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Chapter 15 - The Doctor's Candy

Jake walked into Pete's office. Pete turned around to meet his gaze as he tossed his jacket onto a chair. Jake closed the door behind him.

"Did they get off alright?" Jake asked.

"They did. And none the wiser, thankfully. "

"They really don't know?" Jake inquired. "I mean, this is the Doctor. He could probably help. I remember the stories that Mickey would tell us-"

"No." Pete interrupted. "I don't want to worry him or Rose about it. He knows how serious the situation is without telling him everything! Until we are closer to stopping these people, the Doctor and Rose aren't going to be told anything."

Jake chewed his bottom lip. "With all due respect sir, I don't think that is the wisest move. The Doctor is clever, and he could help! And this concerns them. Very much so."

Pete dismissed Jake by waving his hand. "Since the tabloid rags have gotten breath of it, it will be harder to keep it from anyone now."

Pete sat down at his desk, clearly frustrated.

He looked up at Jake. "Was there something else?"

"Yes, sir. Melissa is missing. She didn't show up for work this morning. I sent some people to her house, but there is no sign of her."

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After the Doctor and Rose had a quick breakfast, Rose returned to bed to sleep for a while. The Doctor was extremely excited having use of both of his hands again. He had taken out the 'bigger on the inside box' and was tending to his growing TARDIS, when his phone rang. It was Tony.

"Ello there, Comrade!" the Doctor exclaimed to the little boy on the screen.

"Hi, Doctor. Are you busy?" Tony's little face inquired.

"No. I'm not busy at all." he told the little boy as he sat down his sonic screwdriver next to the box's opening. "Rose is sleeping, so I was a bit bored. I'm glad you called. What are you doing?"

"Ah, I was playing in my room. But, I'm bored, too."

"What are you playing?" the Doctor asked him.

"Playing with blocks."

"Oh, I like playing with blocks. I like taking little cars and making garages. Have you done that?"

"No! That's a good idea, Doctor!" Tony exclaimed.

After a few moments, Tony asked him. "Doctor. Do you know how to read?"

The Doctor smiled at the little boy. "Read? Yeah, I've been reading for years. I love it. Do you know how?"

"No. I wish I did."

"Well, you are a bit young still."

Tony glared at him, "I'm nearly four years old, Doctor." he informed him, matter of factly.

"You reminded me of your mother just then, Tony."

"What?"

"We didn't start school until we were eight where I'm from."

"Eight? Now that's crazy."

"It's true!" the Doctor assured him as he laughed.

"Doctor. Can you teach me to read?"

The Doctor's face broke into a huge smile. "What's a brother for?"

Tony stood up and danced around his room. "Alright!"

"Go find a piece of paper and something to write with. We'll start now."

Tony ran out of the screen to gather what he needed, while the Doctor looked around the suite. He found a pen and flipped over a page giving the day's itinerary of activities on the ship. Tony's face returned to the screen of the phone.

"Alright. I'm going to write the first word you are going to learn to read and write." the Doctor told Tony as he wrote a word down on his piece of paper. He flipped the screen over. "Okay, can you see this?"

Tony said, "Yes."

"Do you know what any of these letters are?"

"Sure! That's a 't' and an 'o' and a 'n' and a... ugh... I don't know that one."

"It's a 'y'." the Doctor helped him. Do you know what sounds they all make?

"Well, 't' goes 'tah..."

The Doctor smiled. Tony was even more clever than he thought! "That's right! How about the next one?"

"Well, 'o' can be 'ooooo' or 'ewwww'."

"In this case it's 'oooo'. How about the 'n'?"

Oh, that's easy. That says, "nuuu."

"Close enough." he told him. "And the 'y' makes and 'e' sound in this case. Now. It's like singing a song. And the letters are your notes. You start with the first letter, and make the sounds until you reach the end of the word. Then you will have said the word. Let's try this one. Sound it out."

Tony looked at the word and slowly sounded it out. After a few tries he said, "Tony. Oh that's me! That's my name!"

"That a boy! Great job!" the Doctor told him.

Tony was back up dancing around the room again. "I can read! I can read!"

"Tony." the Doctor called him back to the screen. "You did great. I'm so proud of you, Comrade! Now, practice writing your name for me. When you can do it without looking at it, you've learned it. Okay? Let me see you write it once. Look at the one I wrote and copy it first."

The little boy did as he was instructed. "Like this, Doctor?" Tony asked as he held up the paper with his name written on it.

"Perfect! Practice that for me. Call me back later to let me see how you did, and I'll teach you another word. Alright?"

"Alright! Bye!"

The Doctor ended the call. He picked back up his sonic screwdriver and climbed halfway back into the bigger on the inside box to finish tending to his growing TARDIS.

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The Doctor couldn't take it anymore. He had kept himself busy as long as he could. He had talked to Tony, tended to the TARDIS, talked to Pete on the phone and then handled a strange phone call from the bank asking if he had purchased $498.63 in candy.

"Of course I did, and I'll probably be back!" he told them.

He decided that Rose had slept long enough. It was already early afternoon. He hadn't worn her out that badly.

Well, maybe he did.

He smiled at the thought.

He climbed into bed with his Rose. He lay his hands on her face and telepathically sent her peace and feelings of safety. He had only been injury-free for a few hours didn't want to risk her punching him again if she woke up suddenly. When he was sure she was waking up peacefully, he leaned in and kissed her face, neck, and chest until she was fully awake.

She was still wearing his t-shirt that he had handed her when they had gotten up from breakfast. She had teased him and told him that she hadn't put on knickers because he simply hadn't handed her any. He wondered if she still was really without the garment.

"Hey, you."

"Hey. Are you hibernating?"

"I had the weirdest dream."

He cupped her face in his hand. "Really, what was it?"

She pulled back and looked at his hand, "Nope, it wasn't a dream. Really?!"

"Really." the Doctor laughed at her.

She shook her head. "So strange."

"I learned a long time ago to just run with it." he told her as he rubbed her back under her shirt. "Pete rang and we've had an invitation for dinner tonight."

"From who?"

"A friend of yours. I've never got to meet her though, so I'm rather excited. Then I wanted to know if you wanted to go out dancing."

"You hate to dance." she laughed at him in disbelief.

"Depends on the dancing. Besides I know you love it, so I can...cope."

She looked up at him and said, "You know, I sometimes have to remind myself that you really are here."

"Thought I would have done a runner by now? I told you, you're stuck with me."

She shook her head. "No, not that. It's just that I looked for you for so long, and now that you are here. It is just so unbelievable sometimes. I have to just take a moment and soak it in."

He leaned in to kiss her. "You're not getting rid of me. I love you, and I'm not leaving."

"And to have you like...this. Oh, it's wonderful. I would have never imagined."

He looked confused. "Like how?"

She looked embarrassed and blushed. "Like... this. I can kiss you, or whatever-"

"Oh!" he suddenly understood what she was getting at. "I have to say, it's my favorite part at the moment."

"I can tell."

"It's good though, right?" he asked her, shyly.

"I wouldn't think you would be insecure about that, Doctor."

"Yeah, it's just that..." he shook his head.

"What?" she inquired.

"Nothing."

She rolled over to sit on his chest to pin him down in the bed. His head was mushed between the pillows.

"Woman!" He laughed at her. "Interesting interrogation method. Did you ever find your knickers?"

"We're going to play a game." she informed him. "You can ask me one question, and I can ask you one question. No matter what, you have to answer it honestly."

She enjoyed watching him squirm under her. He still looked so scruffy from his lack of shaving. His hair wasn't as crazy as it had been that morning though.

He ran his hands across her hips. "Nope, no knickers."

"Focus on the game. Come on, what do you have to lose?"

He covered up his face with both of his hands and laughed. "Okay, do your worst."

"You are always doing this. It's like you almost say something, but decide not to. Now, finish what you were going to say."

He uncovered his face and looked up at her. "I think the game is that you have to ask a question, Rose Tyler. That sounded like an imperative sentence to me."

Smacked him playfully on his chest. "Don't get clever with me!"

"Woo. First Tony and now you-"

"Okay, fair Doctor. Why would you be insecure about our sex life?"

He uncovered his face and looked up surprised at her. "Blimey, just get right to the point, won't you?"

"You are like trying to nail Jell-o to a tree. Let's see if you will answer this."

He laughed and covered his face up again under her.

His laughing made her laugh. "You loon. Are you going to answer me?"

"Nope." His muffled voice said through his hands.

"Why not?"

"I'm not insecure about that," he told her seriously as he uncovered his face. He lay his hands on the top of his head.

"You're not?" she asked surprised.

"Nope." he said popping the 'p'.

"Then what is it? I can fell something there."

"Maybe it's you. Shall we talk about that?"

"It's not me."

"Could be."

"It's not."

He stared at her. "Sure?"

She wasn't backing down. "Yes. It's you. Talk to me."

He groaned, and finally began, "I'm not good at relationships, Rose. I'm just not. And I really, just don't want to screw this up. I'm worried I'll overdo it. It's all I can think about lately."

"Having sex?" she inquired.

"No, anyone can have sex. People do it all the time. But opening up your soul to someone, letting them into your spirit, thoughts, fears, future, hopes, dreams... Now that's being naked. Making love. And it's all I can think about. It's like, an addiction. I crave your touch. Your smell, your kiss, your taste. Everything. I don't know if it's the human part of me now, or what. But the thoughts consume me. It's so much worse than it used to be."

He gritted his teeth realizing he had said too much. "Used to be?"

"Yeah. When we were back on the TARDIS traveling together."

"We never even kissed back on the TARDIS, let alone anything else."

"Oh, but you knew."

She sat back on his waist and bit her thumb. "Really?"

"Oh yes."

"Wait. What about Sarah Jane? All of those other companions?"

"Sarah Jane is probably the best friend I ever had. But, I swear that's all we ever were."

"She has a son now. When we saw her before we were left here. She has a son named Luke." Rose reasoned.

"I know. But, he's not mine. I don't who he belongs to. The whole idea of me and Sarah Jane. Ew!" he squirmed. "Luke would be a great name though. I could say, 'Luke! I am your father!' Right?" he smiled.

Rose looked at him seriously, still biting her thumb.

"Rose, I swear. I never did that with any of my companions. There is something I can't explain about you. Come here." He told her as she lay down on him.

He lay his hand on her forehead and she felt him brush against her consciousness. She let him into her head.

'Look, this is better explained by showing you something I swore I'd never... ugh.' he exclaimed in her head.

'Doctor, you don't have to show me anything.'

'No, I do. That way you will understand.'

They were back on the TARDIS, standing in the control room. A projection of the Doctor came in, with a very drunk Rose.

"When was this?" she asked him.

'We had just left the party at Muswell Hill, after the Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. We ate with the neighbors of Tommy's and his family. Then we went to that bar where you decided you were going to get me drunk. I tried to tell you, you can't get a Time Lord drunk. Well... it's hard to get a Time Lord drunk at least.'

She continued to watch the projection of the Doctor helping Rose down the steps of the console room. They both followed behind themselves. The projection Doctor ended up picking Rose up and carrying her halfway down the hall. He struggled to open the door of her bedroom and finally growled something in a strange language which caused the door to jerk open. "Ah. Ought to have tried that first." the projection Doctor said.

Rose looked back at her Doctor, who was nervously rubbing his hand through his hair.

As the projection Doctor lay the projection Rose into her bed, Rose raised up and kissed him. He didn't protest at all and kissed her back. She slid off his big, brown trench coat, and then took off his jacket.

The projection Doctor had run his hands up the back of her shirt and was clearly undoing her bra. As soon as he had freed her breasts, he brought his hands to rub both of her breasts and continued to kiss her. She started to unbutton his trousers.

That's when the projection stopped her. "Rose. You're drunk. This isn't right."

"I want you, my Doctor."

"I want you, too. But, not like this. Go to sleep, and see if you still feel that way when you wake up."

He gently pushed her against her pillows and covered her up. She went right to sleep.

'I don't remember this happening.' Rose told him.

'I know.' he told her as he rubbed the back of his neck. 'You had no memory of it, so I never brought it back up.'

The TARDIS faded from them and they were back in the bedroom of the suite with Rose laying on the Doctor's chest. "How long was that before we lost one another?"

"I don't know. Maybe four months?" he guessed.

"How did you cope?" she asked him seriously.

"I figured you didn't want me in that way. It was just the drink talking."

"Oh, but I did."

His face broke into a huge smile.

He jumped up and sat on top of Rose, pinning her down in the bed. She squealed in laughter. "You loon!"

"How did you do this?" he asked quietly as he moved his knees closer to her waist so he could rock her back and forth.

"Alright, Rose Tyler!" he playfully laughed as she covered her face with her hands. Now, you are going to answer my questions."

"Questions? I said one question." she corrected him.

"And you ended up asking me twelve, woman! Questions it is!"

She rolled her eyes at him and laughed.

He lay on top of her and looked her in the eyes. "Do you trust that I'll never leave you Rose? Do you believe me when I say I can't survive without you?"

"That's two questions!" she pointed out and laughed as he rose up to rock her underneath him in the bed. Both of them laughing like loons.

Being careful not to voice it, he looked at her and raised his eyebrows to inquire. She laughed and said, "Yes. Not to bring it up, but I've been alone here and it was terrible. Since you got here, it's made me realize I'm..."

"Co-dependent!" the Doctor filled in the blank for her. "Ha! Not a question. Doesn't count!"

She rolled her eyes at him. He returned to rocking her as he thought of his next question. "Oh I like this game, Rose Tyler." he laughed.

She laughed under him.

He stopped as he thought of a question. "Where are your knickers, Rose Tyler?"

"I have no idea. You never brought me any. But, do you like your shirt?" She nodded down at his t-shirt that she was wearing.

He smiled and she could feel his lust as he looked her up and down.

"Yes."

Then realizing she had asked him another question. "Damn it! I get another question now!" he demanded.

Rose continued to laugh at him.

He lay down on top of her and kissed her neck and her chest. His hands moved to her lap. He was determined to not touch her area normally covered with knickers just to tease her. He kissed her cheek and then worked his way over to her ear and whispered. "Did you ever touch yourself and pretend it was me?"

Rose playfully breathed in as if she was shocked. "Doctor! And here I thought you were an English Gentleman!"

"I'm not English!"

They both laughed.

He leaned back down and started kissing her again. "Well?" he asked her through the kisses.

Then suddenly jumped up and pointed a finger at her, "And that's the same question Rose, so it doesn't count!"

She smiled and grabbed his finger he had pointed at her and popped it in her mouth. She ran her tongue around the tip of his finger and sucked it.

He would have never dreamed it would have done it, but it made his eyes roll back in his head and he felt himself start to get stiff. How did this woman know all of his buttons? He didn't even know that little trick.

Rose whispered to him. "Did you….?"

"Ahhh..." he told her. His brain had gone blank with her little trick. "I'm at my limit for questions. Not answering."

Rose rolled her eyes.

Her game, his rules.

Nothing ever changed.

He looked at her and laughed. "Okay, big question. I'll let you count this as two."

She raised her hands to cover her face. "What could be worse than asking me that!?"

He lay back down on her and kissed her neck. "Think back to when we were on the Game Station. I had a different face. I had sent you away, and you came back. When you stepped out of the TARDIS...on the Game Station... what do you remember?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Not much. I mean, I remember telling the TARDIS I wanted to come back to you, and then she told she would bring me."

"What do you remember about 'Bad Wolf?'" he asked her, seriously.

She shook her head. "Just what you have told me. I have memories of certain things, but I'm not sure if they are my memories or from what you have told me."

"I know we've talked about it before, Rose. But, I don't think it would be fair for me to not tell you that I think that the Bad Wolf is still part of you. A bigger part than we first thought. I know that you have this telepathy now and you can heal very fast. In all likelihood, you'll outlive me-"

"Don't talk about it."

"No, Rose. We need to talk about it. You should know what happened that day. Here, let me show you." He sat up to straddle her lap. He cupped both of her cheeks with his hands.

She saw him, all blue eyes and leather, standing in the middle of two rolls of Daleks back on the Game Station in the future. She heard the sound of the TARDIS at the same time that the Doctor did. He turned around to see herself standing in the doorway of the blue box.

A blinding yellow glow all behind her. Was it regeneration energy? It seemed to consume her, then she had moved out of the doorway and was standing in front of the Doctor who was now laying on the floor with fear. Was that fear? Why didn't she remember this?

"What have you done?" he demanded.

"I looked into the Time Vortex, and it looked into me."

He said something back to her, but she didn't hear him. The Dalek emperor was calling her an "abomination."

Then another Dalek, standing close to her, shot her. She lifted her hand and reflected the shot into the Dalek's laser. What was this? What was she seeing? Rose looked around and her Doctor was standing behind her. He put his hand into hers.

'It's alright, Rose.' he told her.

Just then, the projection Rose's eyes began to glow. She said, "I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words and I scatter them, in time and space. A message to leave myself here."

The projection Doctor lay on the ground, facing up at her. She could feel his fear. She felt his heart leap when her projection told him that she wanted to keep him safe. He was telling her to stop. She had no memory of this. Was she even in control so that she could stop?

"I can see every atom of your existence and I divide it." Before she knew it, her projection self had waved her hand and the Daleks in the room disappeared into dust. Leaving her and the Doctor alone.

The projection Doctor told her to stop. And she replied back to him, "How can I stop? I bring life." Jack jumped up as if he had been sleeping in the corner. That must have been when she had brought him back to life. The Doctor had explained this to her, and she thought she remembered some of it. But, seeing it for herself was making so much more sense.

The projection Doctor was shouting at her. "You can't control life and death!"

The projection Rose's eyes still glowed. "But, I can! The stars and the moon. Day and night." Rose couldn't believe what she was seeing. How were her eyes glowing? How had she done this?

Then she saw the projection of the Doctor lean in and kiss her. The glow came out of her eyes and into his. Then she passed out as he caught her.

She watched as he carried her back in the TARDIS and disappeared.

The image faded. Rose was still laying under her Doctor who was still sitting on top of her, but now holding both of her hands. He brought them up to his lips and kissed them both.

"You regenerated right after that. Was that why?" she asked him.

"Yes." he answered her.

"So, I...killed you?" she asked, tentatively.

He chuckled and smiled at her. "No. I forced myself to regenerate. You were..." he swallowed hard "barely involved." He said as he started to rub the back of his neck.

"Well, that's not how I see it!" she exclaimed.

"Well, that's how it is! Rose Tyler, it was either lose you or I could regenerate! I picked regeneration!" He told her forcefully. "You came back and saved me. I saved you. That's how this works. I was sick of the ears anyway."

She wasn't as surprised about all of this as he thought she would be. He decided to gamble on his hunch he had been thinking for a while.

"But, you already know most of this because it's happened again, hasn't it? You can tell me, Rose-"

"Stop."

"What?"

"I do not want to talk about this."

"Rose, we need to talk about this."

He was still sitting on top of her. She pulled her arms behind her head and looked at him. "What all has Jake told you?"

Jake?! Jake was in on this? He made a mental note to smack him later. "He told me everything, but I want to hear your take on it."

"Fair enough. He's been hounding me to tell you. Right after I joined Torchwood, we went out on a mission. Jake, Mickey, and myself. A few others. First time out, and I got scared, angry and ... I don't know. I woke up, and Jake told me that I had killed the person who had been attacking us. Mickey finally told me that she had just sortof melted away. Like the Dalek's did there."

"How many times has it happened-"

She sighed loudly. "I really don't want to talk about this-"

"Rose. How many times?"

"Can you stop sitting on me?" she asked him.

"No way, Rose Tyler. I'm getting more information out of you than I have in weeks."

She groaned in frustration. "Is it, bad?"

"I don't know. But, at least we both know about it. Hmmm... I have my suspicions. I suppose we'll just have to give it time to see what happens with it."

The mood had gotten too serious for them. The Doctor knew just what to do. He leaned down and kissed Rose quickly. "Don't move, I'll be right back."

He came back into the bedroom with one of the bags of candy. "I found these today. Ahhhhh... they are so good. Remember that planet we went to where the air made your taste buds sortof... blah?"

She laughed at him. "You and this candy."

"This reminded me of that peppermint we had there! Here try it." he put two tablets on her tongue and then dropped two more on his.

Her eyes watered. "Oh hell, that's strong!"

"Curiously Strong!" he told her proudly. "Well, that's what the packaging said."

"I have an idea. Hand me a couple more of them." She asked him as she held her hand out. He poured some more in her hand, and popped a few more in his month. He lay down next to her in the bed.

She was busy rolling them around in her mouth. She was being oddly quiet.

He looked at her, "What's on your mind, Rose Tyler?"

She smiled at him, "You clearly don't know what these are for."

He was wiping tears out of the corners of his eyes. "Clearing out your tear ducts, apparently. Geez."

He never saw her raise up and kiss him. She cupped his chin with both of her hands and pulled him down to lay on top of her again. Her peppermint tongue danced with his. It felt like their mouths were in a freezer. It was a strange, refreshing kiss.

He broke apart from her and laughed, "You taste all pepperminty! Is that a word?"

She laughed at him. "Here, hand me some more." He gave her the bag. She popped a couple more into her mouth as she traded places in the bed with him. He was still popping candy in his mouth. Rose sat on his waist, and she started unbuttoning his jeans. That startled him a bit.

"Rose, what are you doing?" he sounded surprised.

"Showing you how you use these things."

She pulled his jeans down to rub him through his pants.

"I like how you think, although I'm not sure where you're going with this." he confessed to her.

She lay on top of him and shared some more minty kisses. In no time, he had grown his erection. She slid his pants down and took her into her peppermint mouth.

Her mouth felt so cold! She sucked him as she stroked his shaft. The contrast between the two was amazing.

"Oh, Rose! How..." he couldn't even form words.

She started humming to vibrate him as she continued the suction.

Her tongue traced around the tip as she continued to pump him.

He was saying something to her in some language she couldn't understand. Then he would moan without control. That just made her suck harder, which made him even harder.

She only took her lips off of him to get another piece of candy. And then the effect just began again. Her cold mouth. Her hot breath. Her soft hands. The perfect dance that she did down there made his mind go completely blank.

He could feel her teeth, nibble the tip as she moved back up to lick the bead of liquid that had formed on the tip. She took her tongue and licked him from the base to the tip, then circled her tongue all around before taking him as far into her throat as she could.

She heard his moaning. She was unsure if he was forming words or not. It didn't sound like the usual strange language he used. He grabbed two fistfuls of the duvet to have something to grab ahold of. She decided to show him mercy.

She kissed him up to his chest and once she finally to his lips, she pulled him inside of her. He had completely forgotten she was without her knickers. As soon as he was deep inside of her, he could feel how cold he felt inside of her. It was like he had parts of himself frozen. Meanwhile, it had made him even more sensitive.

"My gosh, you are so cold!" she told him.

"Warm me up then." he told her as she sat on top of him and pumped while she snogged him silly. Their mouths were still cold from the mints.

She felt him erupt inside of her which caused her to press down against him, driving him deeper into her. They both moaned.

Rose lay on top of him. She could feel his satisfaction and couldn't help but be proud of herself. He was all out of breath and was resting her hand on his face.

"I have a question for you." she whispered to him.

"I've lost count, but I think it's still my turn." he informed her without moving.

"What language is it that you are talking?"

He uncovered his eyes and looked at her surprised. "When?"

"Just now. You seem to use some funny language whenever I... mmm..."

He laughed and covered his face back up, blushing. "I didn't realize I was saying anything. What does it sound like?"

Rose leaned back to take in what he was saying. She couldn't help but smile at him. "You don't realize you are saying anything? You've done that since the first time we ever-"

"Have I?" he inquired. Looking reasonably surprised. "I have no idea. I can't even think when I'm with you. There's no telling what I'm saying. Hell, now I wonder what it is. That was brilliant. Whoever thought candy could be so much fun?"

"Looks like there are some things I need to teach you about," she laughed at him. "And that was another question for me!"

"Awww...shit." he complained. He was laying under her again so she had command of the conversation. "Okay, but I think I've answered way more of your questions than you have mine."

"Were you ever mad at me, causing you to regenerate? I mean, knowing you can only do it so many times makes me feel like I stole some of your life away."

He raised up to meet her face. "Really?" he inquired. "Rose, I don't feel that way. I feel like everything in life leads me to the next thing. That, helped led me to you. My choices, my heartbreaks, my regrets. Everything. And when we're together, my past seems worth it. All of it. Because if I had done one thing differently, I might never have had you."