself as he was she would never learn the truth as long as he was still on guard and enjoying this.
"Still waiting," she thus prompted after exhaling audibly.
Quirking an eyebrow, Rose allowed herself to truly consider him. For once, he seemed perfectly relaxed and it stood in such stark contrast to anything she had seen of him since his return that she couldn't help but smile although she meant to dare him.
Somehow, sitting there across from each other, any and all remnants of unfamiliarity were melting away faster than she could keep track. And for a split second it seemed to her that they could leave the years of separation behind - right there, right then and didn't the mere thought of it make her happier than she had ever been since she arrived in this world?
While the corners of his lips twitched upwards before in a dead serious fashion he offered "Maggie", she made herself more comfortable, content that she had found a better occupation than going down to the kitchen.
"Maggie," she repeated, not bothering to conceal her scepticism but nevertheless casting a glance down at the dog who suddenly pricked up her ears and wagged her tail – light brown hair brushing against Rose's waist with the eager movement.
Oh, she could practically hear the Time Lord preen.
"See," he noted with all the complacence of someone very pleased with himself, "Much better, that."
If he was playing a game, he certainly was playing it well and by now Rose truly considered believing him.
"So you can talk to dogs," eventually she hummed, very nearly convinced. "How come you never did that before? Might've been useful when we were chasin' that Lametta through half of Britain."
It was, she knew, a bit of an exaggeration for they had only been forced to search along the coastline between Portsmouth and Newhaven for the very canine looking and decidedly pregnant stowaway they had once accidently brought from Nexus 12. Still, Rose thought that her point did stand because she wouldn't have minded not spending an entire week on catching the thing before it could give birth to its offspring and have a family on Earth.
The Doctor however snorted.
"Where'd the fun been in that?" He asked, appearing, for all the world, genuinely offended. "And it's called a Lāmeita'a."
At this point, he couldn't fight smirking at her and wouldn't he look as content with this moment as he did she might have harrumphed. But since he did she merely shook her head, wondering in a distant corner of her mind just what else she didn't know a thing about.
Shrugging a shoulder, she let her head fall back a little, feigning that she was completely unimpressed. "Whatever. Still would've saved us a lot of trouble if we'd known where it was heading to."
"That would've been boring though," he immediately dismissed, mirroring her position. "Nothing like a good riddle and a chase."
"If you say so." Rose shrugged once more, this time absent-mindedly, but her voice held an edge of good-natured defiance to it that told the Doctor that had her focus not been on something else already, she might have contradicted. As it was though, indeed, she broached another subject right after.
"You didn't tell me though, what were you talking about with- Maggie."
The new name came out a bit forced, her reluctance to give in showing but at last she accepted his claim of understanding the Yorkshire.
"The TARDIS. The seed she gave me - it can't grow on its own. Needs a bit of help for that." While his answer sounded perfectly casual there was something in his demeanour that was not. Blue gaze piercing its whiskey-coloured counterpart he scrutinized her as he added, "Still have to figure out a thing or two and can't afford to make a mistake. If I do this wrong she might die."
In the blink of an eye, the mood shifted from almost playful to serious again, Rose's smile faltering ever so slightly.
After little more than a day living a human life he was already trying to get away again. She knew he hated domestics, but strangely the notion still stung.
"The only TARDIS in this universe, and without 'er we won't ever get anywhere that's not Earth. Least of all there."
Now he tied her in knots and it was obvious, too, in how she pursed her lips in confusion. "Sorry?"
"Barcelona. Pretty sure it exists here, too."
There was a long second of anxious waiting afterwards, him gauging her reaction and trying to read in her widening gaze. Something hopeful was evident in his own but as long as she just stared at him, trying to keep up, he reined it in.
"You... Barcelona?" If anything Rose gaped at him, barely shutting her mouth quickly enough as that she didn't look stupid. "Oh."
The reason that he was already working on the TARDIS was so that they could go travelling again; that she could see the planet he had wanted to take her to on more than one occasion but so far had never gotten the chance to show her?
At once she didn't know what to say but the blush that crept up on her cheeks unwanted and the smile which returned to her lips were rather sufficient as a reply.
"Donna got it right," and just like that he sounded jovial again, basking in the glow of her expression, "but the tricky bit's the habitat the coral needs. Can't exactly put her in a fish tank or use a flower pot."
"No, s'pose not," grinning somewhat sheepishly Rose agreed, noting only on a subconscious level how her muscles slacked off when she hadn't felt them tense in the first place, "You know what you need though, yeah? 'Cause, maybe Pete can help."
For some reason he listened up at that, his brows furrowing.
"Pete? Whatever happened to 'Dad'?" He recalled the agonizing minutes on Dårlig Ulv-Stranden only too vividly, the last time he saw her for what he had thought would be forever and how she had called this parallel version of her father that before already, so hearing her use the man's first name now startled him.
"We tried it for some time but it didn't work." Absent-mindedly she began stroking the dog on her lap again, her eyes not longer on his.
"I'm sorry."
He didn't think he needed to hear more about it. He could well imagine the implications her declaration carried and despite the stern warnings he had given back when he had been his younger-looking self he wished that things would have worked out the way she had then wanted them to.
For her part, though, Rose groaned.
"Stop saying that," she reprimanded, oddly irritated by how he appeared to regard everything as his fault. "Nothing you could do about it. And in fact, it's alright. We realized we were both more comfortable with me calling him by his name. Turns out, you were right."
Sighing quietly, she looked up again.
"He's not my dad and we both like to remember that."
For a moment he seemed to consider her words; then the Doctor's head moved as he nodded in understanding.
"You don't want to forget." His voice was soft, close to being tender even, and there was a depth to this simple sentence that had air catch in Rose's throat.
It was true, she didn't want to forget and she didn't want to replace the man who had died so that the world could keep on turning. Without a doubt this world's Pete held a special place in her heart but it was a separate one from the part that would always belong to no other than her father – no matter how she had once so selfishly wished that the void could be filled.
Yet, it wasn't that idea which threw her off balance now; instead it was the simple fact that somehow he could grasp what she had not spelled out to him.
"Yeah," Rose managed to mumble, her left hand fidgeting with a strand of Maggie's hair at the same time. "Something like that."
It wasn't hard to tell that he had hit a sore spot and since he didn't want to make her uncomfortable he opted for leaving it up to her whether to stay with the topic or not.
"Anyway." Obviously, she was aiming for the latter. "What's that habitat you need? And what with Donna's ... well, whatever she said?"
For once he found it impossible to tell whether she was indeed interested or just seizing the occasion to stir them away from what most likely was too loaded with memories – not only of the Peter Allan Tyler they had met but also himself - but he humoured her in any case.
"You sure you want to hear all the boring details?"
Deliberately he added the hint of a challenge to his voice, noting with satisfaction how her features lit up in response.
"Try me," she retorted straightaway; a faint glimmer in those hazel irises that he just couldn't resist.
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
"I won't."
Sporting a small grin, she allowed him to manoeuvre them past the looming uneasiness that their previous subject had brought about.
As it had always been before, her wish was his command and leaning back in his chair he drew air into his lungs, began to explain the very basics of growing a TARDIS as it would naturally occur; sprinkled the rather dry and theoretical part of that with information about their life cycle whenever he reckoned that he was losing himself in unhelpful mathematical details.
Every question Rose asked, he tried to answer albeit he avoided mentioning the home that he had once destroyed. His companion had obviously lost nothing of her curiosity but still there was no reason to touch that particular matter now and so he soon began to ramble about various ideas instead that were all connected to Donna's brilliant advice but not quite perfect enough to implement them.
Modifying the dimensional stabiliser was way more difficult than it sounded. It already was with an adult TARDIS but the coral was a much more delicate thing, a bit like a human baby and you couldn't simply go about tinkering with either of them and not have a good plan in store.
Just as he delved into pointing out how the ships of his people were really more living beings than machines he suddenly noticed that Rose grew quiet, her eyelids drooping steadily. But it wasn't until he recited the very mixture of elements every seed required to develop far enough as that it could connect with the Vortex that he realized he had at last lost his audience completely.
There in the armchair dog and human had dozed off sometime during his lecture, the terrier happily ignoring how Rose's hand lay on her back, idle. The two of them gave a picture of tranquillity although he was well aware that it was but the calm after a storm. A tempest he had brought into this pink and yellow girl's life.
Maybe that was why he had taken to find out how to nurture the coral – to make it up to her. He sought to take her to the stars again and he had figured that the sooner he started thinking about a solution the sooner it could be done. Assuming he was successful.
He worked a muscle in his jaw as he felt the minute weight of a too young TARDIS in his pocket, a token of affection and a promise that he intended to keep.
A life among the stars.
The now almost soundless night swallowed this thought, settled around him like a blanket and made him feel disconnected from his new human body for just a moment.
It was there. A breath and a beat in tune with hers - two hearts - long fingers reaching out until they hovered in the air mere inches away from her skin and how he longed to close that gap; to have her palm against his own like it had been earlier that night, to sense her timeline as it twisted and curled to weave itself deeply into his life. But he withdrew.
She looked so peaceful. He wouldn't dare and intrude when she was resting, not for reasons as egoistic as his need to hold her hand.
The chair seemed spacious and comfortable enough as that her muscles wouldn't be tense in the morning and so he resolved to take the cover from the bed that was meant for him and drape it around her and the Yorkshire in her lap as carefully as was possible – making sure to wake neither of the two.
He had enough calculations to make to be occupied for the next few days if not weeks even –bridging a couple of hours didn't seem to provide any kind of problem. Not when he heard her steady breathing fill the room and knew that she was safe, alive and with him.