Author's Note: This is it - the last chapter of Burning Up a Sun... Well... there's an epilogue too, but this... this is the last proper chapter.
They were lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling of the Doctor's room; Rose catching her breath and the Doctor sneaking glances at her out of the corner of his eye.
'Your room's nicer than mine,' Rose observed, with the air of one who'd given it a lot of thought. 'More TARDIS-y.'
'TARDIS-y?' the Doctor repeated, amused.
''s a word,' Rose defended. 'You've got all the coral everywhere. Mine just looks like my old room.'
He looked around, admiring the coral in the warm glow of the console room light the TARDIS provided in this room. 'We could swap,' he offered. 'Or... share,' he added, realising what he was saying as the words left his mouth. 'Y'know, if you like.'
'S'pose,' Rose said. 'Its not like you sleep much.' She rolled onto her side, facing away from him and snuggling back against him. 'Why do you have a room, anyway? Didn't think you would use one.'
The Doctor turned so he was lying on his side behind her and draped an arm over her waist. 'Needed the space, I suppose.'
'Yeah,' Rose said, sarcastically. 'Cos you don't have enough space in your bigger-on-the-inside ship.'
'I meant to myself,' he responded, brushing a hand up and down her arm.
'I've never seen you use it,' she said, feeling goosebumps break out on her arm.
'I got it after Canary Wharf,' he said softly.
'Oh,' she said. They lay in silence for a few moments, then Rose said, 'Doctor? in a thoughtful tone.
'Mmm?'
'These marks… on my neck and on your wrist…'
'Yes?'
'What are they?'
He was silent for several minutes and Rose thought he wouldn't answer. Then he said, 'They're like a link. Between you and me. I told you, you were in my head, when you saved me.' She nodded. 'Doing that… doing that forged a link between us. Something that was always there, always existed in potentia, became real.'
'I don't understand,' she said.
'Nor do I, really,' he said, sensing her rolling her eyes. 'I'm just going on the evidence.'
'What evidence?'
'This,' he said, ducking his head and pressing his lips to the mark on the back of her neck.
Rose was suddenly awash with feeling. In her head she could hear words, thousands and thousands of words, all tripping over themselves. She only recognised about half, the rest were spoken in a strange, lilting language she couldn't understand. Through the words she could hear the four-beat rhythm of the Doctor's hearts, the sound twining around the thrumming of her own single heart.
She moved back against him and felt the set of his mind change, his mouth pressing more urgently against her neck. When he moved back, the words and the feelings stopped. Rose gasped, feeling bereft.
'The marks concentrate the link,' the Doctor said quietly. 'Makes it more… linky.'
'Linky?'
''s a word,' he defended.
'Why did it happen?'
'You did it. Well… the part of you that's the Bad Wolf did it.'
'Why?'
He leaned forwards, his lips brushing her ear. 'Because you love me.'
'Shut up.'
'You do…' he whispered. 'And you fancy me.'
'Shut up.'
'And,' he added, pulling back from her and raising his voice. 'And, you pulled me behind you when Motlok shot at you.'
She tensed, sensing his disapproval.
He sighed. 'You can't do things like that, Rose. You can't stand between me and the bad guys. You really can't.'
She reached for his hand, pulling it up from it's position at her waist and pressing her mouth against the mark, seeing it glow as her lips connected with his skin.
The lab spun as the Doctor pulled her around by her hand. Almost in slow motion, she saw Motlok, saw the weapon he was aiming at them. Torchwood training kicked in. At that angle, he'd hit them both. And that weapon could stop both the Doctor's hearts at once.
'He cannot survive that.' The words – the certainty – arrived in her head without her having to think, a gift from somewhere else. She tugged on the Doctor's hand, reflexively pulling him by the arm until he was standing slightly behind her, shielded by her.
The perspective shifted slightly, Rose could see herself, caught up in the Doctor's arms, carried to a bench. And she could feel another Doctor, standing just behind her. 'I'd stand between you and the universe,' she murmured. 'My Doctor.'
She released his hand and turned, rolling to face him. They lay like that, staring at one another in thoughtful silence.
\/\/
The others were already in the console room when Rose and the Doctor wandered in, hand in hand, Rose laughing at something the Doctor was explaining.
'It was!' He said. 'You should have seen it, it was… well… they were purple. And spiky! Oh, hello.' This last was addressed to the four people in the console room, who were all giving them looks that sat firmly within the 'aren't you adorable' spectrum. He cleared his throat. 'Sleep well?'
He ignored the knowing look Jack was giving him and wandered over to the console, dropping Rose's hand so he could flip switches and turn dials.
'Yes, thanks,' Martha said.
'What about you?' Donna asked, a too-innocent expression on her face. Jack snorted his amusement, while Mickey and Martha each looked like they were trying not to laugh.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes at them. 'Right… better get you lot back, before you all spontaneously combust from all the smirking.' He threw the handbrake and they stumbled into one another, clearly not ready for the sudden movement.
\/\/
As the doors closed behind Martha and Mickey, the Doctor turned to see Rose and Donna in deep conversation.
'Worrying, isn't it?' Jack asked, careful to keep his voice low.
'A bit,' the Doctor sniffed. 'More than a bit. We should probably intervene… or something.'
Rose looked up as the Doctor and Jack approached. 'We've been talking.'
'Oh yes?' the Doctor asked, trying for nonchalance as he turned to the console.
'Yes,' Donna said. 'And don't act like you didn't notice. Don't worry, I'm not corrupting Rose.' She nudged the other woman and nodded at the back of the Doctor's head, indicating that Rose should watch this. 'I'll leave that to you, time boy.'
The Doctor's shoulders tensed. Behind him, Donna brought a hand up to the back of her neck, seconds before he did it. Rose giggled and Donna winked.
The Doctor turned, sending Donna a mock-glare. 'And what was the result of your little tête à tête?'
'We reckon you should go with Donna to see her husband,' Rose said. 'She's got a lot to explain to him and it might be easier if you were there, you know…'
'…a real live alien.' Donna finished.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes at both of them. Suddenly his face broke out into a grin. 'Excellent idea, brilliant even. And then we'll take you off for a trip, Donna Temple-Noble. Nice wedding present for you both. Somewhere nice. What d'you reckon?'
\/\/
'So, let me get this straight,' Shawn said, two hours later. 'You're an alien.' He pointed to the Doctor, who nodded. 'And you,' he pointed to his wife, 'used to travel with him in his spaceship.'
'Basically, yeah.' Donna said.
'Just the two of you?' Shawn asked.
'Not like that!' they both said at the same time.
Shawn raised his eyebrows.
'Donna's like… like a sister to me really,' the Doctor said. 'A much younger, gingerer, ruder sister.'
'You look about the same age,' Shawn pointed out, focussing on the small details.
'Yeah… I'm nine hundred. Over nine hundred, actually.' the Doctor said, wincing slightly as though he expected this to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
'Plus,' Donna interjected. 'You should see him when he's with Rose. No one else exists…'
'Rose?'
The Doctor said, 'My friend' at the same moment as Donna said, 'His wife.' The Doctor stared at her, dumbfounded and she raised an eyebrow at him, silently daring him to disagree. He looked away.
'Ok,' Shawn said.
They both looked at him. 'Ok what?' Donna asked.
'Ok… I believe you,' Shawn clarified. 'I think you're both mad…' he smiled at Donna fondly. 'But I believe you. So where's this ship, then?'
\/\/
'You travelled through time and space in that?' Shawn asked, regarding the TARDIS with a sceptical eye.
'Yeah, why?' Donna said defensively, at precisely the same moment as the Doctor burst out indignantly, 'What's wrong with it?'
Shawn shrugged. 'Bit cosy isn't it?'
'Oh, you just wait.' Donna held out her hand and the doctor placed his key in it.
She stepped forwards and opened the door, dragging her husband through behind her. The Doctor followed, only to bump into Donna, who had stopped just inside, staring into the console room.
Shawn was staring around madly, a very familiar expression on his face. 'It's... it's... It's bigger on the inside!'
'Is it?' Jack asked. The Doctor stared at him.
'We hadn't noticed,' Rose added.
Seemingly oblivious to their presence, Donna's husband rushed back out again, making the obligatory circuit around the TARDIS before re-entering. The Doctor and Donna stood where they were, frozen to the spot, watching Jack and Rose whirl around the console. Music was filling the room.
But of all the strange, strange creatures in the air, at sea, on land
Oh my girl my girl my precious girl,
I love you, you understand
The Doctor vaguely recognised the song from Donna's first wedding reception, but wisely decided to say nothing of it with his friend's husband so close. He'd thought of Rose then, he remembered, listening to this song and watching the guests dance. He closed the door and stepped around Donna and Shawn, heading for the console, deftly avoiding Rose and Jack as they twirled by.
Now all I have's this anguished heart, for you have vanished too...
The Doctor started the dematerialisation sequence, knocking Shawn back against the doors. The others, he was pleased to notice, managed to maintain their balance. In fact, Rose and Jack didn't seem at all fazed by the movement of the ship. He stepped away from the console and shrugged out of his coat, throwing it to Jack as the captain stepped back from Rose for a moment. Then he grabbed rose around the waist and pulled her close.
'You'll find your feet at the end of your legs,' he murmured into her ear. 'You may care to move them.'
So reel me in my precious girl, come on take me home…
Rose grinned up at him as he raised his arm to twirl her around, dimly aware of the others staring. 'You're better at this, this time around,' Rose observed.
'D'you think?' the Doctor asked, dipping her, then pulling her back up and spinning her around. Behind him, Jack was coaxing Donna and Shawn into a strange three-way waltz that could have only been invented by the fifty-first century immortal.
'Oi, spaceman!' Donna called as the song ended and Rose and the Doctor stood grinning at one another. 'Hate to break this up, but you promised me and Shawn a trip, remember?"
'Yes!' The Doctor exclaimed. 'Right.' He ran back to the console, dragging Rose by the hand.
'So where are we going?' Shawn asked. 'Mars?'
The Doctor gave him a strange look, and then turned to Donna, raising an eyebrow. 'Made for each other, you two are.' Donna smirked. 'No, Shawn Temple-Noble, we are not going to Mars. Been there. Recently, in fact. Don't much fancy going back… So…' he grinned at Rose, 'Barcelona!'
