Breaking Barriers, Breaking Rules... By Hobbit

Rose broke the kiss first rather self-consciously.

"Do you have to stand there?" She asked the Cheetah guards. They gave her stern looks before stepping outside the tent door, though they remained stood there. She could see their outlines. Rose looked back at the Doctor longingly and got the shock of her life. He was almost back to normal pressing a finger to his lips.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked as quietly as she could. "Well apart from being scratched, drugged and thrown in here not a lot," the Doctor complained. "I thought that drug was-" The Doctor motioned to her to be quiet and she bit her lip watching him.

"It takes a lot more than that to drug a Time Lord," he said after a minute when he felt that it was safe to talk. He looked her straight in the eye.

"You had to challenge them didn't you?" Rose folded her arms not meeting his gaze. "I know…" she moaned in a whisper. "I didn't mean to… but they were going to kill you!" "Then let them kill me! Rather me than you!" The Doctor said, his voice strained. "How can I let them kill the man I love?" Rose asked before she could stop herself. The Doctor paused looking at her wide-eyed.

"Tell me you didn't just say that," he said so quietly she could barely hear him. Rose didn't reply, just looked at him apprehensively. "You have no idea how complicated that's going to make things." "Why?" Rose asked frowning.

"Well, one, I'm nine hundred years old, two, I'm an alien, three, this puts you in so much danger you might as well have chucked yourself under a train and four, they weren't about to kill me, I was doing perfectly fine until you showed up," the Doctor shot back. "Oh yeah, it looked like it too," she commented.

"Rose, don't start," the Doctor stood up and tiptoed across the room, looking carefully through a crack in the tent door before heading back to the bed. "You better hope I can get us out of this." "Why can't we just relax and I'll fight her tomorrow?" Rose asked, still glaring at the Doctor slightly annoyed and confused.

"Because she'll kill you," the Doctor replied. "How do you know?" Rose pressed. "Just because she's got the natural weapon of claws doesn't mean that I'm going to loose." "Rose, unless you're very skilled with marshal arts and know how to use a sword, you're going to die tomorrow," the Doctor said, though the fear in his voice was evident.

Rose edged closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not going to die, got it?" She said quietly. The Doctor looked at her, his bright blue eyes burning with that intense fire Rose had come to know and love.

"Rose even if we get away, they'll still find us," the Time Lord whispered. "They want my brain for their own purposes and they'll do anything to get it. Including killing you. If they have proof that we're more than friends then it'll just make them more determined to be rid of you."

Rose pondered for a moment. "Didn't know we were more than friends," she said quietly. He glanced at her, pain showing in his eyes. "Rose," he bought a hand up to her face, cupping her cheek gently. "Please don't make this any harder than it is."

"I'm not," Rose said, tingles shooting down her spine at his touch. She moved forward so she was sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. She linked her fingers through his, stroking his hand gently.

"Rose, we've gotta figure a way out of here," the Doctor said, trying not to let himself become distracted again.

"Doctor you already said it, I'm as good as dead," Rose replied. "Why can't we just… spend one last night together, without thinking about what I've got to do tomorrow?" "Rose you know why," the Doctor replied closing his eyes as he tried so hard to resist her. "But if I'm going to die tomorrow anyway…" Rose paused. "I guess it wouldn't be fair on you."

The Doctor heard her sigh and could feel himself giving in despite his better judgement.

Mickey was led to another tent a way from the tent Rose and the Doctor were getting cosy in. He was dumped down left to deal with the array of weapons, some of which he'd never set eyes on before. As the Cheetah's dumped him down and made to leave he turned quickly to ask them a question.

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked stupidly. "You will choose the weapon your friend will use tomorrow in battle," the Cheetah's replied. "If she's lucky."

Mickey wasn't sure what they meant by that but decided to ignore them and set about the hard task of finding the deadliest weapon for Rose so that she'd have at least half a chance of being able to defeat Tianna.

He hoped Rose and the Doctor would come up with a way to escape and the weapon he chose would never have to be used. As it started to get darker he could hear the Cheetah's outside become restless, discussing something under their breaths in animated voices. Mickey thought he heard Rose's name occasionally but he might've been mistaken.

The Doctor and Rose had been self conscious of each other at first, especially since there were two guards just outside the tent entrance. But as it grew darker and darker they felt slightly more at ease. They knew the Cheetah's outside could hear them and it was giving them what they wanted, but they had one last night together and they weren't going to let it slip away for anything. Rose still felt bad about the fact that Mickey was in the next tent along, but he must have realised that she hadn't seen him as more than a friend for a long time now?

As the first light crept up to the tent, Rose felt a sinking feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. She looked across at the Doctor who stared straight back at her. Their eyes spoke more than words ever could and it was all Rose could do not to burst into floods of tears.

She hadn't realised how hard it would be to leave after their night together. She sought out his hand and squeezed it gently. "I told you it'd be complicated," the Doctor said softly. "I know," Rose replied, her voice wobbling dangerously. The Doctor sat up slightly and pulled Rose into his arms.

"I've been thinking about it all night, and I can't think of a way out without one of us getting hurt," he whispered in her ear, arms wrapped protectively around her. "So I need to know that when I give the order you and Mickey will get back to the TARDIS."

"I can't," Rose said quietly. The Doctor frowned. "Why not?" He asked confused by her response.

"Because I'm going to fight that Cheetah," Rose said defiantly.

"I'm going to fight, and win."