"No. Absolutely not. I am not doing that."

"Why not? You were more than happy to do it the first time."

"I don't do re-dos. It violates two, no three...it breaks nearly the entire canon of time traveling rules."

"Right. So you'll break the laws of time for a quick dance and a snog, but doing it to fix a paradox is out of the question?"

"Rose..."

"Look, if it helps, don't think of it as a re-do. There's no need to do the exact same thing as before. Just plant the seed so that I'll close the loop and come back here. Go get her and make her suspect that you're you. Any which way you please."

"I'm not entirely certain I know how I achieved that the first time."

"Doctor, you've been in my head. You know exactly how I figured it out."

"The thing about that is, at the time I was a bit distracted."

"Thinking I was some sort of maniacal clone come to destroy you."

"Yes."

"Doctor, believe me. You can do this. You are the king of hinting at things without saying them."

"Am I?"

...silence...

"Erm, right. So I am. Still, can't we just slip her a note or something?"

"I thought about that."

"And?"

"If I knew we were going to be separated, I'd fight it. It might change the timeline; make the paradox worse. What are you so afraid of anyway?"

"That I'll fail. That I'll... lose you again, Rose Tyler."

"You're the Doctor. She's Rose. You're not going to fail."

One, two, three...fourth door on the left. This must be it, thinks the Doctor, arriving at a wide door marked 'Cleaning Staff Only'.

His hearts are flip-flopping awkwardly. Usually a master of keeping his own metabolism in check, the consideration of what's at stake is proving too much for him as adrenaline floods his system. Calm down, he tells himself. You've faced far worse than this.

Reminding himself of this fact does little to soothe his jangled nerves. Planting his feet and taking a deep breath, he sonics the door open, and steels himself for what's behind it.

It's dark in the small room, and as the door swings, the hallway light floods the interior. A pair of eyes are staring back at him, squinting at his silhouette framed by the bright light, unsure whether he's friend or foe.

She's gotten herself into an awkward position: half bent over, back against the wall, apparently trying to saw through her ropes on a metal hinge. Her hair is tangled, and sweat drips down her forehead onto the gag that has been stuffed in her mouth.

At once, his senses are filled with the knowledge that this is younger Rose. And she's such a gorgeous combination of furious and scared and determined, all of his nervousness immediately vacates him.

He can't help himself. "Rose," he says straight-faced, "I've been looking all over for a broom. Have you seen one anywhere?"

He watches as her face crumples with relief. He came for her. She stumbles out, legs a bit unsure. Reaching down, he gently pulls the gag from her mouth.

For one horrible moment, she's coughing violently. But she stops as quickly as she starts, and throws herself against him in an armless hug."God, 'm so glad you're here. I thought I was going to have to stay in there all night."

Grinning at her, he selects the rope-cutting setting on his sonic and sets to freeing her from her restraints.

"Doctor," she says as he works, "What's happened? I thought the Saiphans were pleased with us." Her voice is shaky, laced with confusion and concern.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Probably just a little practical joke, that's all," he responds casually.

He can feel her tense a little. "A practical joke where three large Saiphan men gag me, tie me up and throw me in a closet for a few hours?"

"Well..." He draws out his 'l' to buy time. What is he supposed to say? That her future self paid a few burly men to stash her in order to preserve their future? Something tells him that won't go over well.

The sonic finally cuts free of the ropes and they drop harmlessly to the floor. Rose rubs at her wrists as she speaks."They didn't make any demands, or ask any questions. No one even came back to check on me. Something's not right here. There's something going on."

"Nahhh. It's just a little misunderstanding. I wouldn't worry. No harm done, right?"

In response, she holds up her wrists, which are rubbed raw from her restraints. "Well, other than that, I mean," the Doctor backpedals quickly. "Nothing a few seconds under the dermal regenerator won't cure."

Swiftly donning his glasses, he grabs one of her wrists and brings it near for closer inspection. Without thinking, he strokes his thumb gently across her rope burn.

She's eyeing him a bit. Hopefully enamored with his specs. "How'd you know I was here, anyway?" she asks suspiciously.

Not enamored then. He decides to be deeply engrossed by her hands, cursing himself at not having come prepared with an adequate cover story.

"Doctor. How did you know to look in this cupboard?" She's putting heavy emphasis on her consonants. She might just be annoyed with him.

"Told you, I was looking for a broom. Turns out I found something infinitely better." He peeks out over the rims of his glasses and gives her his most charming grin.

With one smooth motion, he releases her and pockets his glasses and screwdriver. "All better. Now, Rose Tyler, I would honored if you would accompany me to the Saiphan celebratory banquet. I hear they throw quite a party." He makes an offering of his hand, waggling his fingers just once to get the point across.

"A party?" She shakes her head in disbelief. "What is wrong with you? You find me tied up in a dark room and you don't seem to care about it. And now you want to go to a party?"

"Honestly Rose, when you've been tied up as often as I have, it really loses its negative associations. With some cultures, tying you up is just their way of saying hello."

"And Saipha is one of those places?

"Not as such, no. But like I said, you don't have a thing to worry about. It was all just a misunderstanding."

She seems to deliberate on this, and then sighs, resignedly. "Fine. Whatever you say. I'm going to bed."

In a panic, he swiftly blocks her path down the hallway with his body. "Wait. What? You don't want to come to the party with me? It's a party, Rose! You were so keen on it before. It'll be fun, I promise."

"No. I'm sore and exhausted. I need to sleep."

This was bad. About as bad as things could possibly get. All along, he'd planned on recreating the experience on the beach – dancing, a kiss, and beating a hasty retreat while leaving some personal affects behind. If Rose wouldn't come to the beach with him, he wasn't sure how he was going get her to realize who he was. He could feel the paradox growing dangerously close to breaking through the timeline.

"Maybe I'll come with you, then," he blurts out.

"What? To sleep?"

"Yeah." Looking up from the ground, hands in pockets, he meets her eyes and tries to pour every ounce of his longing for her into his expression. If she turns him down now, he won't get another chance at this.

"That all right?" he says softly.

Please say yes. Please say yes, he chants internally. She's staring right back, her eyes quiet and a bit curious, considering him.

"Yeah," she finally offers. "C'mon," she says. Together they begin the walk to their thatched hut.