Rose looked him in the eye indignant, "And what happens when Alice comes home tomorrow? I won't stay in my room forever. If I curl up in fear, he wins. This is my house, and I'm not going to let that bastard take it away from me." She looked at him expectantly, "What's for dinner?"

Chapter 30 To Dance

He had such admiration for her courage. It's easy to have courage when you have a dozen lives. But a human knows they only have one. It was one of the qualities he first loved in her, and he was glad it was still there. "Come to the kitchen, it's done."

As they sat at the table the silence was a bit awkward. He didn't know what to say and she didn't want to say anything. It was too quiet. She looked up at him and smiled. "So it's Quinn now is it? Not just MacAbee?" Remembering how jealous he was such a short time ago. He grinned and cleared his throat. "When a man saves your wife from a maniac you can call him by his first name. It's in the rules."

Then something occurred to her. She looked up at the man she loved and said, "What happened?" "When?" he said confused. "Henderson said something about you, making a fool of him. What happened?" The Time Lord heaved a sigh and began.

"When we picked up Mary and got to the party he was there. Drunk and foul. When I got to the door he grabbed my arm and started saying evil unspeakable things about Alice. I sent the girls into the party and pushed him to the side of the building.

I told him to stay away from my family in a few choice words and walked away. He came up behind me to throw a punch and I ducked at the right moment." The Time Lord grinned remembering. "He landed on his face in the mud. The stupid drunk, he decided to try again. Again I ducked and he landed in some trash cans.

By this time we had an audience. He tried a third time and I caught his arm and twisted it behind his back until he yelped. I told him if he didn't leave I would break it. I pushed him down the street and he limped off. I got quite a few pats on the back for my trouble.

I joined the girls inside for about ten minutes when Quinn came in and said Henderson was headed for the woods. He told me to take the girls to Louise's and join him as soon as possible."

He sobered quickly, as he realized he was the cause of the attack. "Oh Rose. If I had just walked away... This is all my fault."

His eyes grew wide at the realization that he would have been the cause of Rose being raped. He began to breathe hard. Rose saw his emotions escalate. Rose stood up, "Stop!" She yelled.

He was startled into looking at her. "This is not your fault! It's like you said, he was looking for an excuse. If it wasn't now, he would have waited for another time. He would have waited until we dropped our guard and it would have been much worse. Husband, he wasn't just interested in rape. I heard his thoughts, he was going to torture me to death!"

There were tears in her eyes and he quickly remembered he didn't have the luxury of self recrimination right now. "Oh Rose, I'm so sorry." He got up from his chair and went to her, pulling her close. She melted into him and sighed. "Come on."

He led her to the Tardis door and opened it. They went inside to their old room. "We're going to sleep here tonight. The safest place in the universe." She looked up at him grateful for thinking of it, and went to the bed. She had always felt safest in the Tardis. Removing her clothes she got in and laid down. He tucked her in and then got in himself holding her protectively. The familiar sounds and smells acted on her like a sedative. She was asleep in minutes.

She woke the next morning with him staring down at her. He had watched over her all night. "Good morning husband. What time is it?" He smiled at her simple greeting. "Well, in here you never know, but out there it's probably sevenish. Did you sleep well?" "Yes, I did." She looked into his beautiful brown eyes full of fear and guilt. She could see he was worried about her and still blaming himself for what had happened. Rose was resolved. I won't let this shadow come between us.

She reached behind his neck and pulled him to her lips for a kiss. A kiss that said so much more than words can say. That she loved him with all her soul. That there was nothing in this universe she would not forgive him. That she wanted to put it behind her.

"Husband, I need you...Please." Hearing his own words of desperation he knew what she wanted. His eyes filled with passion and purpose. He would burn the memories from her mind and body with the fires of desire. He made a silent promise to her that they would be whole again.

Holding her face in his hands he captured her lips in a lingering kiss and then worked his way down her neck. He nuzzled her cheek and whispered in her ear how much he loved her in a dozen languages, his lips and fingers caressing all the right places. And still further down until she moaned and he felt her shiver with pleasure.

She stopped him and rolled him onto his back straddling his hips, impaling herself on him, arching her back in rapture, eyes closed, hands entwined with his, riding a wave of pleasure. He sat up and wrapped his arms around her holding her close, feeling her warmth enclosing him. Calling out to him as the final climax shook them both to the core, making his promise complete.

They dropped to the bed, breathing heavily, wrapping her arms around his neck, laying her head on his shoulder. There would be no more tears, no more fears.

They were one, and would gather strength from each other to survive anything.

Chapter 31 Inquest