Chapter Thirty Seven

Rose stopped when Ianto shined his torchlight on her. He was several feet away keeping watch.

"Rose, is anything wrong?" he said to her.

"Nah, I just need to use the loo," Rose said. "Have you seen Martha?"

"Not yet. Here take this," he said, handing her the prybar. "Just in case."

Rose thanked him and they walked on while Ianto kept watch over the break room. Rose headed to the loo while John rode on her shoulder. She didn't say anything while she walked and John wondered what she dreamed about. She could tell it had affected and he figured it was something about the Doctor being tortured and she wanted to confide in him in private. When they reached the door to the lavatory, Rose went inside and wrinkled her nose.

"Ugh, if we stay here longer than a day, we need to do something about this dead body," she said.

The door shut behind her and she set John down on the ground. John followed her as she walked to the last stall. She went inside and sat down on the toilet. John came inside and stopped several inches from her feet. He hopped up on his wrist and waited for her to speak.

"I had a dream…about me and you and the Doctor," she said.

John said nothing so she continued speaking. She told John about the dream, leaving out no detail. John listened in fascination. It was similar to his dream except they weren't on a beach and the Doctor wasn't angry at him. When she finished, Rose stared at him in silence for a moment.

"You said you had a dream where you were part of a duplicate Doctor. We're having similar dreams. Do you think we are seeing the future?"

Not sure, John signed. But maybe you remember what I told you and had a dream based on that.

"I don't know," Rose said, getting up and sitting down on the floor beside him. "Somehow, I think it's more than that. Maybe we're both a bit psychic."

The Bad Wolf perhaps? John signed. You looked into the heart of the TARDIS. Perhaps you carry some of that residual power and you can see a glimpse of the time lines.

Rose thought that over.

"Maybe," Rose finally said. "And you were attached to the Doctor so you have his ability to see the time lines as well?"

Not only see but hear, I keep hearing a heartbeat, a single beat though, don't know what that means either.

"What did you dream that night? Tell me what you remember so we can compare," Rose said.

John signed to her, telling her all he remembered of his dream. Rose's brow was furrowed in thought as she read his sign language. It took about twenty minutes of rapid signing to tell her and when he finished, Rose thought over what he said while John waited for her response.

"The Doctor was angry at you in your dream," she mused while she stared at the stall wall opposite her. "But in my dream, he was happy we were together. If this is all a premonition, maybe he starts out being angry but then realizes that he can't be with me like you can."

Rose sighed and drew her knees up to her chest before she looked down at John.

"I hate not knowing what these dreams mean," she said.

Me too.

She went back to staring at the wall while she thought.

"You're part of a body in both our dreams," she said. "So maybe the Doctor is able to grow you one."

I hope so. I hate being just a hand.

"Yeah," Rose said, laughing. "I s'pose it does get annoying. But then again, you've been able to do a lot more than I thought you could. You're a very resourceful and clever hand, that's for sure."

Consider who I came from.

"Yeah, I know, you take after him, that's for sure," Rose said. "Oh, John…"

John waited for her to finish her thought but she lapsed into silence as she gazed at him. Then, a moment later, she picked him up and John felt elation when she held him against her chest while she stroked his back.

"You were made for me," she murmured as she gazed down at him.

John felt like electricity was coursing through him as Rose held him slightly away from her body and kissed his finger. She sat him down on the floor beside her on his wrist.

"John, do you love me?" she asked.

You know I do, he signed.

He hesitated a moment.

Do you love me? He signed.

Rose smiled and picked him up. In response, she kissed his finger again.

"I never thought I'd fall in love with a body part but you're more than that," she said to him as John quivered with delight. "I've been feeling a bit guilty having these feelings because of the Doctor but maybe what the dreams are trying to tell us is we're meant to be together and it's okay to love each other."

She laughed.

What? John signed.

"Just thinking dirty thoughts now," Rose said with a wink. "I was thinking if you were my lover, sex would be mainly groping, I s'pose."

John was stunned by that. He'd never even thought about that before but now he suddenly had an image of him fondling Rose's breast while she moaned in pleasure. Then he got another thought and shook with laughter.

"What is that? Trembling?" Rose said.

Laughter, I'm laughing, John signed.

"Why? What're you laughing about?" Rose said.

Well, since you mentioned sex and groping you, I had an image of fondling your breast but then I thought about it and…

"Yeah?" Rose said.

Well, the vagina is an opening and I do have fingers. Think about it.

He shook with laughter when Rose's eyes bugged out at that.

"Oh blimey, I think we need to stop now. Maybe we do need those porn DVDs," she said while John shook with laughter. "Both our minds are in the gutter now."

She held him close to her chest and stroked his back while John played with her hair.

"John, if I have to go back to the other universe, will you go with me?" she asked.

Yes, John signed.

"Thank you," Rose said before kissing his finger again.

She got up from the floor and put John down on the floor. She closed the stall door and used the restroom while John waited. While she peed, John thought about what had just happened and he tingled with pleasure when he realized that perhaps his dream wasn't all gloom and doom after all. That perhaps he and Rose had ended up together because they were meant to be together. Even better, he would get a full body and he would be able to love Rose completely with all of it. He stepped back when Rose flushed the toilet and came outside. She smiled at him while she washed her hands and dried them. Then she picked him up and put him on her shoulder. Grabbing the torch, she turned it on, grabbed the prybar and they headed back to the break room.

When they neared the break room, Ianto spotted them and sprinted towards them.

"Are you alright? You've been gone for awhile," he said to them.

"Yeah, we're fine. I needed to tell John something in private. Nothing happened," Rose said.

"Good, I'm glad you're safe. Martha's back and she found someone to take us into the country. He wants us to leave as soon as possible so we've been getting ready."

"Great. We'll be ready in about ten minutes then," Rose said.

Ianto patted her shoulder as he and Rose headed back to the break room.