"Well technically, no but we can try again. Emily, just hold that button in will you?"
"Which one?"
The Doctor pointed to a red one, what was it with him and red buttons, Emily wondered.
He went to sit next to Rose, taking her hand.
"I hope you two aren't gonna keep doing that all the time?" Emily asked. "Can I let go of this button yet?"
The Doctor had been telling jokes for the last ten minutes, very bad ones in Emily's opinion but Rose thought they were funny, joining in.
"What? Oh, yeah, you can let go now."
"How long since?" Emily huffed, her finger now sore.
"A couple of minutes, five, well at most seven."
"You forgot about it?"
"No, 'erm, I was recalibrating."
"Yeah, I bet you were. I'm off to my room if you two are gonna get all soppy on me."
Emily went off and the Doctor turned to Rose, closing his arm around her shoulder that had been on the back of the seat.
"I think she's mad at us for some reason," the Doctor grinned, kissing Rose's neck.
"Ya think? What was that for earlier, when you went off to rescue Reinette?"
"I didn't want you thinking I was going after her for any other reason than saving her from the droids."
"Well I don't have the exclusive on you."
"No, that's true but maybe we can remedy that?"
"With Emily still on board? Mind you, she'd not as mad with me as I thought she would be."
"Good, nothing worse than a jealous sister, eh?" he asked, nibbling on her ear.
The ear nibbling got more intense as he continued down her neck and moving her t-shirt, then her shoulder, sending Rose dizzy with the sensation he was actually capable of such human mating rituals.
"Mmm, this is all very nice but maybe not here, in the console room?"
"Rose, what are you suggesting?" he grinned.
"Well I've never seen your room yet."
"Then we must put that right. I put the Tardis on 'random via as slowly as possible'," he whispered, kissing her cheek. "Come with me then but quietly so your sister doesn't hear us walking past."
"So it's ok to leave the Tardis to go off on its own?"
"Well yes, she'll just drift around for a while, don't worry, it's perfectly safe. I used to do it all the time."
"Well I'll just have to trust you on that point then. Can I trust you on anything else?"
He pulled her up and held her close. "On no Rose, you definitely can't trust me on anything else."
Rose suppressed a giggle and silently they walked quickly to his room, which was still opposite Rose's door.
"That's my room," she whispered.
"Mmm, I think the ship is trying to tell us something but I have something I want to tell you."
"Can't wait."
Once inside, Rose looked around at the projection on the ceiling of gold stars and moons.
"Oh, that's beautiful."
"Yes, seems like the old girl likes the idea, of us."
"Is that important?" Rose asked as the Doctor took his jacket off and then his tie, throwing it on a chair.
"No, it's just she might try and avoid any interruptions, we don't want to be disturbed, do we now?"
"If you say so. I didn't think Timelords were, you know, interested in human women."
"Some weren't but who cares? I was never one to stick to the rules," he laughed, taking her hands that were now on his shoulders and steering them towards his shirt buttons.
Rose wasn't going to let it go to waste as she unbuttoned them one by one, the Doctor smiling at her. He had been thinking about this, why shouldn't he have some fun once in a while? So there might be consequences at some later time, he could deal with them if and when they happened, Rose was of age, single and very available since she'd made it clear she had already dumped Mickey the idiot.
He didn't normally pursue his companions but technically, Rose had just joined him so did it actually count? He normally lived by a set of rules that didn't include relaxing with a very stunning young human female, who made him feel like he was a young Timelord again. She already knew he could change again, at any time so there would be no surprises but she may leave him if he did but what of it? He was used to people leaving him and if he told her he couldn't stay with her for the rest of her life, she might take it the wrong way.
He thought he'd best not say anything then as she slid his shirt over his shoulders, after running her finger down his chest, stopping at his navel then reaching to pull the shirt ends out of his trousers, all the while licking her lips that looked so inviting. He couldn't resist any more and his own crashed into hers as he steered her towards the bed, which now had blue satin instead of what he could have sworn had been the normal sheets, the ship did indeed like the idea of them being together.
He pulled Rose's t-shirt over her head, revealing a black lacy low-cut bra then she took the hint and wriggled out of her jeans as he unfastened his shirt cuffs, grinning like the cat who had got the canary. They fell onto the bed, Rose giggling as she pushed him onto his back, him going for his trousers zipper and Rose moving so he could pull them down, revealing Tardis blue shorts.
Rose finished taking her jeans off after kicking her trainers off, which landed halfway across the floor as he toed his own off and his trousers slid to the floor. Rose crawled to the pillow as he let out a wicked laugh and he chased her, grabbing her waist, Rose shrieking and the Doctor shushing her and hoping the ship had made his room soundproof or that Emily wasn't at the other side of the door.
The Doctor pulled the sheets back as Rose went to ruffle his hair, still giggling.
"Doctor, are we gonna talk about this?"
"You want to talk about it?" he huffed, getting under the sheets, half on top of her and Rose hoping he was just like a human male, with all the right parts in the right place, so to speak. Now wouldn't be a good time to find out if he was totally different in the bedroom department but he wouldn't have started all this is he was 'different' would he?
"Fine, don't talk then," Rose giggled as he reached for her bra strap then flung the article over the headboard.
Rose reached around his back and he dove down to kiss where her bra had been, placing soft kisses on her delicate skin.
"Mmm, no time for talking now Rose Tyler. I can give you something, you know, just in case?"
"Nah, I'm covered thanks for asking. I may not go out with Mickey any longer but I'm sensible."
He bit into her and she nipped his rear, making him jump.
"Oh, we're playing rough are we?" he grinned, waggling his eyebrows.
"Shut up and get to the serious stuff."
"Your wish is my command."
Rose didn't quite know what had hit her as he coaxed her out of her last item of clothing, then with a yank, she pulled his shorts down at the back and he shuffled out of them, all the while remaining laid half on her. As she wrapped her legs around his, they both fell silent apart from Rose murmuring something he couldn't quite make out and he assumed he was perfectly fine with how human males 'coupled' with human females otherwise she would not be making contented noises.
With one last effort, well not that much of an effort, he could have carried on for hours without even breaking a sweat but he figured Rose was quite exhausted considering she seemed breathless and was scratching her nails into his back. He came away from her gently and placed a kiss on her tummy and moved over onto his back, Rose noticing he wasn't as out of breath as she was.
"Showoff."
"So, you were suitably impressed then?" he bragged as she rolled onto him.
"Yeah, are you always that impressive?" she giggled, kissing his chest as she clung to him.
He rubbed her back and kissed her neck. "You could say that but I hate to brag about it. What about you, are you ok?"
"Mmm, never felt better in my life, that was so good. How do you plan topping that performance then?" she giggled.
"You've seen nothing yet. I thought I'd best keep you fairly quiet, just in case your sister could hear us."
"She was probably listening at the door."
"Don't be so mean. She wouldn't, would she?"
"Well if she goes and tells my mum when we get back, we'll know the answer. That wasn't a one time only was it?"
"By no means Rose, if you want to continue another time?"
"Yeah, no objections from me, you'll be hard to beat. It's hardly fair on other men, I'll be comparing them with you."
The Doctor wrapped his arms around her this just felt right, like they belonged together but as he'd not so gently made love to her, a strange feeling had come over him that he couldn't explain, like when he'd convinced himself this was what he wanted that somehow, they were never meant to be like this. Fortunately, he'd taken his own advice and didn't listen to his reasoning and now Rose was laying contented in his arms, having brought her to the dizzy heights of balancing on the edge of a cliff and falling over the edge.
He could tell she was still giddy from the feelings he had given her, it had been a very long time since he'd been able to let go like that, he'd never really found anyone to replace his first love, lost in the time war and he had sworn he would never even try but then Rose had come along and he'd changed into someone worth loving back.
Had he consciously willed himself to change for the better? He'd never given Rose much thought before, when he'd been taking Emily back for home visits, well except for the error in judgement that time.
"Doctor, what are you thinking about?" Rose asked him, yawning.
"Nothing, have a rest love then we'll find somewhere to go eh?"
"Yeah. Are we gonna tell Emm?"
"I'd be more worried about your mother."
"Oh, yeah, she might be a bit mad at first but she'll get over it, as long as you don't keep me away for a whole year. The funny thing is though, that New Year's Eve Emily was missing, I had to drag mum out but on the way back, there was this bloke, in the shadows. I never saw his face but now I come to think about it, he sounded a bit like you."
"Really? How could it have been me? I hadn't even regenerated then."
"Yeah and didn't you say something to Emily about going back in someone's personal timeline?"
"Yes, Timelords have a strict rule about that."
"Yeah, what rule would that be?" she asked, reaching up to kiss him.
"Oh, that would be the timey-wimey one," he laughed, making her giggle again as he ran his fingers up her leg, the one not wrapped around his.
"Get some rest Rose, I'm not going anywhere."
"Not even to check where we are?"
"Well I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to make a very quick check."
"Go on, then you can come back and wake me up."
"I look forward to it. Where are my shorts?"
Pretending to peer down the bottom of the bed, he kissed her in several different places, making her squeal and tossing her knickers in her face, emerged with his blue shorts, Rose trying to grab them from him.
"Ah, ah, these are mine. Would you like some help putting your underwear on?"
"No thanks, I want it on now, not next week. You could take your time putting those on."
It was too late as he'd already started the process, sat on the edge of the bed.
"Next time eh love?"
Rose yawned again. "I'll hold you to that promise. See ya in a bit then?"
"You can count on it love," he called, picking up her trainers so he didn't fall over them and placing them by the bed.
He leaned over for one last kiss and left the bedroom, Rose sprawling out and smiling to herself. How had she managed to have sex with the most fantastic man in the universe? She just hoped it would last a while, Emily didn't seem that jealous, maybe the old Doctor had been more Emily's type but she couldn't understand why her sibling had not put up much of a fight.
When the Doctor emerged into the console room, Emily was waiting.
"So, you and Rose?"
"Your point?" he asked, flipping a few switches and checking the monitor.
"I'm not jealous, if that's what ya think? I should be but you're not my type."
"I'm glad to hear it, not that I'm not your type, that you're not jealous. I didn't mean for this to happen, it just did."
"You don't have to explain yourself to me but I'd watch out for my mum if I were you, she used to slap poor Mickey senseless if he kept Rose out late."
"Then I will be sure to heed your warning."
He took another glance at the readings, there was something he didn't like the look of and Emily noticed.
"What is it Doctor?"
"These readings, they are way off."
"Did you set the Tardis on a flight plan?"
"Not exactly, I just programmed her to drift around for a while but these stars, they're in the wrong place."
Emily went to look, not that she could understand the symmetrical writing of a Timelord.
He left the monitor and busied himself looking at dials after putting his glasses on, Emily wondering why he'd never worn them before he'd changed.
"That button you were holding in, did it try to resist you?" he asked her.
"Yeah, it did but you never said anything about it being funny."
"You should have said."
"How was I to blinking well know?"
"Sorry, it wasn't your fault."
"So what did it do?"
"Oh, just something I wanted to try, nothing to worry about," he tried to assure her, not too convincingly though.
"Doctor, tell me, is there something wrong?"
"Well yes and no."
"What sort of answer's that?"
"Exactly. There might be, I have to complete these checks."
"So, why were your trying something? You were trying to impress Rose, weren't you?"
The Doctor refused to incriminate himself.
"I'll take that as a yes then. Come on, admit it, you're in love with my sister."
"Yes, I think I rather am and I don't know why she would even want anything to do with me."
"What? A skinny man in a brown pinstriped suit that fits in all the right places?" Emily laughed.
"Since you so crudely put it, then yes. Did she say anything to you, before, when I was out of it?"
"No, not really, not that I remember anyway. Why?"
"Just wondered. She said when you were away, last new year, she found someone in the shadows who sounded like me."
"That's not possible, is it?"
"Well no, not really, unless I broke the rules and went back to see her, from my future and no, you don't have to remind me what I've already said on the subject."
"You cheated once before."
"I know I did and I shouldn't have done but you telling me how heartbroken Rose was she didn't get that red bike for her twelfth birthday was a tearjerker."
"She loved that bike, you should have seen her face when the doorbell rang and there it was, all shiny and with a pink bow on it. We all wondered where it had come from then suddenly, I knew it was you. You're such a softie sometimes. You break Rose's heart and I'll break your arm, got it?"
The Doctor did a mock salute. "Yes ma'am, got it."
"Good, just you remember that or my mum might get to know about the two of you having sex earlier and don't look at me like that, really, the Tardis walls are paper thin."
The Doctor gulped and tried to file away that piece of information. "I should go wake her, I think we're in for a rough ride."
"Because of that button?"
"Partly, I don't like this one bit. Keep an eye on that screen and yell if it starts going erratic."
"Don't be long then, no 'quickies'."
"Very funny Emily. You're not upset are you? About Rose and me?"
"Nah, I'm good but Mickey might still be a bit hostile, he was gonna try and get her back, until you two went off down the steps arm in arm, laughing. Then he tried to get me to split you up."
"Did he recruit you then?"
"Nah, no worries. Go wake her up then."
The Doctor gave her shoulder a pat then went to wake Rose but he had just reached his room when the lights all went out and it felt like the ship was falling. Rose woke with a start, the room pitch black apart from a tiny glow from the moon and stars, which were actually luminous paint underneath. The Doctor quickly fished out his sonic and lit the tip, just like a torch. He found the handle and flung the door open.
"Rose, are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, what the hell was that?"
"I don't know but it wasn't good, I can tell you that much. Can you find your clothes?"
"Just about, no peeking."
"There's no time for modesty, your bra's over the headboard," he pointed with the torch as she wriggled into her jeans, thankful she had retrieved her underwear earlier.
"Thanks, I think. Where's Emily?"
"In the console room so hurry."
"I'm tryin' here, fasten this for me, it will be quicker."
He put the sonic between his teeth and fumbled with the strap, cursing the person who had invented it. Rose donned her t-shirt and slipped into her trainers and they left arm in arm, Rose yelling her sister's name as the Tardis landed somewhere with a thud, the Doctor managing to wedge himself in the doorway and keep Rose from falling.
There was a bit of light coming from the coral so he handed the sonic to Rose, checking where Emily was.
"Emily, where are you?" he called out.
"Who's Emily?" Rose queried, joining him at the console. "Did you bump your head Doctor?"
"What? No, she's your sister."
"Sister? Very funny Doctor, I'm an only child, remember? Are you sure you didn't crack your head? Where are we anyway?"
"Yeah, were are we?"
The Doctor turned around to see Mickey getting up off the floor from behind a coral strut. "Who the hell is Emily? See, I told you Rose."
"Shut up Mickey and let the Doctor find out where we are."
The Doctor looked around, confused, his hand on the back of his head.
"The ship's dead, caput. We fell out of the time vortex by the looks of it, we're going nowhere fast."
As if to demonstrate, he flipped a few dead switches, trying to figure out why Rose had been in his bed, having sex with him and where her sister, who now seemed non-existent, had disappeared to or had he indeed fallen down a rabbit hole?
"Well we had to land somewhere," Rose offered, eyeing him warily, trying to look at his head as he grabbed her hand.
"I'm fine Rose, we should see where we are, if we've not landed in the void, well not that we can land, not exactly, since there's nothing there to land on."
"Well the void looks funnily enough like good old London to me," Mickey called from the now open door.
The Doctor grabbed his coat from the strut by the doorway, not remembering ever leaving it there and allowed Rose to go in front of him. Had he been imagining her laid beneath him, moaning his name and making contented noises or was it a really good dream he'd just been woken up from? Either way, he didn't think he was that good at making things up that they'd seemed totally realistic.
So Mickey wandered off to find his gran when they realised they were in an alternate universe, Rose wanted to go find the live version of her dead father, which served him right for ever taking her back to see her real one he supposed but surely that had been Emily he had taken, not Rose?
They saved Pete Tyler from the Cybermen, which to the Doctor accounted why the Rose he'd just made love to had been having nightmares about, they had liberated London from the metal menaces but it didn't explain to him how the Cybermen had been floating past her and knocking a lever.
Once London was safe, having made a new friend in a man called Jake and Pete refusing to accept the possibility he had a daughter in another universe, Mickey had decided to stay and look after his gran and help round up all the stray Cybermen. The Doctor had just enough power to get the Tardis back into the time vortex and once full power had been restored, he sat beside Rose.
"Are you ok?" he asked, trying not to call her 'love'.
She turned to him, tears in her eyes. "Mickey's gone, we can't go back, can we?"
She buried her head into his shoulder as he reached out and he just let her cry. Only a few shorts hours ago, she had been happily laid in his bed, then happy to see who could have been her father and now she'd lost it all. Well this Rose obviously didn't remember the first bit and if she did, she was hiding it very well in view of what had happened between the two of them, then losing her sister.
All the time he had been with her though, he'd been getting those nagging feelings in the back of his mind, like they'd done things together instead of it being Emily. He thought Rose had felt it too, especially when she had described what could have been him in the shadows that night but it must be in his future, maybe a bad time in his long life.
Something had made him break the rules of his people to go back and see Rose, before he'd really met her, maybe he'd been about to regenerate and he'd wanted to see her with these eyes. He got up and crossed to the console.
"We're home Rose, I think this calls to land in your mother's living room, don't you?"
Rose got up and gave him a hug, delaying him going for what he hoped was a smoother landing than the last one, before he'd had his two hearts broken that would never be mended because now, there would be no more passionate kisses and Rose murmuring softly at his touch, or would there?
He should let down his guard, let her into his lonely life, what harm would it do if they were to get close? He was sure he'd told her at some point that he couldn't spend his life with her but he could spend whatever time he had with her, before he had to change again. Yes, he could live with that.
"Before we land, I have something to ask you."
Rose stepped back and looked at him, putting her arms around his neck loosely.
"Anything and I don't blame you for Mickey staying there, it's been heading that way since I first met you, in that basement."
Now he knew, it was Rose that had been there, not Emily, how had that happened, why did he remember all the things he'd done with Rose's sister when she didn't even have one? Still, Rose was here, that was all that mattered. Time to stop being lonely and let her into his life, well his current one anyway, who knew about the future but if he'd gone back to see Rose in her past, she must have left at some point but by the look on her face as she studied him, it wasn't without a fight.
"No, just hang on, I have somewhere else I want to take you first. Hold tight."
A few minutes later, Rose hanging onto the console as he'd not been joking about the whole hanging on bit, he grabbed his coat, grabbed her jacket that was kept by the door and led her outside. They were greeted by a barren landscape, giant birds circling above.
"You're at the dawn of creation Rose, no living being has ever seen this before."
"It's amazing Doctor, thanks for bringing me but didn't you have something to ask me?"
"Yes, I did and I'm sorry about the confusion, goodness knows where I got the idea there was someone called Emily on board. I must have banged my head after all."
Rose smiled, putting her hand in his, like it had always belonged there.
"So, out with it then," she encouraged him, not used to him beating around the bush, he was usually direct and to the point.
"You can say no."
"I might if ya don't get a move on, I don't like the way those birds are circling us."
The Doctor smiled. "The Tardis is protecting us, they won't get any closer, I promise. Do you remember, before we met, you were on your way home that new year and you talked to someone?"
"Oh yeah, I remember, some bloke who'd had that much to drink, he had to ask what year it was."
"Do you remember anything else?"
"Did I tell you about that?"
"You must have done otherwise how would I have known about it eh?"
"I suppose so, I expect you'll put it down to being timey-wimey or something," she laughed.
He laughed as well. "Yeah, something like that. Never mind, what I really wanted to ask you was, may I kiss you?"
"What?"
"I said you could say no, never mind then."
"No, I mean yeah, if ya want? What brought that on?"
"Oh, a few things have been on my mind lately."
"Such as?" she asked, squeezing his hand.
"I thought you might have given Mickey another chance but he's gone. I think he knew and stayed behind on purpose."
"Yeah, I thought that as well. I've not been his girlfriend since I met you, you know that, don't you?"
"Yeah, I'm a bit of a dunce in the romance department."
"Yeah? Maybe you're only a bit rusty and need a reminder?"
"Possibly, I wouldn't mind if you helped me remember, maybe?"
"I can do that, come here."
He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close, then brushed her lips slightly. Rose responded to the touch and the kiss deepened, just like before, when he hoped he'd not been imagining it. Maybe somehow, falling out of the time vortex had brought him back to reality, that things were now as they should be Rose and the Doctor, in the Tardis.
Rose caught her breath. "Blimey, that was some kiss, where have you been hiding that?"
He was sure she would now come back for more.
"Told you I still had it. How long are you going to stay with me?"
They kissed again then Rose let go, staring at the cloudy sky and the birds still circling.
"Forever?"
So the Doctor took her into his shoulder and whispered to her. "Yeah, for as long as you have to give me, eh?"
As they stood in their embrace, the Doctor thought back to that one time he thought he'd never have again, Rose had been in his bed once and there was nothing that said she wouldn't be willing, in this reality to be there again.
The End!