BlueStoneShiningWolf: Thank you for the praise! I had fun writing this chapter. Once it came to me, it just flew right off my fingers. I'm glad someone finds Sarah Jane reacting to the Doctor getting it on in her house funny. I can picture Nine folding his arms and saying, "Well you gave us the room."
peleinferno: I'm sorry, but I'm not rewriting that episode. It's been done to death. School Reunion, however, has been done less. I haven't read one with my spin on it, and I've read ones with Nine where he does basically the same thing Ten does (what is the point of that?) and I actually read one with Ten in an established sexual relationship with Rose tell Sarah Jane off for firing the first shots at Rose in the first place and then promptly announcing he's going to bed, letting Sarah Jane know he's sleeping with Rose. I have to admit, that one is my favorite, because SJ got catty first. Can't imagine Reinette throwing herself at Nine. (Though I would, over Ten any day.)
narnian23: I like Mickey, and he deserved better in canon. So with the Doctor he shall go. He does have to make his way to Pete's World. Of course he would let Jackie know that he's leaving with the Doctor rather than swan off with no word.
Thanks to all that read and review. This chapter is my personal head canon, the reason why Nine would ultimately, post-POTW, not be mired down like Ten and his Curse of the Time Lords. Feel free to agree to disagree. Rated T for fade-to-black, non-explicit sexy time.
After the Doctor had set his course for the Powell Estates, Rose looked at him and said, "Don't land. Not yet." Rose gave the Doctor a pointed look and headed out of the console room towards the corridor.
"Alright, we'll stay in the vortex for a little while," agreed the Doctor, in no hurry to visit Jackie. He headed down the corridor in search of Rose and was surprised not to find her in their bedroom.
She wasn't hiding, but was waiting for him in the library, standing next to the sofa with her arms folded expectantly.
"What is it?" he asked. "Are you angry with me?"
"When did you invite Mickey to come with us?"
"That? That was after Downing Street. Thought I'd be nice since he had proved himself."
"Really?"
"Oh, alright. I was trying to create a little distance. I already cared about you more than I'd ever cared for any of my companions. But he turned me down. Said he couldn't live that kind of life. He asked me not to tell you he said that, so I claimed he was a liability when you asked him to come."
Rose pointed at him, finger shaking. "You, the Doctor, tried to help Mickey save face."
"Yep. Don't know what I was thinking. Probably about your mum barreling toward me with murder in her eyes."
"Oh, leave my mum out of it. You're stuck with her now, you know. Why did you let him come this time?"
"Are you upset about that?" asked the Doctor. "You...you ought to know by now that I'm incapable of putting any sort of distance between us now. If you don't want him here, just say the word."
"It's not that," sighed Rose. "I just want to know what your motivation is."
"He earned it," conceded the Doctor quietly. "He's not a bad sort, your Mickey. Figured it out about the oil and the chips all on his own, just by listening and observing."
"And that's the only reason why?"
"He asked to come along. It's not as though it was my idea."
"You're right, Doctor. I'm sorry. You just never wanted him around before. Mickey is finally coping with the end of our relationship, and I don't want him hurt. I know you don't want any distance between us."
"You've got that right. In fact, I want the opposite. Come here." The Doctor held his hand out to Rose, drawing her into a tight embrace. "In fact," he murmured, "I still can't get close enough. Sharing a bed, lovemaking, bonding...I could crawl inside of you and maybe I would almost get there."
Rose caught her breath as her insides quickened, and met the Doctor's unwavering gaze. Steel-blue eyes darkening to navy as she saw her own desire mirrored there.
"I love you," she whispered. "So much."
He bent down to kiss her, his tongue only darting slightly between her lips before he looked at her. "Nothing in any universe could make me stop loving you, Rose Tyler." He bent his head down towards hers again, lips exploring hers with sensual slowness. She pulled back when his hands went to the buttons on her blouse. He gave her a confused, almost wounded look for a moment, for he was already desperate to make love to her.
"In the library?" she asked breathlessly.
"Not as if we haven't before," he smirked, slanting his lips downwards.
"But Jack...and Mickey," she stuttered between insistent kisses.
The Doctor barked out a quick laugh. "She'll not let them find us. The TARDIS will lead them on a merry chase should they come looking for us."
"Another reason to love the TARDIS," she agreed. "Not to mention, it's the last time I'll get to take that suit off of you. You do look gorgeous in it, you know."
Then there were no more words, as they eagerly undressed each other and sank down onto the floor.
"So this is my room?" asked Mickey excitedly. He had seen Rose's luxurious bedroom suite that was nearly the size of Jackie's flat, and knew that the Doctor had pampered Rose in that way. He expected something more functional. It wasn't as large as Rose's, of course. But it was far bigger than the bedroom in his flat, and the en suite was the likes of which he had never seen before.
"Isn't the TARDIS great?" grinned Jack. "Even when I first came on board and the Doctor was busy distrusting me and marking his territory where Rose was concerned, she still gave me a great bedroom. Maybe she knew I'd be a good companion."
Mickey sat down on the side of his new bed, bouncing as he did so. "So, Jack Flash, wanna explain that party trick you did back at the school?"
Jack shook his head, sinking into the armchair next to Mickey's bed. "To answer your question, I'm not an alien. Well, technically I am, since I'm from a colony world in the 51st century. I'm Human, though."
"So why did you heal up like that, like something from Interview With the Vampire?"
"You asked me what really happened at the Gamestation, Mickey. We got sidetracked on Christmas Eve. If you're going to travel with us, you might as well know everything." He drew a deep breath. "You know about the Daleks, about how the Doctor sent Rose home. When you helped her open up the TARDIS with that truck, Rose absorbed the entire Time Vortex. She became a goddess. It nearly killed her. The Doctor was prepared to save her himself, but the TARDIS stepped in and took the power back before it was fatal."
"Well, what's that got to do with you?"
"I died on the Gamestation."
"Say again?"
"Oh, you heard me. I died. Shot down by a Dalek. I was dead, and then suddenly, I wasn't. I came back to life with a gasp, ankle deep in Dalek dust. When I managed to get my wits about myself, I came looking for the Doctor, finding him in the floor with Rose in his arms." Jack didn't include that the Time Lord was sobbing over Rose's unconscious body. "Later, he told me that when Rose was the Bad Wolf...the goddess, not only did she destroy a fleet of Daleks and their Emperor, the last thing she did was brought me back to life."
"But-" Mickey said, confused now.
"She brought me back permanently. I can't die. Not permanently. Tested it out in the infirmary on Christmas Eve. Now I didn't die in the explosion at the school, obviously. But the scrapes and bruises disappeared as if they'd never been there."
"And Rose did that."
"She was the Bad Wolf at that point. She didn't know what she was doing, and she doesn't have any memory of doing it. The TARDIS is one of the most powerful life forms in the universe, Mickey. It's one of the reasons the Doctor sent her home alone. He was entrusting Rose with the TARDIS, to let her eventually die, so the wrong people could never get their hands on it."
"So what are you gonna do, just live forever?"
"I don't know. Not gonna worry about it right now. At least I'll have the Doctor to help protect me, make sure I don't wind up in the wrong hands."
"Are you going to tell me what's really on your mind?" asked the Doctor. "I can sense it through the bond."
Rose had her head buried in the crook of the Doctor's neck, her body molded against his side on the sofa. He had snagged one of Rose's favorite blankets she kept in there and covered them, as they had done in the past after making love.
"I was thinking about things Brother Lassa said." She rose up a bit to look at him. "About being human, and mortal."
The Doctor pressed his lips to Rose's forehead. "I tried using that excuse in the beginning. It had always worked in the past when it came to my companions. But this me, this incarnation isn't the same as the ones that came before me. Your warmth and companionship, your beauty and strength...all of those things that make you my Rose, broke down all the barriers I had erected in the past."
"But at most, I'll have 50 or 60 years with you."
"Worth it. In 900 years, the Universe has never seen fit to bless me with a person who loved me unconditionally. It would hurt so much more knowing I hadn't held you in my arms when I wanted to. What would hurt the most would be knowing how much I hurt you by denying you. I'm not really a good man, Rose."
"Now that's where we disagree. You are the bravest and best man I've ever known. You always try to choose what is right."
"A good man wouldn't have to try. It would just happen on its own."
"The fact that you have to try makes it even more honorable, Doctor. If you didn't have to try, Doctor, then it wouldn't mean as much." Rose swiftly searched her mind for a parallel. "It's like a...a...eunuch taking a vow of chastity. It means nothing if you don't have to consciously make the choice."
The Doctor shifted on the sofa a bit, rolling his back towards the back cushions, so he could look at the woman he loved. He leaned on his side and gifted her with a breathtakingly tender look. "That's why it's only you, Rose. What you do every day for me. What kind of a coward would I be to deny you, Rose? What would I be if I looked at you, the one who became the glowing goddess to save my life and nearly met her own end in the process, and denied how much I love you?"
Seeing the tears forming in Rose's eyes at his moment of naked sentimentality, he held her tightly in his arms. "The forever you have to give me is enough, Rose. It's far more than I ever dreamed, for I never expected this for myself. I feel like I deserve it even less."
"We deserve each other, Doctor. Remember there's no fantastic life for me without you."