She turned another page in her book. If she was honest, she would've told you that she hadn't comprehended a single word on her last page, but this passage was really boring, and she just wanted to get through it.
She was surprised she hadn't fallen asleep. Yet her eyes felt burned, dry, and so awake. She wasn't even sure why, because today had been utterly exhausting.
Even the Doctor had taken a hit from it. She looked up to him, holding his own book softly in his hands. He hadn't turned a page in 10 minutes, but it looked vastly complicated, so maybe even his intellect needed a bit more time to understand.
I mean, the book was upside down, his eyes were closed, and his breathing was so slow it seemed… it seemed…
He was totally asleep, wasn't he? She chuckled lightly at that. He was even inclining towards her. Seated next to her, if he continued, he'd—
His head fell completely, and his whole body followed. He smacked into her shoulder.
She stared at him. He just fell asleep. Like that.
For so long, despite him trying his best to hide it, she knew he slept badly, to underestimate it severely. She didn't like thinking of it, and she was sure he didn't like her knowing, but it was plastered in her memory. He held her so tightly it hurt, but she didn't want to say anything. Shaking, odd breathing, hoarse yelling, yet somehow never a single tear.
She moved her shoulder a bit and put a hand through his hair, making sure to be as soft as possible as to not startle him awake.
He smiled.
The Doctor wasn't sure what to do. There was no way he could leave Rose in the hands of such a monster. But he couldn't exactly go about it in the way that he wanted, because he was starting to piece a few things together.
The TARDIS broke right after Corin showed up. The TARDIS, although she was quite old, didn't usually break down for no reason like that. Also, looking at the pieces, it wasn't broken. It was probably missing. And the only person who would know which piece to take was that psychopath. The one currently talking to this innocent girl who had no idea of who he truly was.
He wanted to throw Corin out of the TARDIS, but if it was true that he had the piece, he couldn't. The chance of finding a piece like that in the wild was practically 0. Corin would be the only way of ever fixing his TARDIS. Same thing with telling Rose about the whole ordeal. The man was insane, there was no telling what he might do.
It made his blood boil. Rose laughed at something he said, and the sound of it made him feel ill.
He had to get her out of here. He walked up to the two of them, and saw how immediately Corin's eyes changed. It was almost unnoticeable, probably because Rose was there, but man—now that he knew, he saw it in almost every action.
How did someone like Rose get intertwined with someone like him?
Was he like that, too? He never thought of himself to be a purely malicious man, but Corin was a Doctor, at some point. Rose had joined the likes of him, was it really that different?
He thought back of Corin punching an obviously already dead man needlessly and decided that it was different.
Every smile or laugh, strained or not, that she gave made him feel worse and worse.
Thing is, if what he thought of Corin was true, there was a chance that he couldn't just throw him away on the next random planet. He couldn't even rely on the TARDIS to find the navigational piece, since she—for some incomprehensible reason—seemed to be on his side.
It was all a bit much, but time processing was a privilege he couldn't take for himself. Or for Rose.
"Rose," he interrupted. "Could you come with me for a second?" He ignored the daggers for eyes that Corin was giving him and instead focused on the confused but charming, gentle face of Rose.
The contrast made his skin itch.
Corin protested, like he might've expected, but the Doctor didn't take no for an answer. He didn't even give him a chance and took Rose by the arm to pull her along. He wasn't sure what he would have done if Corin had stood up and grabbed his arm, too, but thankfully he stayed in his own lane.
The Doctor couldn't believe his own home had become such a walking on eggshells place. He pulled Rose further along the TARDIS corridors, for now ignoring her questions.
After a bit, she turned silent, and he decided they were far enough.
He had a problem, though. Several, even. Since Corin had the navigational piece, at least, he thought he did, Corin had the power in this situation. After the Last Time War, there was no way he could ever find a replacement piece for it. Ever. It would just be over. He couldn't risk it. If he told Rose, he might just snap again and break the piece, leaving all of them stranded for the rest of time.
Wasn't it worth it, though? Rose was young and seemed sweet enough, he couldn't just…
Well, wait. Of course he could. He barely knew her, and although he generally wanted the best for people, he wasn't to destroy his one-of-a-kind time and space-ship for some mere human.
Unlike some other passenger.
He'd just be careful with it. "Rose," he finally started. He looked around subtly to make sure Corin wasn't listening in. The hallway was very long, so even if he was around the corner, he wouldn't hear a thing. He couldn't even trust his own TARDIS completely.
The lights blinked at that, but he ignored it. "This might sound a bit odd, but I…" how could he phrase it without revealing too much? "have a request." He wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this, but as long as the preferred outcome came forth, it didn't really matter if he looked like an incompetent idiot. If she knew him, she knew how great he was. He took the time to look her in the eyes, as confused—yet open—as they were. "Please stay away from Corin."
She immediately frowned at that. Of course she did, moron. That was way too vague and frankly ominous. "I mean," he tried to amend, "I just think something's a bit off with him, so…" So what? He didn't really have any advice to give. "Be careful."
She looked so surprised it hurt him. It's like she had no idea of who Corin even was. Granted, he had no idea how long they'd been together. He was once again reminded of how little he even knew about them. When was the metacrisis created? Why? How did they end up in this universe? What had happened to make Corin chase her like this and her dislike him so much it bordered hatred sometimes?
Before he could ask the one with the answers, she responded. "What makes you say that?"
"He's…" a cold-blooded murderer , but he couldn't say that, y'know, due to blackmail and hypocrisy. Well, he didn't have to outright say it. Even if all he did was plant a seed of doubt and maybe fear in her, that would be enough. "He seems a bit unstable."
She somehow looked even more surprised.
…Alright. She knew him, right? Which would imply that she knew about his own instability, too. So maybe that concept wasn't alien at all to her, and applying it to Corin would be like another Tuesday. "He's just…"
"It's alright, Doctor," she said, without knowing at all what he meant. She went to justify and explain, but all of it was baseless in the eyes of the Doctor, who's eyes had seen a glimpse of what he deemed to be the real him.
It wasn't alright. "No, Rose, you don't get it." It's not often that he found himself at a loss for words. He fiddled with his hands, trying to get some time to figure it out. "There's something…" but he couldn't finish as the person in question appeared in his sight. Corin had found them. He didn't want to say anything more in fear of Corin hearing it, so instead, the conversation died. Corin joined them and once again it was as if nothing had happened. It was almost scary how easily it flew, but the Doctor knew how good he was.
If he wanted to do something, he'd have to change strategy. Corin couldn't just flat out kill him, at least not here. He wasn't exactly sure what he would do, but that wasn't anything particular from the whole evening. "Corin." Corin ignored him until Rose looked over to him. Every passing second made the Doctor more and more uneasy. "Corin, can I have you for a second?"
A raised eyebrow and a look later, he was walking down the hallway with Corin. He stopped them not too far away, obviously not wanting to spend any more time than necessary around him. "What?"
At first the Doctor saw Corin's annoyance towards him as a bit of natural competition, but now it seemed more so as if he were an obstacle. He heard his own loud swallowing. No reason to delay. "Do you have the TARDIS navigational piece?"
"If you tell Rose I'm throwing it in the vortex," he said, as if commenting on the weather. "And then you'll be stuck. Forever."
The Doctor blinked.
"If you kill me," he continued, "you'll never find it."
Alright. It was like this, huh? Time to change strategy. The Doctor swallowed his pride along with a few morals. "This is all about Rose, isn't it?"
Something flashed in his eyes at the mention of her name. Blimey. He was an open book when it came to these things. Of course it was about her. That seemed to be the only thing he cared about.
Before the Doctor could make his threat, Corin answered. "If you hurt her, same thing. Vortex." And if that wasn't already enough, he continued. "I'll kill myself before you can get in my head. So, stuck ."
The Doctor almost couldn't believe his ears. Almost. But he had to be way past that stage if he wanted to do anything useful. Corin was too well on his feet, and he had to throw him off. And he knew just what to say. "And I thought your counterpart was a jerk."
That seemed to do it. Immediately, the smirk disappeared from his face. His self-serving pride changed into a visible fear. An instinctive "What?" came from him. "What do you mean?" he asked after collecting his thoughts.
The Doctor shrugged innocently. He could see the cogs turning in his brain, and suddenly the TARDIS piece was nothing but forgotten. He stared out into nothing for a bit, and the Doctor relished in having the upper hand again. And predictable as ever, Corin asked: "Did he talk to Rose?"
The Doctor smirked.
Corin suddenly didn't look so confident anymore. He was glad he got that vile look off his face. Corin's troubled eyes seemed to faze out, and soon enough he ran away.
The Doctor grimaced before looking up at the TARDIS' ceiling.
