Hana's Comment: Well, we're back. I had a mental breakdown and decided to delete this whole chapter, but the the truly fantastic FireOpal convinced me it was worth saving, so really you have her to thank, even though we both wrote this! ;)

F/O: Ignore her, I'm not that fantastic. We both wrote a lot of this at 4 in the morning after watching nearly the entire new series - all night!

Hana's Comment again: It was fun! Hehehe! We wrote down (between squealing!) all incidences of hand-holding and hugs - it's all so wow. Hmm...

Review responses:

YamiKITG: Thank you!

Becsy Lexi: More is here! Glad you like the bond thing, it gets explained a bit more here.

sweetheartedfaerie: Aw Thankies!

scary miss mary: Let's hope we're still doing something right! Thank you.

golwenadaneth: Ok ok we're scared! ('For all the daleky' - that is scary!) Here you go!

Uh.yeah: You're right, CE will always be THE Doctor, no matter what. (F/O- I like Tennant! Hana - Yeah but come on, you're the first to admit you'd love to get in CE's leather jacket:p Wouldn't we all...!) Thank you for the review,we hope you didn't actually stare at the computer till now... just forward us your health bills.

Vampirehelsing: We haven't seen Tennant really in anything else, but we're gonna give him a chance. Thanks!

The Angel of Hope:Wow, we're so glad you like what we're doing! (Hana -I was particularly proud with that paragraph too - thank you!) Hope you enjoy this as well...

Sakina the Fallen Angel: Well this explains a bit more about the whole bond thing, so we hope you like where we're gonna take it - it will include a lot of fluff eventually! ;)

Slayergirl: Thank you!

The Twilight Writer: Aw we're so happy you're loving this! And we're very talented? Why thank you! (F/O - You can stop waiting now!)

Laseri: We're amazing too? Thankies! I think we can safely say she will get her memories back... eventually. Until then, bring on the angst! ;)

rebeccazoe: Sorry it took too long, we had serious problems... but it's ok! Everything's good, and it's here now!

So, without much further ado, enjoy!

Chapter 3

Rose woke to the worst hangover she'd ever had, and that was saying something. Her head pounded as she tried to sit up, blinking in the bright light, and through tired eyes she saw the Doctor grinning as he sat next to her on the bed. He held out a glass of water and two painkillers, but she ignored him and slumped back into the pillows.

"How much did I drink last night?" She murmured, pressing a hand to her forehead. She didn't remember anything, but then that wasn't really unusual...

"Absolutely nothing at all."

She opened one eye and regarded him. "Don't lie, I'm a big girl, I can take it. Just give me the grand total. And," she warned as he began to speak, "say it straight - we both know it must've been a lot for me to be feeling this bad."

"Rose, you didn't touch a drop, I swear. And actually," he added, looking amused, "I wouldn't know what it's like to wake up feeling like the inside of a Slitheen's intestine, seeing as I've never had the desire to throw away my self control and become so astonishingly inebriated in such a vulgar and expensive fashion."

She let his comment slide as her eyebrows flew up in shock, making her grimace from the pain it caused. "You've never had a hangover? Never been drunk?"

He shook his head, motionning for her to take the paracetamol, which she did gratefully. "Time Lords don't get drunk Rose, it isn't - well, it wasn't - seen as professional. Besides," he added, taking back her empty glass and putting it on the floor, "I could drink a whole pub and notev'n slurm'speech." He smiled as she fought between laughter and the pain it induced. "You should try some Opilian liquor from Texeran in the Seventh Nebula - one mouthful would knock a human unconscious for two days."

"Remind me of that next time we're stuck on some god-forsaken planet and I get sick of your pathetic jokes."

He grinned but she noticed his hearts weren't really in it. His eyes seemed to hold the same expression that surfaced when his home - the now mythological Gallifrey - was mentioned: a deep sorrow which clouded and yet sharpened the blue gaze. As always, the Doctor's raw emotions were contagious, and Rose could feel the sadness creep in at the back of her mind, but she could have sworn it was more intense, more real somehow.

And then something else unusual happened: the sadness was replaced with a false cheerfulness - and that was not her own emotion.

Sorry.

She looked up sharply, wincing as she mirrored the Doctor's frown. "You say something?"

He seemed startled. "No..."

"Yes you did," she insisted. "You just said 'sorry'."

Rose, what's going on? He thought, their gazes still locked. Brown eyes widened as the words crossed his mind, and suddenly breathing became impossible.

"You- " She swallowed, struggling to clear her mind from a double dose of complete confusion. "You just did... it again... I- Doctor?" Realisation flooded her thoughts, but she didn't understand one bit. And then his eyes were shining with the exact same comprehending, and she knew.

The world fell away from beneath her as everything went black.

"So let me get this right - our minds are connected by some sort of bond... and we can tell what each other's thinkin'?" Rose frowned as she listened to the Doctor's explanation. After she fainted, she had woken briefly four minutes later, and then fallen asleep again for another several hours.

During this time he had been able to think - really think - about just what was going on. Throughout the previous night he had been so worried about her that he hadn't managed to get his head around anything other than the reality that she was alive and desperately in need of his care and support... That and the fact he couldn't have drawn his mind from her for anything, as for the first time he had actually admitted to himself, and to her (although she didn't know it) that he was in totally, utterly, madly in love with her.

It was one of those things he had always known deep down in the very bottom of his hearts. There had been holes there for so long that when Rose Tyler took his hand and filled them with her smile, he didn't realise what it was that at once both suffocated and enlightened him. As the feeling grew with time and adventure, she smiled still, and he often caught himself thinking about her in ways which were not entirely appropriate, and yet which he knew she was guilty of too.

Sitting there, watching her sleep, there was nothing else in the universe; nothing to tell him it wasn't right or proper or allowed; nothing to stop his mind wandering through all that they had done and seen and escaped together. This 'stupid little ape' had saved his life on numerous occasions: saved his life the moment she walked into it.

And then there had been their kiss. If he closed his eyes he could remember it to perfection, as though it was happening all over again - although he suspected this was due more to imagination than memory. Her eyes had been so trusting, her skin so soft, her lips so sweet and warm. And everything was so alive, pulsing with electricity: the same electricity that was responsible for this bond they now seemed to share.

He was certain that was what had formed the link between their minds. Quite why, he didn't know, but what did that matter? He guessed that there had had to be some sort of after-effect of sharing so much raw power, and this wasn't so different for him than having the TARDIS in his head.

"Not exactly." Rose was leaning back against the pillows, nursing a cup of tea that had long since gone cold, and he moved ever so slightly so his leg broke contact with hers - however many times he did this she always seemed to move closer again, and if she continued he would soon be falling off the other side of the bed. If he said it was because he disliked the contact, he would be lying, and so too would he be if he said it made him feel uncomfortable - the problem was, it was entirely too confortable for him to sit there and ignore it.

She didn't seem to have noticed though, so he continued to speak as though he wasn't going through any sort of inner turmoil whatsoever. "Yeah our minds are connected by a bond, but we can't read each other's thoughts, unless we direct them specifically."

"What, like telepathy?" Rose asked, brow furrowed in thought. The Doctor looked at her, as always slightly surprised at how fast she was catching on, and surprised with himself at how he was always surprised by her.

"Yeah, sort of."

She looked up, a small smile on her face. "First it was your TARDIS, now it's you - too many more people and it's gonna get crowded in here!" she said teasingly, tapping her temple with her index finger, before concentrating again. After a few moments, he knew why.

Can you hear this? Her voice sounded in his head.

Yup he replied in kind, and she laughed uncertainly.

"Well," she said out loud, "at least when we get into another of your sticky situations, we can still chat."

"My sticky situations?" he said in mock-surprise, his amusement shimmering down the bond.

She grinned ruthlessly and poked him in the chest with her finger. "Yep, your sticky situations."

"The gratitude!" He shook his head as if trying to compose himself, and although he was still smiling, he suddenly seemed more distant from her than the other side of the universe.

There was a pause, before Rose said hesitantly, "Doctor? Are you alright?" He was staring at his hand, although he wasn't really seeing it. She peered up at him, brushing an errant strand of hair behind her ear, trying in vain to find his gaze.

"I'll live." He knew it wasn't fair on her for him to switch off completely without explanation or apparent reason, but what with fighting between the urge to kiss her senseless and breaking down completely into her arms, he couldn't help it. He was trying so hard to act normally, to reassure her everything was alright, but how could he do that when everything was so plainly not?

He tried to ignore the sudden sting of tears in his eyes and forced a smile for her. He didn't know what had come over him. One moment he was able to pretend everything was fine: that he hadn't almost died and lost her in the process; that she didn't have any recollection of what had happened; that he hadn't admitted he was in love with her and it was ripping him apart; that he wasn't so weak because of his feelings for her that he couldn't control them anymore.

He sighed inwardly. It was this word feelings he didn't like. In his profession, feelings were not needed. Daleks didn't have feelings, and if he were put into a situation where he haboured any emotion other than his sheer loathing for the enemy, he would be weaker and almost certainly on course to lose. It just didn't bear thinking about.

And yet that said, here he was with Rose, the woman who could read his feelings through a telepathic bond created by the TARDIS; formed because of his feelings for her, his duty to save her, and his absolute and utter love for her.

It was beginning to seem that feelings played a much larger part in his life than he had once thought.

But what did he feel now? If she remembered, he would feel a lot more at ease than he did now. If she loved him, he would no doubt feel like he had never felt before. If... So many if's, so little time. One thing was certain though - he couldn't carry on like this for much longer.

Snapping out of his reverie, he realised Rose had been speaking. "What?" His voice was harsher than he intended but she seemed lost in thought and hadn't appeared to notice.

She turned her wide-eyed gaze upon him. "Say that again."

"What, what?"

"No. That thing you just said, about livin'..."

"I'll live." He sounded as confused as he felt, and momentarily abandoned his own pain to lean forwards and press his hand against her forehead, checking her temperature.

She watched him as he seemed to find everything was alright and moved his hand back slowly. There was a horrified expression on her face, as if a shocking realisation had just dawned, and when she spoke her voice shook. "But you didn't... I mean, you did cause you're here now but..." She frowned and squeezed her eyes shut, which only served to worry him further.

"Rose...?"

"Doctor you were about to die!" She looked terrified now, and the tears shining in her eyes brought them back to his aswell. "I remember now. That thing, that message - you sent me back in the TARDIS - it said you were dead or dyin' or somethin' - but you're here..." She looked him up and down as if trying to assure herself that he really was. "Doctor, what happened?"

Those words brought back with them the memory of the night before, and the agonising realisation that she honestly didn't know, sending daggers once again through his hearts.

He was about to reply when she let out a small gasp and put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God, the Daleks." The daggers twisted painfully, making him close his eyes and grasp the bedcover in his hand. "We were on Satellite 5, the Daleks, they were - invadin' the Earth or somethin' - and then you sent me back..." She rubbed her temples with her fingers, as if this would induce the memory, before turning accusing eyes on him.

"You were dyin' and you sent me home!"

There was a ringing silence, broken only by Rose's heavy breathing. The Doctor didn't look as if he was about to speak - in fact, she got the distinct impression he had never been more uncomfortable in silence in his life.

"Why won't you talk to me?" Her voice was a deadly whisper. "Why don't I remember anything? What happened with the Daleks? How did we get this bond? And where's Jack? Doctor, tell me!" She reached up to turn his face towards hers but, without warning, he grabbed her wrist and met her gaze, and the expression there instantly stilled her argument.

She stifled a sob suddenly. "Please."

At the look of complete desperation and helplessness in her eyes, the daggers finished their job, and he felt a single tear trace its path down his cheek as he died inside.