Character/Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The BBC owns all, I am merely borrowing.
Spoilers: Through The Satan Pit.
Author's Notes:Desperate to save Rose from a body snatching spirit, the Doctor resorted to establishing a forbidden bond between them. Now, he's just as desperate to keep them apart. When they visit a starlight festival for a little fun, he might very well get his wish. The much requested sequel to The Moonlit Cotillion.

"This is absolutely unnecessary!" the Doctor complained as two hefty men hustled them down a hallway. "Wasted effort, really. All this strutting about? And in those lovely pink garments no less. You should be doing something important! Just let me take Rose back to my ship and then I'll pop back and sort this whole thing out. Hmmm? How about it?"

As reply, the Doctor found himself pushed into a dimly lit space. Stumbling, he turned just in time to catch Rose as she was propelled through the doorway after him. The door slammed shut and they were alone.

Rose shivered. The fabric of the Doctor's coat was soft against her fingertips and she rested her forehead against his chest, taking comfort in his proximity. The world was finally coming into sharper focus and she reveled in the tangibility of her surroundings. She wondered why she'd never noticed that he smelled like wool and marmalade and something interminably ancient. She leaned closer, burrowing into the opening of his suit jacket. Everything that had happened since she fainted felt as if it was part of a half remembered nightmare. She could almost pretend that she'd imagined that black creature leaning over her. Sound still echoed as though coming from a great distance, but she recognized the familiar lilt of the Doctor babbling and smiled.

"Oh, not again. Honestly, what is it with locking people in storage cupboards?" The Doctor twisted his head, taking in the shelves and stacked boxes. "First that impossible planet, then at the cotillion and now this. Maybe it's a new trend. Although, is it just me or is this one the smallest yet? Bit cramped, anyway. And pink. Why does it have to be pink? I mean, judging by the dust in here, we're the first visitors in a very very very long time." Feeling a tug at the lapel of his coat, he returned his attention to the woozy girl in his arms. "How do you feel?"

"Awful," she croaked.

"Just what I thought." Looping one arm around her waist, he buried his other hand in his coat pocket. "Hang on. Think I might have some paracetamol stashed somewhere. Should help that headache. You do have a headache, don't you?"

"Thought you were allergic," she mumbled.

He smiled at the coherency of her response. "I am. Deathly so, in fact. But I've had enough human companions around to find a need for it. Here." Handing her the dosage, he returned his hand to the pocket, rifling around until he located a water bottle.

Rose glanced skeptically at the rainbow label. "Says it's from 1972."

"Relatively speaking," he assured her. "It's fine, Rose, go ahead."

Her hands shook, but she managed to swallow the pills. The water soothed her parched throat and her senses immediately returned with startling clarity. It happened so quickly that she wondered whether the liquid in the bottle only appeared to be water.

"Better?" The Doctor was watching her intently, keen to see any improvement in her condition.

She nodded, eagerly taking another sip of the cool liquid.

"Good," he murmured with obvious relief. "Can you stand on your own? I want to have a look at that door."

"Yeah. Think so," she replied, even though she still felt unsteady on her feet. Escape was always a priority.

He carefully loosened his grip, making sure she was stable before stepping away. Leaning against one of the shelving units, she watched him inspect the door, marveling at the tightness of his trousers as he stretched. When he turned to face her, she jumped, terrified that he might notice the source of her distraction. Ducking her head to hide her blush, she asked, "Doctor, what're we gonna do?"

"Well, get out of this cupboard for one thing. Soon as you're able." Frowning, he ruffled his hair. "Deadlocked. Odd to have that sort of security on a cupboard, don't you think?"

"Suppose it depends on what's in the cupboard."

He paused, staring at her with a dumbfounded expression that usually meant she'd trumped his Time Lord logic. "Right," he said, nodding. "Question is, what's in here that's dangerous? Or secret? Or..." His eyes widened as he located something unexpected. "Avocado!"

"What?"

"Oh, brilliant! And green! Not pink at all. Lovely." Grinning, he tossed it up in the air and caught it. "Remember the Platynooms? We visited them a while back. Live in trees with purple leaves? Developed technology using something very similar to an avocado actually. I can rig up a dual wavelength transfer like they did. Short circuit that lock in no time."

Rose tried to remember the details of that particular trip. "Didn't that take 'em thousands of years?"

"Well, yeah. But they didn't have me, did they?" He reached into his inside coat pocket. "Shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Just need to locate..." His hand brushed against something warm and he pulled it out. "Ah. Lose something?" he asked, offering her the necklace.

"Oh!" Rose gasped. In her drugged stupor, she hadn't even noticed it was missing. Gingerly, she touched the chain where it lay in his palm. Warmth flowed between them in a rush and the Doctor quickly pulled his hand away, tangling it in his hair.

"Now, where did I put those zeus plugs?" he mumbled, searching through another pocket.

"Had 'em when we met Madame Pompa-whatsit," Rose pointed out, carefully putting on the necklace and adjusting it so it lay flat.

"Pompadour," he automatically corrected. "Right. Have to make do, I suppose." Almost his entire arm disappeared into the pocket as he contorted his body to reach. "Ha! Right at the bottom." He withdrew his hand and proudly showed her what he'd found.

"A paperclip?" she asked, unimpressed.

"And an eraser. Lot of dangerous potential in your everyday office supplies," he insisted. "Wait until the cubicle revolution of 3074." Pulling out his glasses, he set to work bending the paperclip into a different shape.

Rose tried to ignore the new emphasis on his gorgeous brown eyes, focusing instead on what she could remember from her ordeal. "Was I imagining things or was there a giant insect?"

"It was a Ambrrrddiaarht. Very docile creatures as a rule."

"Didn't look docile."

"Not from the position you were in, no. They produce that drug that's in everything here. Latakar." Concentrating, he pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth.

"Oh." Rose made an effort to study her nails. "What would have happened if you hadn't found me?"

"Ever see Alien?"

"Mum wouldn't let me, but Shareen stole her brother's copy an' we watched it in secret. I had nightmares for weeks an' I couldn't tell Mum why I looked like the walking dead. That scene, where the alien popped out of the guy an'..."

"Well..." the Doctor interrupted.

"Oh my god." Rose blanched, almost dropping the bottle. "You mean, it would've...I would've..."

"It wouldn't have been pretty," he agreed. "Hold this, would you?"

At his indication, she took the avocado, rolling it between her hands as she summoned enough courage for her next question. "That insect thing, it said, at least I think it said, something 'bout how you hadn't...um...well, claimed me or somethin'. An' I was wondering..."

Immediately, his hands stilled and his eyes flicked up to meet hers.

"What did it mean?"

"Exactly what you're thinking I suspect." Seemingly unaffected, he returned his attention to the task at hand. "How about a trip home next? Spend some quality time with your Mum. Go out. Have a night on the town. Maybe meet a bloke. Street corner, three a.m..."

"What?"

"Don't worry, I won't wait up." He held out his hand. "Avocado?"

Ignoring his request, she took a step forward, certain that she'd misunderstood. "Hang on. You...you want me to shag some other bloke?"

"Well, you're not going to shag me. Alien and all that. And I just remembered, it should cancel out the..." He lifted his chin to indicate the necklace. "One quick round and everything will be back to normal. Now, if you'll just hand me that avocado, we can..."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Don't want to what?" he snapped.

"Just...shag some random bloke."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Rose. It's a human imperative. To hook up. To mate. Perpetuate the species and all that." Impatient to escape this discussion as much as the cupboard, he reached forward and grabbed the avocado.

"What about Time Lords?"

"Oh, we're not remotely interested in that sort of thing," he insisted, fumbling with the screwdriver.

"Uh-huh."

He paused at the evident disbelief in her tone. "What?"

Sauntering across the short space that lay between them, she watched him from beneath lowered lids. "Don't think I haven't noticed you."

"What?" he spluttered, stepping back only to find he was trapped against the door.

"You've been looking," she purred, reaching for his tie.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he blurted, eyes dipping down to regard the firm grasp she now had on his tie. "Rose, we need to fix this."

"Seems to me, there's another way we could...fix it."

Her tongue peeked out at the edge of her lips and, as if magnetized, it drew him closer and closer and...

"That drug must be affecting your reasoning!" he shouted, firmly pressing the screwdriver against her temple. "Do you feel lightheaded at all? Any nausea? Fever?"

She swatted at his hand. "M'fine."

"Rose, you're obviously out of sorts."

"M'not out of sorts!"

"Oh, yes you are. Accelerated heart beat, all sorts of chemical reactions and don't get me started on your relative temperature." He shook his head. "You, Rose Tyler, are not well."

Exasperated, Rose tugged on his tie and snogged him for all she was worth. Surprised by her tactic, the Doctor dropped the avocado and the door flew open with a bang, hitting him in the back and forcing them apart. When he regained his balance, he found Rose watching him warily, almost as if she was afraid of what he might do next.

"Right," he managed, sounding breathless. "Thanks for...that."

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but her words were lost in the blaring alarm that echoed through the hallway.

The Doctor offered her his hand. "Um...run?"