The Doctor was breathing heavily, Rose was pleased to see, his face slightly flushed from exertion. He looked up and caught her watching, then leaned down to kiss her.

He pulled back, still supporting his weight on his elbows, and smiled at Rose. She smiled back, knowing that they must look completely daft, laying here grinning at each other.

"I'm so glad I met you," he murmured. Her smile widened in recognition of what he'd said. "I'm so glad you came back," he continued, dropping a kiss to her forehead before rolling off her, landing heavily on the mattress beside her. She turned onto her side so she was facing him.

He raised a hand to her face, brushing a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. He still looked sad, she thought. He hadn't looked like this before. Not often. Not when he knew she was looking, at any rate.

"I missed you," she whispered, her voice slightly hoarse.

He nodded. "I thought you'd be-"

"Having a fantastic life?" she asked.

He nodded again. "I think it was you," he said softly, apparently apropos of nothing in particular. She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. "On Satellite 5, I think you brought yourself back here. Or created the way back."

"That's what you're thinking about?" she asked, teasingly.

He smirked. "It's not all I'm thinking about." When she continued her pretence of being offended, he went on, "I was just… you know… enjoying the moment," she ducked her head, grinning, "and I started thinking about how this was happening which led me to how you got here and why and… it was a very small part of my enormous Time Lord brain thinking about all that, anyway."

"But, Satellite 5 was years ago," she said.

"You said you could see everything," he reminded her. "For a very short space of time, you were everywhere, everywhen. Omnipotent." He ran a hand through his hair, turning onto his back. "This would be so much easier to explain in my own language. We had all the proper tenses for a life lived in four plus dimensions, you know." He lapsed into silence, looking up at the ceiling as though it could help.

She pressed herself against his side, running a hand up his body to settle on his chest. "I understand," she said quietly.

He looked down at her, quirking an eyebrow, "Yeah?"

She smiled. "Yeah. Just wish I could have brought myself back sooner, is all. Or not gone at all, really."

"Me too," he said softly.

She yawned. "Sorry, m'tired."

"Lift up," he ordered. When she complied he pushed the quilt down until he could pull it up over them. Then he turned her so she was facing away from him and pulled her back against his front.

She sighed and snuggled back against him.

"You keep that up and you're not getting any sleep, Miss Tyler," he growled into her ear.

She giggled and did it again, spoiling the effect only slightly by yawning again.

"Sleep," he murmured against the back of her neck. "Plenty of time for that later."

"Will you be here when I wake up?" she asked sleepily.

"Ah… probably not," he admitted. "Have to go and work on the TARDIS. Should probably check on Martha and Jack, too."

"Ok," she said.

"I'll try," he said, unwilling to have her wake up alone.

"Doctor, really, it's ok. I'll come and find you."

He kissed the back of her neck, sensing she was already half asleep. "You always do."

He lay in silence for a few moments, unconsciously counting her heartbeats under his palm. Then something occurred to him. "Rose," he whispered into the darkness, hating himself for waking her.

Her response was, as expected, sleepy. "Mm?"

"You knew he wasn't me," he said.

"Yeah."

"But you knew he was a Time Lord," he let the half-question hang in the air, knowing she'd catch it.

"Mm," she said, nodding slightly.

He took a deep breath. "How?"

"I've got a wrist computer. Told me he had two hearts. You're the only one I know with two hearts. You're a Time Lord."

He was impressed at this much speech from her, then ashamed that he'd woken her enough to allow it. "Lots of species have a binary cardiovascular system, Rose."

"He had the TARDIS..." she pointed out. He got the distinct impression that he was amusing her.

He blamed the sulkiness of his next sentence on the feeling of being laughed at. "I s'pose. Still doesn't explain how you know he wasn't me though."

"I'd know you anywhere," she murmured, sounding sleepy once again.

"Rose-" he began.

She cut him off. "I mean it, Doctor. I get this... Feeling. Just here." She covered his hand where it rested on her sternum. "Like something's pulling."

He was silent, considering this. He knew the feeling she meant. It was the same feeling that catapulted him towards her so often. That made him draw her into his arms. The feeling that only seemed to be assuaged by confirming her presence through physical contact.

She was speaking again. "Didn't get it when I saw him, so I knew he wasn't you. Any version of you. S'that all right?" He nodded. "Can I sleep now?"

He immediately felt guilty and tried to cover it by teasing her. "Yes. Yes. Course. Sorry. Poor little human."

"Shut up. If you start on about your superior biology I might not let you demonstrate it again."

And now he was blushing in the dark, he knew, a daft grin plastered across his face.

Apparently using the eyes in the back of her head to watch him, Rose said. "Stop smiling, I'm serious."

"Sorry." He leaned forwards, dropping a kiss to the back of her neck.

"Mm," she said, sounding uncertain about his apology. Then, "S'nice." Presumably in reference to the kiss.

He climbed out of the bed and dressed quietly. As he reached for the door handle, he heard Rose call to him again. "Yes?"

"Did he always hear them?" she sounded as though she was asleep, he mused. Properly asleep, this time.

"Who?" he asked anyway.

"Koschei."

He froze, staring at her for a moment, but her eyes were closed. "Who?" he asked again, certain he'd misheard.

"The Master, did he always hear drums?"

"Where did you hear that name, Rose?" he insisted.

"He tol' me," she slurred.

He studied her a moment more, then said, "Yes. Yes he did. His whole life." When she didn't appear to be about to respond, he turned and left the room, his brain racing a mile a minute

It took him two hours to complete the repairs the TARDIS needed to be Earthbound for. He was aware that he wanted to back to Rose, but tamped down on the feeling, knowing that she needed sleep and wouldn't get it if he couldn't leave her alone. Instead, he made his way back into the ship, towards the galley and tea. And possibly some kind of snack. Sugary, if he had any say in the matter.

He paused outside the entrance to the galley, once again hearing voices inside. Martha and Jack, apparently discussing himself and Rose again. Despite knowing that eavesdroppers rarely heard good things of themselves, he leaned against the wall a moment, listening.

Jack was speaking. "Before she… got trapped, when we used to travel together, Rose was, well she was fantastic. Really got him and the entire running and the adventure and the absolute crazy mess. She would never have left him, not voluntarily."

"Jack," Martha cut in, sounding tired. "I've spent the last year with him going on about how brilliant she was – is - I don't need-"

"He can't help it, Martha," Jack said softly. "I never even saw this version of him when he was with Rose - not before today – but I can imagine what it was like. Even when we were at the end of the universe I could see it. It's written all over him."

"He loves her," Martha said, matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry," Jack said, sounding sympathetic.

"Don't be. It's good. I'm glad he's got her back. I'm glad she saved us. I like her." She paused, before continuing. "What was all that, with the Master?"

"No idea," Jack said honestly. The Doctor could picture him leaning back in his chair, exhaling loudly.

"Does Rose have special pheromones that attract Time Lords or something? Martha joked, laughing. Jack chuckled too, glad the mood was broken.

"Nope," the Doctor said, walking into the room and watching Martha jump out of the corner of his eye. Jack didn't even have the good grace to look embarrassed. "Thought about that myself but that's not it," he continued. "Hello."

"Hey," Jack said, lifting his coffee cup in greeting. "You could do with better coffee around here."

"Hi," Martha said, embarrassment that he'd heard her comment making her unable to meet his eyes.

The Doctor busied himself making tea and opening each of the kitchen cupboards in turn. Then turned and sat at the small table with them. "Personally," he mused, "I think he liked her because he wanted to study her time traces. To use them."

"Time traces?" Martha asked

"Yep. Everyone's got them, of course. Some," he indicated himself and Jack, who saluted, "are more complex than most. Yours, for instance, are more complex than, say, your sister's, because you're a time traveller."

"And Rose's are really complicated?" she asked, genuinely interested.

"No. Rose's are very simple. And weird."

Martha looked confused. "But you said mine were complex because I'm a time traveller..."

"And Rose travelled with me too, making her also a time traveller," he finished. "Exactly. S'why they're weird. Hers are bright, too. Very bright. Very strong. And very, very simple."

"And you never noticed this before?" Jack asked, sounding slightly worried about Rose.

The Doctor shifted slightly, dropping his gaze to his tea. "I… uh… can't see them very clearly. Her timeline's all tangled up with that Bad Wolf stuff which makes it hard for me to see. Plus, my own timeline seems to be..." he trailed off. "I'm surprised I can sense anything at all. You're supposed to be sleeping."

Martha looked puzzled for a moment, then glanced up and saw Rose walking into the kitchen.

"Couldn't sleep," she said. "Thought I'd come and have something to eat. Didn't realise there was a meeting going on." She flashed Jack a smile before turning to the cupboards.

"There aren't any biscuits," the Doctor warned. "I checked."

Rose turned and raised an eyebrow at him. Then she opened a cupboard, extracting a tin and putting it on the table. The Doctor opened it to reveal biscuits of several varieties. He glared at them.

"The TARDIS hides them from him," Rose told Martha in a confidential tone. "Hides all sugary stuff actually."

The Doctor looked put out. "I'm a Time Lord, not some sticky human child. Sugar doesn't effect me like that."

"Best not to take the risk, I reckon," Martha said, stifling a laugh as she watched Rose swipe the biscuit tin from the Doctor and replace it with – "Is that marmalade?"

The Doctor smiled and stuck his fingers in the jar and extracted them, sticking them both in his mouth.