A/N: Ok, so Im sorry that this has taken so long to update, its been such a big bleughh the past couple of months and I havent got round to updating... but here's another chapter Loll. Thanks to all of you who have reviewed and favourited this story, especially for sticking with me even though Ive taken agesss to update. Thanks as always to MeVsRiverSong... I am always in your debt when it comes to story writing :P :).x
Disclaimer: As always Doctor Who and Ashes To Ashes belongs to the BBC :)
The Doctor looked at the scene surrounding him. It was all deadly quiet. Apart from, of course, the tears he could hear from the young girl cradled in Donna's arms. Her true maternal instinct was coming out and he could see Donna was beginning to cry too; huge fat tears that seemed to be the accumulated eye-water from all the times she'd resisted crying. The girl lying dead on the floor-Nina, he heard the other girl say- was barely older than seventeen. She was so young and so innocent- why would someone want to kill her? A worry caught the Doctor- this could have been Rose. He felt his expression harden. If it had been, he would never have forgiven himself or the person who'd done it; especially if the last words he said to her was "just what, Rose?". It wasn't the words that he said, more the fashion in which he'd said them… he was so full of anger towards her when he didn't mean to be. Then she had run out of his life and hadn't so much as looked back towards him.
Oh god, he hoped she was safe, hoped she found shelter somewhere just while they cooled off. After all, it wasn't like she could go home anyway. They were meant to be forever … he had promised her…
"Cheston Road, in an alleyway. There's a young girl, she's about seventeen and her name's Nina." He spoke in a monotone that absolutely refused to betray his feelings as he gave the officer on the other end of the phone the necessary information.
"Any other witnesses?"
"Another girl- her best friend, Lucy. She's hysterical. You need to come now."
"Okay, sir. We're sending the DCI."
The Doctor hung up the phone and walked back over to Donna, his aged eyes filled with worry as he saw her still cradling the other girl; Donna looked over to him and nodded as the tears ran down her cheeks. Her brown eyes glistened with tears- she felt emotionally for the poor girl. It was hard enough losing anybody, never mind your best friend.
***
Rose had fallen asleep as soon as her head had hit the pillow. The covers now covered her blonde hair almost to her roots, and she had fell into a beautiful dream where everything was right between her and the Doctor. In amidst all the blurry half-images that she wouldn't remember later, he was knocking on her door-
Wait. That wasn't a dream; there really was someone at Alex's door.
Rose awoke with a start and looked at the time on the nearby clock. Twelve am. Who was knocking on Alex's door at twelve in the morning? She got up and went to answer the door; peering suspiciously through the spy hole, Rose recognised Gene.
She opened the door and Gene strode in.
"Hi, Rose. Where's Alex?"
"She's in bed." Rose stifled a yawn. "I'll go and get her."
Rose walked to Alex's bedroom and woke her up with an unceremonious shove. "Alex, Gene's here. And he needs to speak to you, I think."
"Ok, I'm coming."
Alex staggered blearily out of her bedroom in her red satin pyjamas ("that accent curves in all the right places" the tag and its jaw-dropping price had proclaimed) She walked into her living room and saw Gene standing there. His face froze in shock as he took in her silky attire.
"I'm liking the pyjamas, Bols- you can wear them to work any day." Gene said appreciatively. .
Rose laughed and Alex turned to her, flashing her a sly smile.
"Is there a reason why you're here, Gene?"
"Murder, Bols. Cold-blooded murder." He said matter–of–factly.
Alex rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Why is it always when I'm asleep?" She stated quietly, but her groan was replaced by a look of seriousness. "I'll go and get dressed." Alex stated to Gene. "Rose, do you want to come with?"
"Are you sure?" Rose asked doubtfully.
"Yeah, you can get dressed in the bathroom."
"Thanks."
"Gene, we'll meet you in the Quattro." Alex flicked her hair dismissively at him, and he grinned.
"Ok, Bols, just don't take forever … like you always do."
With that Gene left the flat- hindered only by a flying missile in the form of a satin cushion thrown by Alex- and walked back to the car. He radio-ed into base and said, "Heading down to the crime scene as soon as DI Drake gets her bony arse out of her flat."
"Ok, Guv" Came the reply from a tinny-voiced Vince.
After 20 minutes Rose and Alex came bounding down the stairs and got into the Quattro.
"Right Bolly, now you're finally here, we can go and see this murder."
"Unless you can't read the time, Gene," Alex retorted over her shoulder. "We took twenty minutes, not four hours, and I rather think we should get to the crime scene now, because I actually want to go back to bed. Some of us need our beauty sleep, Gene."
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that." Gene said as fired up the Quattro, letting a smile escape from the side of his mouth.
***
The police got to the Doctor and Donna about thirty minutes after he had called them. They asked them to come away from the scene of the crime, and took them to the side to ask them typical cop-questions.
Lucy was still being cradled by Donna as the police asked her for her name, age and why they were there in the first place.
"Ok, Miss…" The young police officer raised a questioning eyebrow at Donna, prompting her to answer.
"Noble. Donna Noble. And this is the Doctor." She said tilting her head to the Doctor.
"Miss Noble, we need you to wait for the DCI so you can both talk to him. He'll be here soon."
"Ok, what about Lucy?" Donna glanced over her shoulder towards the girl.
"She can stay with you for the time being. The DCI will want to speak to her too."
The young police officer walked away as Donna turned to the Doctor.
"Good call bringing us here, spaceman,' she said, poking him on the shoulder in her usual brass way and adopting a deeper pitch in an uncanny mock of the Doctor's voice. " 'Oh, I know- let's have fun and go to the 80s, we'll lose Rose and we'll get caught up in a murder INVESTIGATION!'" she all but shouted the last word at him. He blinked owlishly at her.
"Donnaaaa …" He wheedled. "It's not like I planned this. But whilst we're here we may as well help them with their inquiries."
"You mean we haveto help them with their inquiries." She said snidely, rolling her eyes.
"Come on, Donna, there's not many people who can say that they helped solve a murder in the eighties."
Just as Donna was about to retort, a red Quattro pulled up nearby. The tires squealed as the car did a full 360 degree skid, splashing water across the cobbles. Out stepped out the same man Donna had seen before- tall, with a sense of control that was more than obvious as he walked over to the police officers opposite Donna and the Doctor.
Two women stepped out of the car; one with curly brown hair and a fringe whom Donna recognised from just before Rose had ran away, the other had blonde hair and Donna could have sworn … yes it was … it was …
"Rose!" Donna shouted as Rose stepped out of the car. The blonde blinked in surprise and then smiled as she recognised Donna's voice through the air. Running over, Rose pulled her into a hug as Donna let go of Lucy. The brown haired woman followed the man and smiled at Rose and then at the Doctor as she made her way to stand next to Gene and talk to the uniformed police officers.
"So what do we have, Craig?"
"Young girl murdered, found by her friend, Lucy. She screamed and the brown haired man- calls himself the Doctor- ran with the red haired woman-called Donna Noble-to see what was going on. Miss Noble pulled Lucy- um…' Craig checked his notebook for the name 'Wright, Lucy Wright- away, and the Doctor noticed that the young girl was dead. He called us and reported the murder."
"Any other witnesses?" Alex asked Craig.
"Just the other girl Lucy ma'am. She didn't really see who did it, though. She just saw her friend lying in a pool of blood."
"Identification?" Alex questioned as Gene lit up a cigarette
"None, but Lucy said her friends name is Nina Clarke and they're both seventeen years of age."
"Ok, thanks Craig."
"Ma'am, Guv." Craig nodded at Alex and Gene before backing away slowly.
"Craig." He turned back towards them inquiringly.
"…Guv?"
"Where are Chris and Ray?"
"Haven't turned up yet." The man shrugged.
"Right … Radio now …' Craig handed over his radio to a demanding DCI and waited patiently as his boss dialled a number. "Vince. Are you there?"
"Yes, guv?" Vince questioned.
"Tell Chris and Ray to get their lazy arses out of their pits and get down here or I'm going to come there myself, tear off their balls and feed them to a bull dog!" Gene shouted down the radio.
"Yes, Guv. Out." Vince stated down the radio.
"Now, Bols, witnesses?"
"Over there." Alex pointed to Donna and the Doctor.
"Ok then, come on, Bolls, I want to get some sleep before we have to go back into the office." Gene said as he walked to talk to the man and woman opposite.
"You know you wrecked such a glorious dream I was having…" Alex stated as she walked beside him.
"The same one with me and you together?" Gene asked seductively
"In your dreams…"
"Always, Bolly … always."
Alex smiled to herself about the man beside her; in truth she had dreamt about him last night and every night since she had first met him. Everything about him epitomised all that she hated within society and yet they were all the reasons why she found herself falling deeper and deeper into -dare she say it- …love? Not that she would ever act on it; she never could. After all, she needed to get home back to Molly. She couldn't start a relationship with Gene and then have to end it because she found a way home; she could never do that to Gene. Never. She cares way too much, that's her problem.
***
"Rose, I'm so glad to see you." Donna said as she hugged Rose tightly.
"Yeah, me too." Rose said back and smiling to herself as she squeezed Donna.
They pulled away and laughed at each other; they hadn't been separated for that long, but Rose did regret running away. Although, it was the best thing at the time.
The Doctor just stood opposite them as Lucy sat beside him, slowly calming herself down. He just stared at Rose, speechless- not knowing what he should stay. When they first travelled together he would run up to her and pick her up without thinking anything of it. But this time it didn't seem to be enough.
"So… were you two ok without me?" Rose asked, looking over at the Doctor.
Donna noticed that her eyes weren't really on Donna and that she wasn't the one with whom she wanted to speak. She smiled tenderly at her friend.
"Go on … I know you want to talk to him."
"No, I'm fine. Really." Rose stated hastily as she started shuffling her feet like a teenager.
"Rose… just go." Donna ordered with a smile.
Rose smiled straight back at her and walked towards the Doctor. He was shuffling uncomfortably-a mirror image of what she herself had done not a minute ago- as she came up to him.
"Hey…" Rose said quietly on reaching him.
"Hi, Rose," The Doctor coughed awkwardly. "Listen. I…" The Doctor began nervously just as Gene interrupted their conversation.
"Hi, DCI Hunt. And this is DI Drake…' Gene noticed Rose was standing there, and glanced at her, surprised. 'Rose? What are you… doing here?'
"I know him…" She replied quietly.
"Is this the guy you were running from?"
"Running from?!" The Doctor repeated, looking offended.
"Thanks for that, Gene." Rose sighed. 'We'll talk about it later, Doctor."
"Anyway … what did you see?" Gene interrupted, turning his gaze at the Doctor.
"Nothing … I heard a scream- me and Donna ran down the alleyway and found Lucy here crying over the body of her friend. I called the police and waited for you to come."
"Right…' Gene bent down to talk to Lucy, who stared up at him from blank, teary eyes. "I'm DCI Hunt. Lucy, can you answer some questions?"
She nodded numbly at the DCI, but Alex stepped in before she could utter a sound. "Guv, maybe we should leave this until tomorrow?" She said tersely. "Let her get some sleep before we question her." Gene nodded at her once, and Alex bent down to talk to Lucy.
"Lucy, I'm DI Drake," She smiled soothingly at the girl. "Can you pop down to the station tomorrow, and we'll talk about this? Just ask for DI Drake at the desk."
She nodded and started to get to her feet- Alex placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back down again. "No, that's ok. Stay there- we'll take you home. Won't we, Guv?"
"Of course."
Just as Gene answered, another car rolled up in the street and out stepped Ray and Chris. On seeing them, Gene stormed over to their car, uncharacteristic fury on his face.
"Where the hell have you two been?" He screamed, and the two flinched under the heat of his gaze. "We've got a murder case, and you don't get here in time! Get back to the station now and start the paper work. Don't even think about going back to sleep. You got the call when I got the call … you should have been here before me! You'd better hope my patience lasts or I am gonna rip off your balls and feed them to a bulldog! Got it?" He virtually shouted the last part of the sentence.
"Yes, Guv." Ray and Chris replied in unison like reprimanded children.
"Right," Gene clamed slightly. "Lucy Wright over there is the reason we're here when we should all be in bed. Her friend was murdered tonight, and she was the one who found her. Take her home and then go back to the station and for the love of God, do what I tell you."
"Guv." Ray and Chris nodded simultaneously; their heads bowed low like meek teenagers.
Gene walked back over to Alex, the Doctor and Rose, who were now joined by a red headed woman. Donna, Gene recalled. Name was Donna Noble.
"Lucy, this is DC Skelton and DS Carling." HE said gruffly. "They're going to take you home and bring you to the station tomorrow."
"Come on, love." Ray said, holding out his hand. The shaking girl took it and walked with Ray and Chris over to the blue Rover.
Gene turned to face Alex, and smiled as he rubbed his hands together.
"Let's go then, Bolls,' He turned to Rose. "We'll see you at three tomorrow down at the station. Are you okay now, Rose?"
"Yeah thanks, Mr Hunt."
"Guv, why don't you go and tell Craig what's going on," Alex piped up. "And I'll meet you back at the car?"
"You want to talk to Rose, don't you?' Alex nodded almost sheepishly. Gene grunted. 'You bloody women always needing to talk…I want to go back to bed, Alex." He turned on his heel and walked back over to the uniform police officers.
"Rose, can I talk to you?"
"Sure." Rose left the Doctor, and walked with Alex to talk in private.
"Are you going to be ok?" Rose smiled, grateful that the other woman cared enough to ask.
"Yeah, I'll go with the Doctor and we'll talk. But thanks- for everything. Tonight and yesterday. Me and him are just going through a rough patch, that's all … he's not used to being domestic." Rose said, laughing.
"Ok …" From the bemused look on her face, Alex clearly didn't understand what Rose meant, but she let it pass unelaborated. "But come and find me if you need to, 'kay?"
"I will…" Rose hugged Alex tightly and smile; if she wasn't mistaken, she'd made a new friend.
Alex and Rose walked back arm in arm over to the Doctor, laughing quietly.
"Bolls!" Gene called from the car, becoming impatient-as always. Alex shot Rose a rueful look.
"I'd better go; he's getting a bit arsey, as per usual. Needs his bed rest, does Guv." She said, smiling as she walked over to Gene and the Quattro.
"What, you're not going with her?" The Doctor asked Rose, with a hint of jealousy colouring his tone. Rose blinked.
"Do… do you want me to?" She asked, unsure.
"No. I want you to come back with me." He said honestly. He grinned cheekily but he was staring intently into Rose's eyes.
"Well, there we go then." Donna stated, interrupting as always. "Let's go, shall we?"
The Doctor held out his hand, which Rose took; Donna smiled at the two of them. It faded slightly as she noticed that from behind Rose's brown eyes that there was something that the blonde was unsure of.
***
Gene drove Alex back to her flat and walked her up to the door-like a perfect gentleman, she thought- just to be sure she was safe. She looked back at the man in front of her; his rough edges made her smile so much so that she invited him in to her flat.
She took off her jacket and draped it over the end of the sofa. She walked purposefully to the kitchen, pulled out some wine from the fridge and got two wine glasses out of the cupboard. Returning to the living room, Alex handed Gene the bottle of rosé and the glasses. Silently, he poured them a glass each as Alex curled up on the sofa next to him. They talked through the night about nothing, really; something older than instinct told her that she needed to be with him. Just… in the same room, soaking up his company like a dehydrated fish. Nothing had to happen, but she couldn't be without him. Not now, right this second.
He lay back on the sofa and Alex followed him; leaning in and pressing her lips softly to his. She felt him kissing back, and felt a rush wash through her, as though something in her head was telling her this was meantto happen. She had to do it and choice wasn't even an option. Hormones weren't that easy to fight. No matter what age you are, hormones will always get the better of you. Alex knew that, but it was only now that she was realising what the words meant.
"Sorry, Bolly." He said guiltily, as she pulled back.
"Don't be." She whispered as she leant back in to continue kissing him.
Finally.
***
Rose, the Doctor and Donna got back to the TARDIS quicker than they had expected. Donna was ready to call it a night; pausing only to hug the two of them tightly, she made her way to her bedroom faster than a speeding teenager on a motorway. Closing the door behind her, Donna collapsed onto her welcoming bed.
"Rose, I'm so glad you're back." The Doctor said, taking Rose into his arms.
"Me too…' she said smiling. However, the smile didn't reach her eyes; the Doctor noticed this.
"Rose, what's wrong?"
"Nothing…" Rose squirmed under his gaze.
"Rose…" He said raising his eyebrows at her, not fooled for a second.
"I think we need to talk,' Rose said with sadness behind her eyes, she pulled him out of the control room and into the Doctor's bedroom.
She had been on the receiving end of a 'we need to talk' conversation but never thought that she'd be the one giving it.
"Rose … what's wrong?" he repeated. Rose pushed him down onto the bed and sat opposite him taking his hands into hers.
"It's just…" Rose played with the Doctor's hands absent-mindedly whiles she searched for the right words that refused to come. "…sometimes, I'm still not sure what our relationship is. I mean, the way you got so jealous when I had eye contact with Chris really hurt me because …"
"Because, what?"
"I'll only ever have eyes … for … for you." She said, as tears filled up her eyes.
The Doctor pulled his hand up to Rose's face and wiped away the tears that were falling; his eyes were filling up too. That hadn't happened for a long time, and when he had cried, it had been for Rose.
"I tried to tell you before, Rose … I'm so sorry. When you ran away… I didn't think you were going to come back. I didn't chase after you because Donna said you needed time to cool off. And she was right."
"I'd always come back, Doctor … I could never leave you." She said, smiling wetly.
"And then,' He said, swallowing thickly as the tears began to fall even more. "When I saw that dead girl, I realised it could have been you- and for the last words that I said to you being an argument… I'd never have forgiven myself."
He smiled at her and stared right in her eyes; pulling her into an embrace, the Doctor knew that this conversation had come to a close. He fell back onto his bed feeling so tired now, Rose lay with her head on his chest, smiling secretively, and before they knew it they were both asleep.
So, I loved the reunion between Rose and the Doctor.. I mean obviously I would because I wrote it, but I just think its like really sweet lol; so yeah, thanks to MeVsRiverSong :)
Hope you enjoyed this chapter... because Im glad you all finally got to read it!
Reviews, as always, are very welcome :)
Lyl.x