Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own anything.

A/N I am back! Sorry for disappearing on you guys. Here's an extra long chapter to make up for it. There is some NSFW content in here.

The discussion about morphic resonance is from the Eighth Doctor Big Finish Audio 'Scaredy Cat'.

A huge thanks to Vampiyaa as always for her beta skills as well as helping me when I was stuck.

Happy Reading!


Chapter Twenty Eight

Previously

For the first time since she had left the Time Lock, the grey seemed to vanish until there was only red. It was clarity. She had her clarity back. Heat coursed through her veins like liquid fire and her lips drew back over her teeth in a snarl. She heard Jinna hiss something in her ear, but she didn't care. She stood up straight and walked out of the shop and onto the street without a single tremor in her step. The group of soldiers seemed to pause in shock at the sight of her, but she merely raised her arms in surrender and spoke in a chilling voice.

"Take me to your leader."

The walk to Geo's warehouse was short. Rose had been added to the group of shackled women, many of whom were looking at Rose like they had never seen anything like her. She had no trace of fear on her face, just a cold anger that emanated from her very being. Even her captors seemed nervous around her, despite being very well armed.

More guards dressed in similar uniforms and holding guns surrounded the warehouse. In the compound in front of the warehouse was a makeshift cage made from mesh wire that held the women captive. They were dressed in rags and looked malnourished. Many of them had visible bruises on their bodies, a sight which infuriated Rose to no end.

Their group was unceremoniously pushed into the cage as well, but Rose was stopped from entering it.

"You'll come before Geo," said the guard.

"Fine," said Rose curtly, not noticing the curious and downright scared looks she was receiving from the women in the cage.

The guard looked uncomfortable as he gestured for Rose to walk towards the warehouse. Inside, there were crates and crates of goods, being packed by more of the men dressed in the same uniform as the guards. They looked up curiously when they saw Rose but her guard didn't stop until they had reached the office right at the other end of the warehouse.

"Inside," he said.

Rose walked into the office and found a man sitting at a desk, scanning a pile of credit sticks. He looked up when Rose was ushered into his office and regarded her with a lascivious smirk.

"An early gift for me, Darius?" he asked.

Darius shook his head. "She gave herself up, Geo," he said. "Said she wanted to see you."

Geo's eyebrows shot up and he got to his feet. "Did she now?" he asked, walking around the desk to stand next to her. "Why would you do that?" he asked, leaning in close to whisper in her ear.

"I heard you liked them young and pretty," said Rose, her eyes flashing golden unbeknownst to either Geo or Darius.

Geo laughed, though Darius merely smiled politely at his boss. "She is fiery, isn't she?" he asked and grabbed a fistful of Rose's hair tightly. "But you will break. Everyone does."

Rose didn't wince at the painful action, but turned her head to look at him. "You might find it a bit difficult to break me," she said and Geo's smile faded when he saw the bright golden light in her eyes. She smiled sweetly and grabbed the wrist that was holding her hair and twisted it around with the well-practised ease of a combatant.

Geo cried out in pain and Darius tried aiming his gun at her but Rose spun around and kicked him in the ribs, sending him and his gun crashing to the floor. Geo got to his feet and Rose grabbed the back of his neck and pounded his nose straight into the wall of the office until she heard a satisfying crunch. Darius was stirring and Rose picked up his gun to hit him across the head with its butt, knocking him out cold. Geo was howling in pain, his nose spurting blood.

The commotion had brought the others from the warehouse, but Rose grabbed Geo in a chokehold and held him in front of herself as a shield, and pointed Darius' gun at his head.

"I wouldn't come closer if I were you," she told the arriving guards. "Not unless you want his brain decorating the walls."

"Don't shoot, you idiots," shouted Geo, realising that her grip on him was tighter than any woman of her stature should have been capable of. His broken nose and Darius lying unconscious was proof that she could fight and Geo was aware that even his best men were only half as good as her in combat. "Look, what is it that you want?" he asked Rose.

"Call the rest of your men to the warehouse," said Rose. "All of them and all their guns. I would like to do this without bloodshed."

"You won't kill us?" asked Geo in shock, having been half-convinced that she had been sent to kill him.

"Not if you do as I say," said Rose. "Go on. Give the order."

Geo was still in shock but she jabbed the gun at his side and he nodded. "You heard her," he said. "Xio, call everyone inside."

"B-but she's just one girl, Geo," protested the man who was presumably Xio.

Rose responded by firing a shot that missed Xio's foot by inches, making him jump back in shock. "The next one goes through your heart," she said calmly, as if discussing the weather. "Do as he says or I might change my mind about the no bloodshed rule."

Xio looked at her warily as he took the comm. device from his belt. "Everyone to the warehouse. Boss' orders," he said.

"Make them line up away from the door," said Rose. "If I see a single one out of place, I start shooting. And trust me, I don't miss."

"Stay clear of the door," said Xio.

Rose nodded shortly. "Alright, your turn," she said, looking at the group of guards in front of her. "Start walking. Try anything stupid and you'll feel a bullet through the back of your skull."

She watched them turn around and start walking away. Rose looked at Geo who was still being held at gunpoint. "They have weapons but they are untrained," she said. "Any idiot can tell."

"What is your plan exactly?" asked Geo. "Because there is only so much they care about my well-being. They'll start shooting."

"I'll be done before then," she said. "Come on, let's go and join them."

She jabbed his side to make him walk and Geo started walking slowly through the warehouse. Mercifully, no one had decided to be stupid enough to try and ambush Rose. Still, Rose made Geo walk ahead of her, keeping her gun trained on him the whole time. Even if Geo's men weren't as loyal as he thought them to be, Geo still cared about his own life and he would be damned if he did something that put that in jeopardy.

They came to the main warehouse floor and Rose grabbed Geo in front of her as a shield again. "Don't shoot!" shouted Geo when some of the flighty ones pointed their guns at Rose. "Let her go."

Rose kept a sharp eye on the group of men as she led Geo out of the warehouse through the door. She let go of him once she was outside. "Close the door," she ordered. "Lock it."

Geo closed the door and locked it from the outside. "Now what?" he asked.

Rose glanced around the compound and relaxed when she saw that Geo's men had been good enough to obey. There was no one else there except the women in the cage who were staring at Rose with something akin to admiration.

"Let them out," she told Geo, nodding towards the cage.

He looked at her like she was mad and Rose fired a shot just past his ear, making him jump violently.

"Did you not hear me?" she asked, pointing the gun at him again.

Geo hurried towards the cage and unlocked it, looking at Rose in fear. The cage door opened and Rose motioned for him to move away.

"Run," she told the women.

For a moment, none of them moved but at Rose's imploring look, some of the older ones took charge and started ushering everyone out of the cage.

"Go towards the market and find Jinna," she told them. "Go!"

The women started to escape and Rose finally relaxed. Geo was still staring at her, but she wasn't concerned about him. She had done it, she had got them out.

A loud shot rang through the air and Rose spun towards it instinctively, just in time to see a group of guards emerging from outside the compound, all of them well armed. The recently escaped women were being led back at gunpoint and Rose was horrified to see that the shot had been aimed at a poor little girl no older than twelve who was now dead on the ground just outside the compound wall.

"Pherric, well done!" said Geo when he saw his guards. He went towards Rose to take her gun and she didn't even resist as he snatched it from her hand. She couldn't take her eyes off the dead form of the little girl.

Rage swirled within her, the heat that she had kept buried for so long rose up in her and with a loud cry, she sent Geo crashing to the ground as golden energy erupted from her hand.

The congratulations being thrown around by the guards for recapturing the women went silent when they saw Geo writhing on the ground in pain, surrounded by a golden ball of light. They stared at Rose in utter horror, but she didn't notice.

"ROSE!"

The Doctor's voice broke through the cloud of rage and power, but Rose did not ease her torment of Geo. She felt the Doctor come up next to her.

"Rose," he said in a softer voice. "You can stop now, Rose. The reinforcements are here."

"They killed her," said Rose, looking as Geo's screams became quieter and quieter. He could only take a little more before he passed out from the pain. "They did god-knows what to those poor women."

"I know," he said, still in that calm voice, and touched her shoulder. "But you are not like them. You won't kill him."

Rose turned to him with eyes radiating vortex energy. "Won't I?" she asked.

The Doctor didn't flinch. "No, you won't," he said and grabbed the hand that was radiating the energy causing Geo's pain. "Please, Rose. Just stop."

At his reassuring touch, Rose dropped her hand and stumbled into him. The Doctor wrapped her in his arms tightly. "That's it, Rose," he murmured into her hair. "I've got you, my darling. I am not letting you go. I am right here."

Geo let out a low groan from the ground and Rose flinched violently. The Doctor shushed her gently and stroked her hair. "Commander Alder," he called over Rose's head. "I think you can deal with this matter now."

Without waiting to see if the Commander had listened, the Doctor picked Rose up in his arms and started carrying her away. Rose kept her head buried in his neck, unable to look anywhere but as they passed through the compound gate, Rose saw Jinna comforting the women and handing them food and water. When she saw Rose, Jinna's eyes widened and she looked away quickly. Rose felt her heart sink and she closed her eyes tightly, opening them only when they reached the motorcycle parked just down the path from the warehouse.

"Okay?" asked the Doctor, setting her down carefully.

Rose nodded mutely and put her helmet on her head. The Doctor smiled softly at her and climbed onto the bike before helping her up.

The ride back to the TARDIS was entirely silent. The Doctor, despite his calm exterior, was barely holding himself together. He kept picturing scenarios where Rose would be shot or worse. He could see the crimson blood staining her pink blouse every time he even blinked. Despite the reassuring presence of her sitting behind him on the motorcycle, he couldn't stop seeing her dead in his mind's eye.

Lost as he was in his worry and fears, he didn't notice that the trembling he could feel at his back wasn't just the motorcycle's engine revving through the wasteland, but Rose barely holding herself together. Her hands were shaking violently and she was biting her lips until she had nearly bloodied it. When the motorcycle finally stopped in front of the TARDIS, Rose climbed off it before the engine had completely stopped.

The Doctor watched in surprise as she walked away from the TARDIS with unsteady steps and bent over to empty the meagre contents of her stomach. The Doctor rushed over to her, shocked at the fact that her clothes were drenched in cold sweat and she felt unnaturally cool to touch.

"Rose," he whispered, holding her hair back as she retched violently again. "Come on, back into the TARDIS."

Rose didn't move, her trembling becoming worse until she was shaking violently. Her throat felt like it was closing up and she looked up at the Doctor with tear-filled eyes, feeling the world around her slipping out from under her feet.

"Rose!" She heard her name escape the Doctor's lips sharply and she felt pain on her arms and saw that he was clutching her upper arms in a painful grip.

"You have to breathe, Rose," he said, managing to sound calm despite the panic she could see in his green eyes. "Rose!" he said again when she didn't obey.

Realising that she was not responding, the Doctor released her arms and took her hands instead, holding them both to his hearts. "Breathe," he instructed, using his heartsbeat to try and bring her breathing to normal.

It worked slowly, and Rose started breathing in and out in a pattern, her gaze never wavering from the Doctor's. Eventually, her heartbeat evened out and she stood straight, no trembling evident. Abruptly, she walked past the Doctor and went inside the TARDIS. The Doctor sighed and moved the motorcycle back into the TARDIS and sent them away from Epsilon III before going in search of Rose.

It took him a while to find her and when he finally came upon her, she was sitting at the edge of their bed dressed in a towelled bathrobe, wet hair dripping onto her shoulders. He walked up to her and stood in front of her, regarding her with concern.

"How can you even look at me?" she asked him, looking at her hands instead of him.

"Because you never flinched when you saw the darkness inside me," he said, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands. "How could I turn away from you when you needed me?"

"I wanted to kill him," she admitted. "I-I saw that girl an-and I j-just…I wanted to make him suffer. Like he did to all those women."

"I know," he said and kissed her hands. "It's okay."

"It's not," said Rose, shaking her head. She tugged on the Doctor's hands so that he could stand up. "What if you hadn't been there to stop me? After Torchwood, I promised myself I would never lose control. What good am I?"

"You have been through a lot, Rose," he said.

"That's an excuse," she said.

"No, it's a fact," he said seriously. "Yes, you could have killed him. But you didn't. It doesn't matter that you didn't kill him because I stopped you. What matters is that you stopped."

Rose withdrew her hands from his and looked down. "Do you know why I went there in the first place?" she asked, shame lacing her tone. "Because the anger cleared away the grey."

The Doctor was silent for a moment. "Yes, I thought it would," he said and sat down on the bed next to her. "You think that the only way it will stop hurting is if you make someone else hurt instead. Someone who deserves it." He took a deep breath. "Like I did with the Dalek in Van Statten's bunker."

Rose looked at him tearfully. "I thought I could do it," she said. "I felt...alive, properly alive for the first time." She shook her head. "But after it was over, my guard dropped. And then seeing that girl...I just lost control." She looked down at her hands again. "Maybe I should be left alone somewhere. Away from everyone."

"Don't say that," he snapped without thinking and felt ashamed when Rose flinched at his tone and started to withdraw. "Don't say that," he repeated in a hoarse tone, standing in front of her. "I don't ever want you to think that. There is so much good in you still, Rose. Much more than I ever had, even before I went into the war. It will take far more than Torchwood and the Time War to wipe that good from your heart." He rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes. "You saved all those women today, Rose, and you did it without killing anyone. Even Geo is still alive and you single-handedly shut down his vile operation. I managed to repair the barrier and the people of Epsilon III have a chance once more to begin anew. So don't you dare say that you should be kept away from someone. Because there is such good in you, my Rose, that the universe deserves to have that good unleashed on it."

Rose nodded slowly and swallowed back her tears before lunging forward to kiss him. The Doctor kissed her back fiercely, wrapping his hands in her golden hair as if to draw her as close as possible.

It took a while for Rose to realise that the Doctor was murmuring something every time their lips parted for even a moment. It was only when he started bestowing lingering kisses down the side of her neck that Rose understood what he was saying.

"I love you...I love you...I love you...I love you…"

Rose drew his face back towards her and smiled weakly. "I know," she said.

He shook his head with a smile and kissed her again. "I should have told you a long time ago," he said. "I should have said it every second of every day that we were together. I love you, Rose Tyler. I love you so much."

Eventually, they managed to undress for bed and settle in for a well-deserved night of sleep. It took the longest time for Rose to fall asleep, but when she did, she didn't have a nightmare.


Despite their rocky start, they were determined to continue their initial plan. They were both a little off-balance, with Rose trying to rein in her recklessness while the Doctor had become even more overprotective. They had a few trips where they fought viciously after either Rose wandered off on her own or if the Doctor left her behind to keep her safe. Eventually, they laid down ground rules, the cardinal rule being that the two of them stayed together whenever possible, and their fights tapered off.

Not all places they visited were like Epsilon III. Caracaturus Beta had been desolate and overrun by mutated fauna, the Bennegal colony had been wiped from existence, leaving behind primordial soup showing signs of a new life and the asteroids in the Alignment of Luxor had birthed entirely new species altogether.

Some planets resembled Epsilon III all too easily. The sentient beings on those planets had been impacted by the shockwaves of the Time Lock, which had irrevocably damaged their ecosystems and technology, plunging them into poverty and anarchy. Factions fighting for survival, leaders who didn't care about the people and general chaos ruled the proverbial streets.

However, every now and again, there were planets like Mandalay where entire fields had bloomed with vibrant flora. Life was indeed prevailing.

The Doctor and Rose made sure to keep to the sidelines. They would help when needed, but left the decisions concerning the planet's future to the inhabitants of that world. It was a tricky responsibility to balance and they were doing their best to do what was in the interest of everyone concerned.

The Doctor also insisted on taking Rose away to places that didn't need their help. Rose had tried to protest at first, but given in when the Doctor had insisted. They hiked up the mountains of Heera, swam in the Falls of Astra, watched a symphony on Kirrily II and attended a banquet near the swaying forests of Yaligra.

It felt like they were courting again; going on dates and then returning to the TARDIS in high spirits before kissing each other and going to bed. Rose always had fewer nightmares when they'd had nights like those, which encouraged the Doctor to continue planning more of those dates. It felt like a good way for them to be comfortable with each other again.

Things changed when they arrived on one of the asteroids in the Alignment of Luxor three hundred thousand years after their first visit. Asteroid IV, better known as Celestia, had evolved into a wonderful colony of humanoids whose primary trade was art. Artists from around the Alignment and beyond came to Celestia to show their craft, and hoped to be showcased in the numerous prestigious galleries.

The Doctor and Rose had spent five weeks on the disease-ridden planet of Wynn, working hard to devise the cure for a mysterious illness. Hundreds of people had died even before they had got there and several more had died while they searched for the cure but they had successfully developed a cure, and the people of Wynn now had hope that they would survive. Five weeks of sickness and death and hospitals had put a strain on both of them, so when the Doctor suggested a visit to one of the art galleries on Celestia, Rose agreed easily.

It had started out in the wardrobe room when Rose was getting dressed. The sweeping ivory gown with the halter neck that the TARDIS had picked out for her had turned out to be a bit complicated to fasten. The Doctor had wandered in and tied the string around the back of her neck seemingly without thought. His hands had lingered afterwards, touching the back of her shoulders and arms in fluttering touches, almost like he wasn't aware of it. It was Rose's hitched breath that had broken the tension of the moment and they had finished getting ready in silence before heading out.

The tension followed them out of the TARDIS though. Their hands were brushing each other more than usual and quiet words were being exchanged in slightly breathless whispers. If asked later, neither one of them would be able to recall a single art piece they had seen that evening, even though they went to three different galleries.

In the last gallery that they visited, there had been a section on the legends of lost worlds. When they came upon the very last painting, they read that it had been a world where time had ruled. The colours were a bit wrong, the structures a little different but it was still unmistakably Gallifrey.

"How is it possible?" asked Rose finally, after the initial shock had worn off.

The Doctor turned to her with a smile full of wonder. "Morphic resonance," he said. At her look of confusion laced with curiosity, his smile became wider. "Every living species has exhibited the existence of some form of a collective memory throughout nature."

"Like the Matrix for Time Lords?" asked Rose.

"Very much like it," he nodded. "Often, it was embedded in the planet's morphogenetic field. Take the Eurasian blue tit for example. In 1920, those pesky little birds learned to peel off the seal from milk bottles to lap at the cream underneath it near Southampton. By 1945, blue tits all over Britain were doing it. Like a form of race memory."

"So, you are saying that Gallifrey is a memory in the morphogenetic field of the universe?" asked Rose.

"Yes," said the Doctor with a soft smile. "Some species might remember it completely, others might have a vague recollection of it and there would be those who would not know what it was but the memory would resonate with them for reasons they couldn't explain."

Rose listened to his explanation with fascination and turned to look back at the painting. "That is amazing," she said, her voice hushed with awe. "Can you imagine being so intrinsic to the universe?"

"I don't have to," said the Doctor, smiling gently at her. "You and I, we are embedded in the scope of this cosmos. Intimately."

"The stuff of legends," said Rose with a nostalgic smile.

"Yes," he agreed and then tilted his head for a kiss.

Rose closed the distance and the two kissed languorously in front of a painting depicting a world they had protected for so long and the universe that they had sacrificed it for. The Doctor seemed unwilling to part from her lips but when Rose chuckled breathlessly and rested her head on his shoulder instead, he cleared his throat.

"Right then," he said. "Time for some dinner?"

Rose looked up at him with a small smile. "Let's go back to the TARDIS," she said.

"Of course," he agreed quickly. "We are both tired after Wynn and rest will do us good…"

"Doctor," interrupted Rose gently as she ran her fingers over his bow tie. "I'm not tired."

He looked a little surprised but when he saw the blush on her cheeks, he grinned brightly and planted a fervent kiss on her mouth that left her slightly weak in the knees.

They got back to the TARDIS in record time, having run the last few yards. Rose moved towards the console and started the dematerialisation sequence with practised ease. When she realised that the Doctor wasn't helping her, she turned around and saw him standing with his back to the doors, watching her with a soft smile. There was such emotion on his young-old face that Rose paused in her ministrations and returned his smile with a shyness that seemed to have eclipsed her earlier boldness.

The TARDIS groaned and interrupted their stalemate, but before Rose could resume the dematerialisation sequence, the Doctor crossed the distance and started pressing switches and levers with a determined sense of urgency. Rose's brow furrowed when she realised that he was navigating them to somewhere in particular and she was about to ask him where they were going, when he silenced her with a reassuring smile.

Deciding to be patient, Rose waited until the TARDIS landed and the Doctor threw on the handbrake. He grinned at her and offered his hand, which she took without hesitation, though she did look at him with narrowed eyes as if trying to discern what he was up to.

When the doors opened, Rose stared at the view outside in wonder. They appeared to be on top of a massive cloud, which somehow felt solid when Rose stepped out tentatively. She looked at the Doctor with wide eyes, but he merely grinned and walked out as if walking on firm ground. That gave Rose some confidence and she followed him, still a little hesitant as she walked. It reminded her of the time that she had stepped onto Jack's Chula ship for the first time.

"Where are we?" she asked him finally.

"Earth," he answered. "Late nineteenth century." At her look of surprise, he walked up to her and took her hand. "I built this. For reasons I am not proud of."

Rose's brow furrowed and she squeezed his hand comfortingly. The Doctor's lips quirked up a little at the action and he sighed before he spoke again.

"I gave up," he admitted softly. "After Amy and Rory and River. I just...I gave up."

"How'd you mean?" asked Rose, looking slightly confused.

"I was tired," he said. "So very tired of losing my friends. People I loved, who were the closest I would ever get to a family. After you, Mickey and Jackie, Martha, Donna, Wilf...and then Amy, Rory and River...it got too much." He sighed again and shook his head. "It sounds like an excuse now, but back then, I was just tired. So I came up here and...stayed."

"You can't have just...stopped," said Rose, disbelievingly.

"I did," he said. "I asked some friends of mine who live down there to keep my secret. They didn't like it, but they did as I asked." He smiled a little. "It was here that I met one of Clara's selves. She jolted me back into action, so to speak."

"And then she died," said Rose softly, remembering what he had told her about Clara's story.

He nodded sadly. "She did," he said. "But I remembered a version of her from the Dalek Asylum too. So, I got curious. Curiosity is what finally got me moving from here."

Rose digested that information and looked around at their surroundings. It was beautiful, no doubt, but it seemed less so, now that she knew what it truly was. The Doctor had used it to hide away, to run from his responsibilities, to give up on the universe he had sworn to protect…

Some of her feelings must have shown on her face, because the Doctor sighed again. "I'm not proud of it, Rose," he said. "It is one of the things that I am most ashamed of in all of my eleven lives." He met her gaze steadily. "The reason I brought us here now is so I could tell you. Because I refuse to begin again without you knowing the truth about me."

Rose's eyes softened and she nodded. "Okay," she said.

"Yeah?" he asked, smiling tentatively.

"Yes," she said.

He grinned back in relief and kissed her softly, unable to stop smiling as he did. "Want to see something else?"

Rose regarded him with a sly smile. "Is that a line?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Come on," he said, pulling her further away from the TARDIS. He seemed to be looking for something in the wispy white cloud and he let out a triumphant shout when he found it. "Right here," he said, letting go of her hand and offering his arm to her instead.

Rose resisted the urge to ask and took his arm. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen and then they were suddenly rising up higher. Rose nearly lost her balance and the Doctor tightened his grip on her elbow to stop her from falling. The small piece of cloud they were on kept ascending higher and higher until they saw another layer of clouds above them, these ones slightly pinkish instead of white in colour.

"Close your eyes," whispered the Doctor and Rose obeyed on instinct, smiling slightly when the air around them became slightly warmer.

The cloud stopped moving and Rose's eyes opened. For a moment, she merely blinked because the view in front of her seemed impossible. She turned to look at the Doctor slowly and at his beaming smile, she looked back at the view of the beautiful little garden nestled on top of the pinkish clouds with awe.

The green grass was soft and springy under her feet when she stepped onto it tentatively and the air was thick with the fragrance of honeysuckles and freesias. Unlike the darkness of night on the clouds below, the sun was shining brightly on top here, casting warmth over them.

"It's an artificial sun," murmured the Doctor behind her and Rose spun around to look at him. "The garden started out as a bit of a hobby and then gradually, I started coming here to reminisce. Or when the TARDIS got too empty for even my own thoughts."

"It's so quiet," said Rose, realising that sound was noticeably absent from the air.

"I had to put up several shields and I wanted there to be peace and quiet," he said by way of explanation. "Although," he added, taking out his sonic screwdriver and twirling it in his hand before pointing upwards. The air instantly filled with the sounds of chirping birds and a gently flowing stream. "I can pick and choose the sounds."

Rose regarded him with a smile. "You think you are so impressive," she said.

"I am so impressive," he said, smiling so widely that it looked like his face would split in half.

When Rose laughed brightly at that, his smile morphed into something much softer. He walked towards her and took her hand, leading her towards the solitary sprawling tree at the edge of the garden. The ground underneath the tree was softer than the rest of the garden, cushioned as it was by soft, velvet-like silver leaves that had been shed by the tree.

"How did you get the Ulanda tree to grow here?" asked Rose in surprise, looking at the bright silver foliage of the tree that she had seen only on Gallifrey before.

"The TARDIS had the biodata for some of the flora," said the Doctor. "Ulanda trees, schlenk blossoms, you know. The usual."

"Oh, schlenk blossoms," said Rose, closing her eyes briefly. "They smelled so good."

The Doctor was silent for so long that Rose opened her eyes to look at him, wondering if she had said something wrong, but found him looking at her with the softest look on his face. "Yes, they did," he nodded and then sat down under the Ulanda tree. "Join me?"

Rose nodded and sat down next to him, closing her eyes as the crisp, spicy scent of the Ulanda tree assaulted her olfactory senses. Behind her closed eyes, she could picture Gallifrey again in the early days of the war when some of the flora was still standing, when they still put freshly cut schlenk blossoms in vases in the council chambers, when the land had not gone barren...

"I try and remember only the good in this garden," whispered the Doctor and Rose opened her eyes to look at him sadly. He cupped her face and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Let me make love to you here, Rose. I can think of no better place to begin again."

Rose tilted her head and brushed her lips against his cheek and proceeded to kiss down his jaw. At the same time, she took his hands and placed them on her hips, smiling against his chin when his fingers began exploring her body in tentative strokes. The Doctor shifted slightly and helped ease Rose onto her back. The Ulanda leaves were soft enough to lie down on and Rose giggled lightly when some of them tickled her back that had been left bare by her gown.

"Something funny?" inquired the Doctor with a smile, continuing to bestow butterfly kisses down the side of her neck.

"Tickles," said Rose, gasping when he dipped his tongue into her clavicle. She arched towards him, her eyes closing in pleasure. The days of chaste kisses and shared beds had taken their toll and she was eager for more.

The Doctor seemed to be unhurried in his actions, so much so that Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and flipped them over so that he was the one below her. He laughed at the unexpected change in position and Rose winked at him before reaching back and untying the strings at the back of her neck holding the halter gown up. The strings came undone after a tug and the front of the gown slid down until it rested at her waist.

The Doctor's laughter stopped as he looked at her bare torso with a slack-jawed expression on his face. It had been so long since he had seen her like this that it took him a moment to propel his body back into action. Fortunately, Rose seemed to understand and was patient as he looked his fill of her with the same look of awe she caught him looking at her with these days.

"You can look away, you know," murmured Rose softly. "I won't disappear."

He shook his head slowly. "You say that now," he said, a rare note of vulnerability in his voice.

Rose took both his hands and intertwined their fingers together tightly. "Not this time," she said. "I am not going anywhere. Not without you, at least."

"Promise me," he said, his voice low and rough like he was holding back tears.

"I promise," said Rose.

The Doctor nodded once and Rose smiled as the two of them undressed each other slowly before Rose lay back down on the Ulanda leaves, beckoning the Doctor with a smile. The Doctor gazed at her with darkened eyes and slowly slid down her body, touching her body in feathery touches of his hands as he did. He lifted one long leg to his mouth and kissed it, keeping his eyes on hers the whole time.

"So beautiful," he murmured, kissing his way along her leg. "I dreamed about this every time I closed my eyes. Wondered if I remembered the feel of your skin as well as I thought. If it would feel just like it used to against these new hands."

Rose barely suppressed the moan threatening to escape her lips as the Doctor settled himself between her thighs and inhaled deeply.

"Wondered if you would smell just as good with this new nose, whether you would taste the same," he said, parting her lips and tasting her with a long lick.

"And?" moaned Rose, enjoying the way he dipped his tongue into her core in slow, deliberate actions.

"My imagination could never do you justice, Rose Tyler," he said, punctuating his words with sharp flicks of his tongue against her clit. "No memory can compare to this moment, Rose, and I would never want it to."

"Me neither," gasped Rose, as he sped up his actions and pushed a long finger inside her. "All those years before I came back to this universe, I wondered what you would be like…" Her words tapered off into a long moan as the Doctor added another finger and sucked her clit into his mouth. "If you would still want me."

The Doctor looked up at her for a brief moment before returning to his task with renewed vigour. "I will always want you," he said. "It doesn't matter if I regenerate yet again or if I keep this body until I go grey. Getting to touch you like this and feeling you come apart under me is incomparable to anything else in the universe."

His words, coupled with his expert fingers and tongue, were bringing Rose closer and closer to the brink, and it was with great effort that she pushed herself up on her elbows and stopped him. The Doctor looked at her in surprised, but Rose pulled him up so she could kiss him thoroughly. She could feel his slight confusion at having been made to stop and she smiled at him as she broke the kiss.

"I need you to be inside me," she said. The Doctor looked a little pink around the cheeks when she said that and Rose tilted her head at him. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"First time in this body," he blurted out.

Rose laughed, thinking that he was joking but when he merely turned redder, she stared at him in shock. "You were married," she said before she could help it.

The Doctor's face was redder than she had ever seen it before. "It never came up," he said.

"Well, it's definitely up now," said Rose, feeling him pressed up against her hip.

He shot her an admonishing look though his embarrassment was still palpable. "It wouldn't have been fair. I was still in love with you and she knew it," he said seriously. "I would have felt like I was taking advantage, even if she was willing."

Rose stroked the side of his face. "Okay," she said. "We'll go slowly."

The Doctor smiled gratefully and nodded. Rose grinned at him and manoeuvred him until he was sitting comfortably with his back against the thick, but pliable trunk of the Ulanda tree and climbed onto his lap. Immediately, the Doctor could see the beauty of this position. Not only could he guide the movement of Rose's hips, he could also gaze at her face unimpeded.

Rose moved up slightly and sank down on him carefully, taking him inside her with deliberate slowness. The Doctor's hands gripped her hips tightly as he buried his moan into the side of neck.

"Oh god, Rose," he groaned. "I had forgotten how good this felt."

"I hear you," nodded Rose, holding onto his shoulders for balance. "Whenever you are ready...oh my god, Doctor!"

The Doctor sucked at the skin of her neck as he pulled her down onto himself fully. "Okay?" he asked.

"Better than," panted Rose. She rocked her hips tentatively and was rewarded by a deep moan that rumbled from the Doctor's chest.

He tightened his grip on her and began to guide her hips in a rhythm that felt right. Rose caught on quickly and she moved on top of him without requiring much guidance and the two of them fell into a natural dance of their bodies. Despite the cool shade cast by the Ulanda tree, they both began to sweat as the heat built up between their bodies. The Doctor's hands were roving all over Rose's back, occasionally moving down to her bum to knead the flesh. Rose buried her fingers into his still great hair and tugged him into a kiss, their mouths and tongues clashing together messily.

Rose could feel herself getting close again, and this time, she increased their pace instead of slowing down as the Doctor leaned down to capture her nipple into his mouth and Rose came with a loud shout that people on Earth would have heard, had the sound barrier not been in place. The Doctor allowed himself a pleased smile as Rose rode out the aftershocks of her orgasm. His own climax was building up and his head fell onto Rose's sternum as she tightened around him deliberately and brought him over the edge with a scream of pleasure.

The two of them stayed as they were until they caught their breaths and Rose reached over to pick up his discarded shirt so they could clean themselves up. Once they were done, they fell back down onto the fallen Ulanda leaves side by side, basking in the glow of their lovemaking. The Doctor glanced at Rose and smiled lovingly at her, admiring the way she looked gloriously dishevelled as she lay naked without an ounce of self-consciousness.

Rose, on the other hand, was staring at the foliage with a puzzled expression. "Do these leaves look odd to you?" she asked him.

The Doctor reluctantly looked away from openly admiring Rose and glanced up at the foliage, which promptly made him blush. He had forgotten he had done that.

Rose was still staring at it, turning her head this way and that way, trying to see it. "It looks like...is that…?" She looked at the Doctor, who looked sheepish. "Does that say 'Rose'?"

The Doctor cleared his throat in embarrassment. "Artificial sun," he mumbled. "I could manipulate it to let the foliage grow out the way I wanted. And I missed you...so..."

Rose cut him off by rolling towards him and kissing him gently. "I love you too, Doctor."


"Still haven't found a Maths teacher," grumbled Headmaster Armitage as the end of term meeting ended. "Certainly won't find someone before Christmas now. Andrew could have given bit more of a notice."

Clara said nothing. Being the new English teacher, not to mention one of the youngest teachers in the school, meant that she was quite low on the totem pole at Coal Hill. She gathered up her books quietly and shot a quick grin at Beth before making a hasty exit.

Christmas was closer than ever and there would be no returning to Coal Hill until the New Year. Clara had generously decided to make Christmas dinner this year for her Dad, Gran and Linda. Usually, it would be her Dad making the turkey as he did every year, but this time, Clara had insisted on doing it herself.

She had briefly considered ringing the Doctor and inviting him and Rose along for Christmas, but then changed her mind. She had no idea how long those two might need to recuperate, especially Rose. Coming to Christmas dinner with a bunch of strangers who loved to argue over the table hardly sounded like a relaxing experience.

One of the things that Clara had done upon returning home had been to try and find out as much about Rose from around the Estate as she could. It hadn't been difficult; people around the Estate had good memories. A picture had slowly formed in Clara's mind of a free-spirited, popular girl who had always had a kind word and sunny smile for everyone. Thinking about the Rose that she had met, Clara had seen glimpses of that girl in her, but age and war seemed to have hardened her spirit. She had reminded Clara more of the Doctor than Rose Tyler of the Powell Estate.

Some days it felt as if it had all been a dream. Four Doctors, Zygons, Queen Elizabeth I, Gallifrey, the Time War...it all felt like a bizarre other-life, especially when she was walking home on a cold December evening in London, and she knew that those aspects of her life would never touch it. She wasn't sure if that thought filled her with relief or sadness.

Shaking her head at herself, Clara continued to walk home, making a note to find a flat of her own as soon as the new year had started. She was walking past a darkened alley when she saw a blue glow emanating from the alley.

Clara turned towards it on instinct, feeling the familiar spike of adrenaline in her system. The blue glow seemed to be coming from a single round source, the size of a cricket ball, which was around Clara's eye-level. When she walked towards it, two more of those blue lights lit up on either side of the first one, and Clara stopped in her tracks.

"CLA-RA OS-WALD."

The harsh, metallic voice made Clara step back on instinct. The three Daleks moved forward menacingly.

"YOU WILL COME WITH US!"


A/N Thanks for reading. Hope you liked it!

The next one will be up soon.