AN: Sorry it's been such a long time, guys! I promise I'll write you a few chapter to post tonight to make up for my absence. I've been so stressed from work and have had the worst case of writer's block I've ever had. Without further ado, the next chapter of Secret Admirers!

Chapter 12- The Beach

"What happened out there?"

"You don't wanna know."

Rose grinned over at the Doctor as the TARDIS materialized in a new, unfamiliar world.

"Where is it this time?" she asked, practically jumping with excitement.

"I'll tell you once you change," the Doctor promised. "You might need a bathing suit and a change of clothes."

"You haven't!" Rose exclaimed. "You said you'd take me to a beach, but you always claimed we were too busy!"

"Schedule's all cleared up." The Doctor smiled daftly at her. "Go on and change then, haven't got all day."

"Thank you," she said seriously, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him on the lips. "I mean it."

"Go on, my pink and yellow human," he teased, pushing her towards the TARDIS main corridor.

With one last final smile, she had left to get herself ready.

…

She reappeared in the console room a half an hour later, with a flourish of her hands to get an opinion off the Time Lord of her outfit, but he was already tucked away under the mess of wires under the console.

She could hear the sonic screwdriver buzzing, and was just about to grab his calf that was showing, when he popped up suddenly.

"Hello! Ready are we?" he asked.

"Yep!" Rose beamed.

He stood up, then paused once he saw Rose's outfit. A low whistle left his lips.

"I take it you like, then?" she asked, poking her tongue between her teeth.

"Like it?" he asked breathlessly, looking her up and down appreciatively. "I'm the luckiest one there, man or alien, that's for sure."

Rose flushed red at his sentiment. "I love you," she said softly, coming over to take his arm. "Now, get on with the babble."

The Doctor launched straight into his usual planet spiel obediently. "Rose Tyler, welcome to Flora Five. Greatest beaches in the galaxies, known for the world famous amusement parks, rainbow sand beaches, and some even speculate: mermaids."

Rose gave a gasp of appreciation. "Are there, Doctor? True mermaids?"

He huffed. "Mermaids are legends, Rose. But we could find out, if you'd like?"

Rose nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, but after that swim along the rainbow beaches you talk about."

"As you wish," the Doctor promised, leading her over towards the water.

They stopped at a nice looking spot, and Rose spread a towel out for them to lay on. She grabbed the sunblock out of her bag and started to slather her arms and legs with it. She turned to look at the Doctor, and held out the bottle.

"Could you get my back for me, please?" she asked.

The Doctor's face flushed bright red, his ice blue eyes hardening to a cool grey steel. "I- are you sure, Rose?" he asked, a trace of hope in his features.

"See any other alien boyfriends of mine hangin' about?" Rose teased, tongue poking out at him.

"I don't know," he joked, grabbing the bottle from her. "We're not on Gelfish, right?"

"Oi!" she protested. "I told him I wasn't interested."

"He didn't seem to get the memo," the Doctor remembered, lathering his hands now with the thick, protective cream.

"You told me there was nothin' to worry about," she said, turning to face him.

"Oh, there's not," the Doctor assured. "As long as you're never alone on that planet again." He flipped her back to turn the other way, and started working it into her muscles.

"What'd you say to warn him off this time?" Rose asked. "Told him you'd throw him out a black hole, or somethin'?"

"Supernova," he waved her off. "And no, told him we were married."

She got quiet. "Oh, you did, huh?"

She could hear the Doctor gulp behind her. "Yeah, that alright?"

"Well," Rose began, "saved me from havin' to stay on Gelfish, didn't it?"

"Wouldn't have let you stay anyways," he told her, "I don't share."

Rose didn't reply, just reveled in the feeling of the Doctor rubbing her back. He was magical at it, as in awe with it as her name, it seemed.

"I'm done," he announced, clearing his throat.

Rose snapped out of her reverie, standing up quickly. "Right, I'm gonna go have that swim now. Don't suppose there's any way I could convince you to join me?"

The Doctor's eyes glinted mischievously. "Might do, yeah. I need a drink first, though. Promise I'll be right back."

Rose sighed. "Okay, see you later then."

The Doctor waved goodbye to her, and she set off down the beautiful sand and into the water below.

…

She hadn't realized he'd not come to join her until she had been floating on her back for a while, without even a shout towards her. This was odd. The Doctor never left her alone for this long unless she was asleep, or he was working on TARDIS repairs.

Rose started swimming back towards the shoreline, searching at their spot for her familiar alien. She was relieved to see the silhouette of a tall, brooding man wearing a leather jacket sitting on their towel. She took off towards him, exclaiming, "Oi! How come you didn't join me? What're you scannin' then?"

She realized, too late, that it wasn't the Doctor on her towel. Instead, it was someone else, that had stolen the leather jacket she knew and loved.

She tried to turn and run the opposite direction, only to be stopped by a pair of long, spindly arms. They picked her up and carried her off.

She tried to scream, but one of the other hands that wasn't holding her reached up and knocked her over the head. The last thing she saw was someone running towards her.

…..

When she awoke, Rose Tyler was strapped down to a cold, metal cot of some sort. She tried to move her arms, to no avail.

But, she reasoned with herself, this was a temporary setback. Someone had obviously kidnapped her, and now it was up to her to save herself. Who knows where the Doctor had gone? She hoped he was safe, distracted by something on Flora Five and not kidnapped like her.

Rose had to come up with a plan and quickly. Luckily for her, the bathing suit she had decided to wear that day had an underwire. If she could just find some way to rip apart the suit, she could take the wire out and use it on her restraints, quite possibly even the door.

Rose looked around the room, trying to locate something that could help her with the suit. Aha, bingo! She saw a small razor laying on the portable table next to her.

Swallowing away her fear at what that razor could have been used for, Rose swung her legs towards the table. She caught it with her feet, and pulled it closer to her.

Thank God for junior gymnastics, Rose thought to herself, very carefully positioning the razor blade in between her toes. She swung her legs back and lowered her head as far as she could get it to grab the blade in between her teeth.

She hacked away at the thin material until she could see the wire glinting underneath. She dropped the blade and grasped the wire in her teeth, leaning down to jiggle her restraint lock, and almost letting out a scream of victory when one of her hands was finally free.

Rose quickly unlocked her other hand, and made her way towards the door. She bent down to examine the lock, sighing in relief it was something primitive that could be lockpicked.

She set to work, and was rewarded with the door swinging open a few minutes later. Rose an back to the table to grab the blade just in case she ran into any hostile aliens.

Now she had to find the Doctor and get out.

As soon as she had thought that, someone grabbed her free hand.

"Run!" a familiar voice whispered in her ear, and she did just that.

…..

"I'm so proud of you," the Doctor said later, sounding rather pleased. "You escaped all on your own, and here I thought I was makin' a rescue."

"I was gonna rescue you," Rose said matter-of-factly. "Wouldn't leave without knowin' you weren't there first."

The Doctor stopped scanning her with his screwdriver. He placed his hands on either side of her face and said, "Precious girl," before placing a kiss on her forehead.

She closed her eyes against the tender touch. "So, you never said," she told him, "what did they kidnap us for?"

"Remember your boyfriend on Gelfish?" he asked darkly, hand resting against her side protectively. "He sent some of his after us. Tracked us to Flora Five. Didn't see the first one comin' and he knocked me out, when I woke up I was restrained. He was tryin' to break our telepathic bond."

"Our what?" Rose asked confusedly. "I can't communicate with you mentally."

"You could," the Doctor said nonchalantly. "Theoretically."

"Explain."

"All humans are low level telepaths, some stronger than others. You're one of the stronger ones, but that's not why. In order for a human to communicate mentally, there has to already be a bond with their mate, somethin' like what we have."

"We have a bond?" she asked. "Since when?"

"My theory is it started ever since I grabbed your hand and whispered 'Run!' My mind was lonely and called out to the first mind it came in contact with after the war, and yours responded the best it could. It's why you could feel somewhat when I'm unhappy or need you or miss me when I'm away for too long. That's your mind callin' to mine."

"Really?" Rose asked breathlessly.

"Yeah," the Doctor said, "and if your abilities were really honed you could probably communicate with me by touch."

Rose's fingers immediately reached for his forehead. "You wouldnt be so lonely anymore," she said quietly.

"Oh, Rose," the Doctor groaned, pulling her closer to him. "I've never felt lonely since you've started travelin' with me. I got more than I could have ever dreamed of, and now even more impossibly, this daft, old alien has your heart."

Rose smiled. "Doctor," she said gently, before placing a kiss on his lips. "What happened out there? What'd they try to do to you?"

"You don't wanna know," he said, pulling her closer to him. "It doesn't matter now that I've got you back safe and sound."