A-Levels and Aliens

Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me

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For a moment, there was complete silence. Then, suddenly, everyone began shouting at once. Kirsty and Lauren demanded answers to their questions, which Jack and Matt tried to tell them, in between Matt yelling about Rose, which Jackie tried to soothe him over. Only the Doctor remained silent, feeling shell shocked that two more people suddenly knew about him. Suddenly, he felt a light pressure on his hand and he looked down to see Rose weakly clutching his hand.

"Rose?" he asked, bending down closer to her, "Are you coming back to us?"

Somehow, despite the immense noise that they were making, the others heard his words and turned, almost as one, to face the bed. A sudden silence lay over the room, punctured only by the sound of breathing.

Rose squeezed the Doctor's hand again, this time more firmly, groaned slightly and her eyes flickered open.

"Rose!" everyone yelled, crowding around her and firing questions at the top of their voices. It was utter pandemonium and the noise was horrific. Finally, the Doctor had had enough. He stood up, still securely grasping Rose's hand.

"SHUT UP AND GET OUT!" he roared, startling everybody into silence, "No questions, no buts', just GO!"

Everyone nodded and began filing out until only Jack was left.

"I'll take them to the kitchen," he said, "Shall I tell Lauren and Kirsty?"

The Doctor nodded and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in agitation. Jack gave him a sympathetic smile. "Keep us updated, yeah?" he said, before jogging after Rose's friends and mother.

"Are you alright?" asked a small voice.

The Doctor turned and smiled, before sitting down on the bed next to Rose. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Rose smiled slightly. "Seriously though?"

"I'm fine, how are you?"

Rose shuffled around in bed. "Everything hurts,"

"You got pretty bruised."

Rose nodded tightly before quickly asking, "What day is it?"

"Monday afternoon," answered the Doctor, "You've been unconscious for almost two days."

Rose's eyes widened. "Oh, what was all that before?"

"That was the sound of a very worried Matt and two extremely confused girls," replied the Doctor,

"Oh God!" Rose gasped, "Kirsty and Lauren? They've found out?"

"Certainly looks that way," the Doctor grimaced, "…No Rose, stay where you are!"

"I've got to go and explain!" she said, forcefully, awkwardly climbing out of bed and batting the Doctor's hands away. She took a few steps before suddenly crying out and tumbling to the floor. The Doctor immediately bent down and picked her up bridal style, intending to put her back into bed.

"No, no!" she cried, shrilly, thrashing around in his arms, her eyes tightly closed, "Don't touch me! Please don't touch me!"

Confused, the Doctor gently placed her back onto the bed straight away and watched with worried and puzzled eyes as she edged away from him and covered herself with the duvet.

"Please don't touch me," she begged again, trembling violently,

"OK, I promise I won't," he said, quietly, desperately worried now, "Rose, what's wrong?"

"N…n…nothing's wrong. I'm fine," Rose replied, her brown eyes wide and clearly full of fear and for some reason, guilt. She took in a deep breath, feeling reassured by the Doctor's promise- she knew he never broke them without good reason, not anymore- and stopped shivering as much. "Can you go an' get Kirsty and Lauren so I can talk to them?"

"Don't worry; Jack's sorting it," the Doctor answered, staring at her anxiously, "Rose, do you remember what happened?"

He watched as her face closed down and she bought her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them.

"No," she said, her voice muffled, "I don't remember anything."

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About three hours later, there came a sharp knock on the bedroom door and it swung slowly open to reveal Matt.

"Hi Doctor," he mumbled, walking in and standing at the foot of the bed, on which the Doctor was sitting on, leaning against the headboard. He put down his book and peered keenly at Matt through his glasses.

"Is she OK?" the young man asked, looking at Rose, who lay next to the Doctor,

"Yeah," he replied, not particularly wanting to get into a discussion with Matt about Rose's odd behaviour that he still couldn't make head or tail of, "She's sleeping now. Fell asleep about an hour ago,"

"Does she remember any of what happened?"

The Doctor shook his head, feeling apprehensive about the fact. He had tried to talking to Rose again after her first denial but she still swore she couldn't remember anything.

"Oh," Matt said, chewing his lip, "I came by to also say that me and the girls are leaving now as it's getting a bit late,"

"How did they take it?" asked the Doctor.

Matt grimaced. "They're freaked out," he admitted, "I think they're gonna need some time to think it over, like I did,"

"Alright," sighed the Time Lord, hating the thought that someone was scared of him, "Can you make sure they don't blame Rose for it?"

"Sure," Matt agreed, knowing from his mistake earlier that academic year that it wasn't fair to blame Rose for who the Doctor was, "I'm…erm…sorry about giving the secret away by bringing them here. I didn't think,"

"It's OK," the Doctor said, "Go on; Kirsty and Lauren will be waiting for you."

Matt nodded and walked out, still feeling guilty.

"Do you think they're gonna hate me now?" Rose muttered, making her lover jump,

"Why are you awake again so soon?" he asked, mock sternly,

"You were talking too loudly," Rose yawned, a small smile gracing her lips that instantly warmed the Doctor's hearts,

"Sorry," he apologised,

"S'OK," Rose said, drowsily, "Going back to sleep now,"

"Sweet dreams."

Rose grunted and instantly fell asleep. The Doctor carefully clambered off the bed and left the room, heading for the kitchen where he found Jack.

"Jackie's gone back to the flat," the former con-man told him as he collapsed into a chair, "There's no real point in her staying here. I told her I'd contact her with any change,"

"Thanks Jack," the Doctor said, meaning for everything he'd done in the past few days while the Doctor had stayed with Rose,

"No problem," Jack replied, "How's she doing?"

"Physically she's fine…" He stopped and shook his head before looking at his friend, pain evident in his eyes. "She won't let me touch her. She started almost having a panic attack when I held her earlier and she was trembling for ages afterwards,"

"Is it just you or do you reckon its people in general?" asked Jack, cautiously.

The Doctor shrugged helplessly. "I don't know but I'd hazard a guess at everybody." He took in a shaky breath. "I'm just terrified that the Ziola did something really bad to her to make her so scared of being touched."

Jack nodded gravely. He had been having similar thoughts.

"It's really worrying me," the Doctor confessed, "Her moods are strange. Most of the time she's like a quieter version of herself but then she goes all timid, especially when I'm trying to talk to her about what happened,"

"Has she cried at all?"

The Doctor shook his head. "She says she doesn't remember any of what happened but I know she does. Her eyes tell me so." He shuddered slightly.

"Maybe it's her way of dealing with things…? Y'know, her mind is refusing to accept it until it's ready to?" Jack offered,

"Maybe," the Time Lord shrugged, "I just think there's something wrong. I know Rose. I think she's hiding from what happened and I'm absolutely terrified that it's because of something seriously bad."

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The next two days passed painfully slowly for the occupants of the TARDIS. Rose stayed awake for longer and longer periods in between her naps and they made sure she always had someone to chat with, whether it was her mother, brother or lover. The Doctor observed her behaviour each time and while it pleased him that she was cheerful most of the time, it concerned him that she never cried over what had happened, even though her eyes were constantly haunted.

She still refused to let anyone touch her and he now knew this included her mother, Jack and Matt when he visited. Kirsty and Lauren hadn't come anywhere near the TARDIS since the first day. Rose wouldn't even let the Doctor hold her hand anymore which tore him up inside. He had never gone so long without physical contact from her when they were together and he was beginning to feel completely lost. After his initial attempt at trying to get her to open up, the Doctor had given up and hoped that she'd sort things out in her mind soon. He missed her.

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"Rose, we're coming to get you!" taunted Zed, suddenly appearing in front of her, his face twisted into a leer,

"Rose, we know exactly where you are," Zoë sneered, emerging to her left.

"Your Doctor can't save you now," Zach grinned maliciously, reaching his hand out to her from the right and swiping at her bare skin, "Nobody can save you now. No-one."

"Doctor!" Rose screamed, petrified and straining to get away from Zach's wandering hand, "DOCTOR!"

The three Ziola gathered in a semi-circle around her, staring at her cruelly and spitting. "Nobody can save you now, Rose."

Rose jolted awake, sweat dripping down her face, to discover the Doctor, panting heavily, staring at her in panic and worry. He had heard her terrified scream and come running immediately.

"Doctor!" Rose sobbed, scrambling out of bed and making it three steps across the floor before her weak legs gave out beneath her and she fell to the ground, only avoiding an impact to her head thanks to the Doctor's fast reflexes. He knelt down beside her, holding her lightly by the shoulders, knowing that she didn't like to be touched. Consequently, he was surprised when she instantly grasped his shirt, pulling him closer to her and then resting her forehead on his chest, taking deep, shuddering breaths while shaking forcefully. After a few moments, the Doctor decided to try his luck and he carefully placed his arms around her. Rose went very still, while still trembling slightly and then moved closer, snuggling into him and slowly wrapping her arms around his body before hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

"I've got you, Rose," he murmured, "You're safe here with me,"

He held her tighter, suddenly feeling wetness on his neck. She was crying.

Finally

"Doctor, I'm scared" Rose murmured, trembling, "I'm scared the Ziola are gonna hurt me again."

The Doctor felt his hearts break, suddenly realising that she'd just admitted she'd been hurt. "I'll protect you, my angel. I'm sorry I didn't before,"

"I need you, Doctor," Rose sobbed,

"I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you, don't ever doubt that. I love you," whispered the Doctor, tears in his eyes. He held her while she sobbed her heart out, crying for what had happened, how scared she'd been, how much pain she'd been in and seen the Doctor in since he'd found her and just how safe she felt in his arms.

The Doctor just stayed there for her; a solid rock; a hand to hold and did his best to comfort her, stroking her hair, rocking her gently and murmuring soothing words into her ear.

"Love you," she hiccupped after a while, "Why…why do I always seem to be crying?"

"You've had some horrible things happen to you," he whispered, "It would affect even the strongest,"

"Not you, though,"

"Yes me. Look at me now."

Rose lifted her tearstained face and looked at an equally tearstained face. She gasped and traced he obvious tear tracks softly. "Why?" she asked, softly,

"I hate seeing you hurt so much," the Doctor admitted, taking her hand and pressing it against her cheek. Rose stared at him before laying her head on his shoulder with a sigh.

"Rose," murmured the Doctor, after a period of comfortable silence, "Can you tell me what happened?"

He felt her tense before she nodded.

"I can remember now… I always could,"

"I know," said the Doctor, simply.

Rose sighed before moving away from him so he could sit cross-legged on the floor, leaning against their bed. She sat in his lap, winding her arms securely around his waist and leaning her ear against his chest listening to the comforting double heart beat, and then she began.

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