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Chapter 10 - The Ride Home on the Bullet

The Bullet reminded the Doctor of the old timey train cars of years ago. Their first class cabin was a complete car to itself. It was lavishly decorated with reds and golds. The wooden trim that accented the walls looked to be hand carved. The room opened into a small room with a rounded bench seat and two chairs around a table that would fold down if needed. There was a screen built into the wall that had all of the information specific to their journey to London. It showed the current time, water temperature, depth under the ocean, and the ETA of their arrival.

The Doctor saw the time on the screen. "Goodness! It's already 10:30 at night in London. Genie, you are going to have to go to bed after we eat dinner."

Genie crossed her arms, "I'm not even tired!"

He smiled as he looked down at the little girl. She still held her doll from her Nanna Jones. "You might feel differently after you eat. Don't worry about it right now."

Rose caught his eye and smiled at him. It made him tingle all over.

Rose sat down on the bench behind the table and looked at a menu. The Doctor was exploring their cabin with Genie. They found a small room that only had a double bed in it with a light. It was almost like a shelf in the wall. A small sliding door closed it off to the rest of the cabin. On the other side, there was another small room with just enough room to walk in and slide into one of two bunks that were built into the wall.

He stood there and pointed at the beds while he spoke to Genie. "How about that? That's where you will sleep. Do you want me to go ahead and put your baby in there?"

Genie looked up at the bed and shook her head. "No, thanks. She needs to eat first, too."

The Doctor smiled at her. "Well, I suppose you're right."

The Doctor rubbed his beard as he walked around the cabin, taking it all in. "This is just really cool." he marveled.

Rose giggled at him as Genie sat down next to her. "Surely you've seen something like this before?"

He continued to look around. "Not done this well. There was something similar on Biham, but it was more narrow and ran on top of the ground and..."

He stopped talking and looked down at Genie and Rose. "...uh. Nevermind."

He sat down and with the girls looked at the menu. "What do you think about it, Genie?"

Genie looked at the Doctor and said quietly, "It's really posh."

"Posh?" he squeaked.

She looked serious at him and said, "Yeah, posh."

The Doctor smiled as he pointed at Rose. "Well, Rose is posh. You didn't know that?"

Rose threw her hands up. "Oh, I am not!"

The Doctor propped his arm on the back of the bench where they sat, and started to count on his fingers. "One, President Nanna Jones. Two, that crazy cowboy President of the United States is the godfather to your brother. Three, Miss Nobel Prize nominee...which I still need to read that paper. Four - "

"Oh, god! Are you still on about that?" Rose exclaimed.

He looked at her seriously, "Rose, I wasn't done counting. It's rude to interrupt."

"I don't want you to read it! Why can't you understand why?" Rose asked him.

"Why can't you understand that you are absolutely brilliant, and there is no one else in the entire world who could be more qualified to write such a paper?" he countered.

Rose sat there, staring at him. After a few moments, she shook her head said, "Oh, for sure. I don't want you to read it at all now!"

He looked away and tossed his hands up in frustration. "Seriously! Why not?"

Genie sat between them, watching them.

Rose became flustered. "Well...just...exactly that! You think I'm this brilliant smart, Einstein. You will read that and find that I'm just really an idiot and -"

The Doctor was enjoying how much he was irritating Rose. He smiled and looked down at Genie. "See, this is exactly where so many people go wrong. They don't give themselves the credit that they are due. My Rose is absolutely amazing, and she doesn't even see it. So, I have to see it for the both of us."

Genie smiled at him.

He looked up at Rose. "And I want to read this paper, woman!"

Rose tossed her hands up. "Whatever. What are we eating for dinner?"

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The enjoyed a lovely meal together. Genie had fish sticks and mashed potatoes, while the Doctor and Rose both had Shepherd's Pie.

"See here, Genie. They named this after your friend, Jacob Shepherd." the Doctor teased her. "It talks as much as he does."

Genie giggled at him.

After they ate, they were well on their way. The screen on the wall showed them to be over 4 hours away from London. The Doctor sat back on the bench, sipping some wine. Rose came back into the sitting room with Genie, who had just put on her jim jams. Rose sat down next to him with her legs draped across his knees. Genie climbed onto his lap with her doll that Nanna Jones had given to her.

Rose asked Genie. "Tell me Genie, what is your baby's name?"

Genie held her doll tightly. "I don't know. I haven't decided."

The Doctor spoke as he put his arm around Rose and hugged Genie, too. "Well, that's alright. Pick a good name. Sometimes that takes some time."

Genie smiled. "I'm thinking about naming her 'Donna', like the lady in your stories."

"That's a good name!" Rose agreed and smiled. The Doctor kissed Genie on the top of the head.

Rose then asked, "Tell me. How would you put Donna to bed? How is that done?"

The Doctor smiled. He was wondering how Melissa had put Genie to bed at night as well. He didn't want to ask, but knew it was better for her to keep the same routine she had with her mum.

'Very clever, Rose. I was wondering how to ask her about that.' he told Rose in her head.

Genie smiled and looked at her doll. "Well, first. You have to tell her a story."

They agreed.

"Story. Yes. Important. What's next?" the Doctor asked.

"Then, you rub her back like this." Genie showed them as she held her doll and rubbed her back gently.

"I see. That does look nice." Rose agreed.

Genie continued, "Then you have to sing her a song. Then she'll go right to sleep."

Rose giggled and looked up at the Doctor. "Well, you are in luck. This man can sing a beautiful lullaby to your baby."

The Doctor had lay his head on the back of the bench sofa and put both of his hands on his face in embarrassment.

"No... I think Rose is better at that than I am." his muffled voice laughed.

Rose pulled his hand down from his face. "Are you serious? I heard you sing to Tony that night! You can sing to her."

He shook his head and blushed. "No, no. No. I thought you were asleep! Otherwise, I would have never done it. No."

Rose laughed at him. "The Oncoming Storm won't sing a song to his Sara Gene?"

"Ugh..." he exclaimed as he leaned up and poured himself some more wine.

"Is his name really 'Storm'?" Genie asked.

Rose nodded to Genie.

The Doctor drank his wine as he mumbled. "Women. Ganging up on me. Domestics. Ugh. This will only get worse."

He poured himself another glass and drained it completely.

Rose laughed at his embarrassment. "I tell you what. You tell her a story, and I'll sing to her."

He smiled and pointed at Rose. "I'll take that deal! Yes ma'am. Thank you."

He sat down his wine glass and ran his hand through his hair. "Hmmm... a story. For bedtime."

"About Spartacus!" Genie said.

Rose agreed. "Yes, the Spartacus stories are always the best."

The Doctor rubbed his head and thought. "Let me see. Well. Once upon a time, Spartacus checked into a hospital. There as something weird going on and he thought he could get a better look if he was inside. His heart really hurt because he had lost someone not too long ago."

Rose looked up at him as he glanced over at her. He held her tighter. "Yeah, he loved this person so very much, but he never told her."

"Why not?" Genie asked.

"Well, because he was too scared. And that's something. Spartacus wasn't really scared of anything. He fought monsters, angels, devils, demons, everything. But, he knew that the girl deserved so much better than he could ever give. He loved her so much. His heart was broken. He was all alone."

Genie stared at him.

"But, his life went on, and he found something he thought was strange outside of this hospital. He met this medical student...and almost doctor...a nice doctor... named Martha. Just as he met her, the hospital got zapped to the moon! Just like that! In an instant!"

Genie gasped. Rose raised up and looked at him.

"The entire hospital? Really?" Rose asked him.

He nodded as he continued his story. "The Judoon, which are like space police, were looking for a bad guy. Well... bad girl in this case. A plasmavore, who would suck out all of your blood." he said dramatically to make Genie cover her eyes.

Rose rolled his eyes at him. "Oh yes. Great story for bedtime. Do you ever want this child to sleep?"

He laughed, "Don't worry, Rose. All will be explained."

"Anyway, so the plasmavore could be detected if the Judoon scanned her. So, she would suck the blood out of the humans. When they scanned her, they found the human blood and thought she was human."

Rose asked, "How did they catch her?"

The Doctor looked at her, "She sucked the blood out of someone she thought was a human, but was an alien like she was. It made his hearts stop beating."

Rose covered her mouth. He looked back at Genie, "But Spartacus saw what he had done, and he called to Martha. Almost Doctor Martha, brought him back to life with some of the very last breath she had to give. See, they ran out of oxygen while they were on the moon. As soon as she put air into his lungs, she passed out."

Rose's continued to stare at him.

"But, was she okay? Was he okay?" Genie asked.

"Yes, both of them were. And because she had drank the alien man's blood, the Judoon found the icky plasmavore. They arrested her and took her away. Well, sortof. And they said, 'Fo Row Mow Do So!' That's how they talk. That was, 'We have you now!'" he exclaimed dramatically forcing Genie to laugh.

"And then, they reversed the rain scoop that had transferred them to the moon, and sent the entire hospital back to Earth. Just in time for Martha to make it to her brother's 21st birthday party. Which honestly didn't turn out as great as she thought it would. But, that's another story. One, I honestly don't even think I know. And Spartacus thanked her for her help. Had she not been there, the other man would have certainly died. She knew he looked sad and offered to ... travel a bit with him until he felt better. As soon as she thought he was better, she left and went home to her family."

Rose leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll be back. I'm going to the loo."

Rose got up and left their room. The Doctor hugged Genie tight and kissed her forehead. She lay her head on his chest as he sat on the bench sofa with his feet propped up on the table.

He rubbed her back. "Sometimes, bad things just happen. And you will need people to help you through it until you feel better. And it will happen. One day, you will feel better. It might take a very long time, but that's the reason you meet people you need at the time that you need them the most. Bad things happen so you can know when things are so very good. It helps makes them more important."

Genie nodded at him.

"But, I am happy to tell you that Spartacus found his girl and finally was brave enough to tell her how he felt. And as it turned out, she felt the same way."

Genie smiled, "And they lived happily ever, after!"

Doctor laughed under their breath. "Yes, my Sara Gene, they sure did. Well, as far as I know."

He looked around. Rose was still gone. He rubbed Genie's back as he sang the same lullaby that he sang to Tony back at the Tyler mansion.

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Rose could hear his deep voice from the other side of the door where she waited. She knew it would only take her leaving the room for him to sing to the little girl. She smiled at her clever plan.

After she was sure he had finished the song, she opened the door and walked back into the room. He looked up at her and asked quietly, "Is Shakes out there?"

She shook her head as she sat down next to him, "No, it was John. Why?"

"Ah, nothing. I was honestly wondering if that tiny hallway was big enough for him. Shakes is a big guy!" he laughed quietly.

Rose smiled as she leaned over and kissed Genie's head. "She's asleep."

"Is she really? I swear, I just sang to her. I know that you would be...wait a minute. Oh, well played, Rose Tyler! I bet you stood at the door to listen to me, too didn't you?" he complained.

Rose laughed at him. "Oh, yes I did. I love to hear you sing. Why won't you sing to me?"

He smiled as he rolled his eyes back. "Oh, I don't think I could do that. I really don't. Ugh, I can't believe you did that."

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The Doctor stood up and tucked Genie into her bed in her little compartment room. Rose brought over her doll, Donna, and lay it next to her.

Rose kissed her goodnight and walked away. The Doctor quickly put his finger to the little girl's forehead, careful to not let Rose see him, and pushed Genie into a deep sleep.

He kissed her and pulled the small door nearly closed.

He walked over and poured himself some more wine as he sat on the couch next to Rose.

"You didn't want any wine? Is everything alright?" he asked her quietly.

Rose nodded. "Yeah, I had a couple of glasses at dinner, but didn't want anymore. I'm fine."

They sat back down on the sofa together. She lay her legs across his lap. He lay his arm on the back of the sofa and turned to look at her. He drank all of his wine quickly and put the glass on the table. He then ran his hand up her dress to rub the inside of her thigh.

"So, have you decided about my offer?" he whispered to her.

Rose smiled at him with her tongue in her teeth. He brought his other hand to her cheek. She leaned into his touch. "Oh, I'm up for it? You?"

"Well, not quite yet...but it won't take long." he teased her quietly.

She leaned into kiss him, running her hands through his hair. He was itching closer to the waistband of her knickers. But, he couldn't find them. He slid his hand down to feel only skin and her small patch of hair.

He snapped his head back and looked at her in surprise. "Woman... what are you doing to me here? I'm never going to be able to think straight when I see you in a skirt again! Have you been without these all day?"

She laughed at him. "I knew you would be like that! I just took them off when I went to the loo earlier."

"Still!" he said as she leaned back in to kiss him.

Rose was running her hands through his hair again as they continued to kiss. Her hands danced all over his head. He jumped back suddenly and exclaimed, "Aw!"

He rubbed the side of his forehead. Rose pulled his hand down and looked it over for him.

"You have a nice bruise right here. What did you do?" Rose told him.

He rubbed it, gently. "Probably when I crashed into those guys at the football game. Don't worry. It's fine."

He leaned back in and started to kiss her again. Rose continued to run her hands through his hair as he rubbed her breast through her dress. His other hand was on her back, keeping her pulled close to him.

They were enjoying a lovely snog when his phone rang.

'Let it ring. We've waited all day.' she begged him.

'I should...but... it could be...' he leaned back and dug his phone out of his pocket. "Important." he finished.

It was Tony.

"Oh, these children tonight." the Doctor complained.

He accepted the call and saw Jackie and Tony on the screen.

"Wow! You've got some crazy hair!" Tony told him.

Rose laughed hysterically as the Doctor smiled and ran his hand through his own hair. It didn't help. Rose had done a swell job on it while they had been snogging.

"Yeah, it has a mind of its' own. What's up Comrade? And Jackie." he said quietly. "Genie is asleep already."

Jackie crossed her arms and laughed. "Oh, that explains the hair then. That didn't take long!"

The Doctor blushed and handed the phone to Rose. "Ugh, Rose!"

Rose grabbed the phone. "Mum. What do you need?"

"Calm down! I was just calling to see if you could come get us tomorrow off the Bullet. We'll be back about 2:00. Genie can just stay the night with us so you two can be alone. Tony misses her already." Jackie asked.

Tony spoke, "Please say yes, brother! She's never seen my house!"

The Doctor looked at Rose and nodded. Rose said, "Sure, Mum. Wow! Thank you!"

"Ah, what are Gran's for? Okay, see you tomorrow. Night!"

"That was really nice." Rose told him as he took the phone back from her and put it back in his pocket.

"Yeah, it was. Tomorrow being what it is. I hate I have so many meetings, but I'll try to be back as soon as I can." he told her.

"Tomorrow being what it is?" Rose asked him.

He looked surprised at her, "Really? You don't know?"

"No. As far as I know, it's Wednesday. What's the big deal about that?"

He laughed at her. "Really? Just Wednesday?"

"Yeah, just that. Why?"

He shook his head as he poured himself some more wine. "Oh, hell. I'm not going to tell you. You are just going to have to figure that out on your own."

Rose was very confused. "The hell? What happens tomorrow?"

He laughed and said, "Well, I figure I'll go to my meeting with J.K. Rowling, then to Torchwood and meet with Pete and the architect. I might have to pop to Washington, I'm not sure yet."

She looked at him questionability.

He sat his empty glass on the table. "What?"

"You are such a slippery, old man. You really aren't going to tell me?" Rose complained.

He leaned in to kiss her again. "No, I'm not. It makes it so much easier for me to surprise you that way." he whispered to her.

She ran her hands back into his hair again, as he ran his hand back up her skirt. She could taste the wine on his tongue as they continued their snogging on the bench sofa. She started to lay back as he rubbed her bum under her dress.

'I've thought about this all day.' Rose told him.

'I need you so badly. I can feel your love. Your excitement. Your lust, Rose. Oh, I love you so much.'

She smiled under his kiss, 'Gosh, I bet you have missed your empathic senses haven't you? I don't know how you went so long without telling me they were gone. You must have been miserable.'

'Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.' he told her as he ran his hand down her curves under her dress.

'You always sound like you are quoting something. I love it.' she told him.

He smiled at her, 'Rose, I would have been miserable had it not been for you. You have helped me more than you can even know. You have saved me, you have returned me to who I am. I can never express to you how much I love you. How much I underestimated you, and how grateful I am for you. My life has been touched by the souls of some beautiful and amazing people. But, no one like you. No one close to you. You are the most precious everything, in my entire lives.'

Rose stopped kissing him. He raised up and looked in her eyes. "What?" he asked.

A tear rolled out of Rose's eye. "I just... still can't believe it. You were dying, and you felt like you couldn't tell me."

He put his hand on her cheek kissed her gently. "My darling. If you really think about this, you will understand why I couldn't. My only relief was you. If I had told you, I would have lost that."

He wiped her tear away.

Rose asked him quietly. "Are you really okay now, or you just telling me what I want to hear?"

He nodded his head as he looked away from her. "That's fair. I can see why you wouldn't trust me now when I say that. I understand."

He sat back up and lay his arm on the back of the bench sofa they sat on. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Rose sat up, getting as close to him as she could. She lay her hands on his thigh. He tucked her hair behind her ear as he looked into her eyes. They were quiet for a moment as they looked at one another.

He finally spoke. "Go ahead. Ask me. I know what you are going to say. I won't be mad. Nothing you can say will make me angry. I promise."

She starred at him and whispered. "How can I know you won't leave me? How can I ever trust you?"

He caressed her cheek with his hand. "Yeah, that's fair. I'd agree that you should feel that way. I deserve that."

"You said that if you had known it was so bad here, you would have never had left me. Would you tried harder to come get me had you known?" Rose whispered to him.

She could feel his heartbreak. "Of course. But, you know how impossible it was."

"For you, though! I'm a mere stupid ape! You are the Doctor! Time Lord with a big ole brain! You should have been able to -"

He grabbed both of her hands and lay his forehead on hers. "Shhh... no, Rose! You are not a stupid ape. Ugh, I should probably stop calling humans that. I'm sorry if that has ever made you feel in some way, less. Rose, you are so brilliant. You are simply amazing. I'm not perfect. I'm sure you know that. How many times have I got it wrong? You remember Mickey even pointed out that I never have a plan, I just make it up as I go. I've done that for centuries. Granted, I do it brilliantly."

"Time Lords stopped jumping between the dimensions long ago. And look, you figured out how to do it. You came and found me. Rose, I can't even work out how you did some of those things. I honestly can't. It's stuff that even a Time Lord wouldn't be capable of. It makes me crazy that you can't see it. You have no idea how important you are. How unbelievably, incredible you really are."

He continued, "Right now. Right in this moment. I'm the luckiest man in the entire universe. I really am. I have you. I have Genie. I have hope. I'm not sick. It makes everything. Everything, I've had to endure in all of my lives worth it just to be here with you. Every single thing."

Rose rubbed his thigh. He grabbed her hand and held it.

Rose asked him, "How did I never know? That entire time? I was in your head. I could feel your emotions. How?"

He smiled at her. "Sweetheart. You are still a very young, telepath. I've done this for a very, very long time. I put all of that in my head and hid it away. I couldn't let you see that. There are secrets I can never let you know. I put it with them. But, the thing that scared me the most is that you already knew. If you really think about it, you knew the entire time."

Rose thought back. She had suspected something was wrong since the day they were left on the beach. First when he grabbed his head and screamed, the absentmindedness, the sleepless nights, when he would just disappear to go off on his own to "think". Looking back at everything, it started to seem oblivious. Hadn't she nearly begged him to tell her what was wrong so many times?

She looked up at him. He raised his eyebrows as if to make his point. "Weird, huh? I get it, it's strange. That's for sure." he poured himself another glass of wine. He had nearly emptied the entire bottle on his own.

Rose looked down. "I'm sorry. You had this big night planned, and -"

He held her hand tightly, "No. Not at all. You need me for this right now. I'm here. Don't worry about that. If you need to talk about anything, I'm always here for you."

She smiled. "There is one other thing."

"Oh, gods. I hate to think. Let me get another bottle. This is turning into a two bottle talk for sure." he said as he got up and walked over the wet bar.

"Those bottles are probably ridiculously expensive!" Rose told him as he opened another one.

He walked back over to the bench sofa and laughed under his breath. "Ah, I have the money. I don't care about that."

He sat back down next to her and poured himself another glass. As he drained it, he made a face that made Rose laugh. "Ew. That one isn't as good as the first one."

He looked back at her, "Okay, what's the other thing?"

She smiled as looked at him. "Genie."

He sighed. "Ugh. I'm spending too much time with her?"

"No. Not that-"

"I'm spoiling her." he suggested.

"No. Not at all-"

"You don't want me to use my sleeping trick on her. I'll remind you of that in a few weeks." he told her as he rubbed his face and poured himself some more wine.

"No! You plum! I'm trying to compliment you and you won't let me!" Rose demanded.

He looked surprised back at her. "Really?"

She smiled at him. "Yes! You idiot. I makes me smile to see how happy she is in the middle of this entire situation. I know it's completely because of you. She loves you already more than you could imagine. Yesterday, she was so worried about you. The other kids were, too...but nothing like she was. She lay in the bed with you most of the day, just watching you sleep."

He rubbed his head, "Yeah, Pete mentioned that. I think I probably scared her because I was coughing and in a coma-like state. I probably need to talk to her about that."

"But that you even think you need to talk to her about it is so sweet. Is this what a father is supposed to be like? Cause I never had one. I always thought they were just a male version of my mum! Telling me what I couldn't do."

He rubbed his beard. "Life on the slow path is really anything but that, when children are concerned. Someday, very soon, Genie will be grown up and gone. It happens so very fast. Like a flash of lighting. I don't want to miss anything. Tony has already decided he's too big for me to rock him to sleep at night now. That happened so fast. With children, Rose, you have to savor every moment. Especially these children. Human life is over so quickly."

Rose looked serious at him, "I haven't thought about that."

He took a deep breath and looked back at her. "I want to do a better job this time around than I feel like I did before. I don't know. I'm just trying to do what I wish someone had done for me. Many years ago. She reminds me so much of myself. When I was a boy, I was extremely lonely. I know she was alone, and probably will feel alone for a long time. She's lost her family. I've lost even worse. The years went on, and even as I found friends and companions, but I was always lonely. I believe it's because I grew up like that. It just became part of who I was. I think if someone had helped me then, it would have made a difference. She's not even really cried or been upset about this. She's trying to be so strong. And she is! But, she needs to know she has someone she can talk to when the reality hits her."

Rose leaned in and kissed him. "I love who you are. I think it made you an amazing person. Everyone is a bit broken. It's what makes us what we are."

He smiled and chuckled. "That's very true. They aren't scars, they are polish marks. I'm a gem!"

She laughed at him, "You are my gem. And I love you more than anyone ever could."

She leaned into to kiss him. He put his hands back on her face as she ran her hands through his hair.

'Oh, man. My hair is having a party tonight!' he teased.

Rose smiled under his kiss. 'It really looks like it! Do you want me to stop?'

He leaned back and looked her in the eyes. "No. I love that. It makes me tingle all over."

They both laughed at one another.

"Can you take off your watch?" Rose asked him.

"My watch? Why?"

"It keeps pulling my hair." Rose told him.

"Oh! Sorry about that. I hadn't noticed! So, sorry." he slipped it off and put it in his jeans pocket.

He stood up and looked at the screen. They still had over three hours until they were in London. He ran his hands through his hair and realizing something, he snapped his fingers. "Got it! I know what we need! Room service!"

"Room service?" Rose asked him.

"Yes! We'll start celebrating early. Well, not really. It's already tomorrow in London."

"What are we celebrating?" Rose asked him.

He smiled like a loon as he rocked on his feet. "Not telling you. Oh, this will be fun!"

"But, it's a big deal? Right?" Rose asked him.

"Oh yes! A really big deal! I can't believe you haven't figured it out, yet!" he reasoned.

"Fine, keep your secrets, old man. I'll play along. When room service delivers whatever booze you are getting, I'll be in the cupboard with our bed."

"A cupboard! That's exactly what that is like! Yes! I've been trying to find that word all night!" he exclaimed as he rang Room Service.

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