Nothin' You Haven't Seen Before

"Shouldn't you see a doctor, Rosie," Jack asked, concerned.

"Oi. I'm a Doctor."

"I meant a real doctor."

"I am a real Doctor."

Rose laughed. "It's fine, Jack. The Doctor does know what he's doing."

"Right. See?" The Doctor looked at Jack smugly. "Now then, Rose, I'll have to lift your shirt up to see the cuts. Jack why don't you leave the room." It was not a suggestion.

Jack sighed and complained about them not being fun, but acquiesced.

"'s fine, Doctor. I'll just take my shirt off," Jack heard as he walked out the door. "It's nothin' you haven't seen before."

Jack froze just outside the doorway. What did she mean by that? She'd said they weren't…that they hadn't…but…

Jack thought his brain might implode. The Doctor had seen Rose naked. Surely it was innocent. Maybe when he'd had to treat injuries before. Yeah. That must be it. But the way she'd said it, with just a hint of teasing, made Jack wonder. As he continued down the hall, their voices trailed off, leaving him to fill in the blanks for himself.

"Yeah, but that was different," the Doctor said.

"Not really. You were takin' care of me then, too," Rose replied, shrugging out of her shirt with a grimace.

The Doctor winced at the large, bloody cuts that adorned Rose's back from when she'd fallen into a giant bramble patch. "And here I thought that was you taking care of me," he replied as he gently cleaned the cuts with antiseptic.

She hissed out a breath, but replied easily. "So, we're takin' care of each other, then."

He paused for the beat of one heart, and then continued his ministrations. "I suppose so."

Rose cleared her throat. Things had been a little uncomfortable between her and the Doctor since that day, though she knew they were both trying not to show it, and to someone who didn't know them well, like Jack, nothing seemed amiss. They still held hands and talked and teased each other, but there was an awkwardness that hadn't been there before.

Rose felt the Doctor place a hand on her shoulder to steady her as he ran the sonic over her cuts. She reached up to grip his hand without thinking, and was glad when he released her shoulder to squeeze her hand.

"I know I said thank you that day," she said hesitantly, "but I could never say it enough. I was actually terrified. I just knew that I didn't want to stay there another minute," she confessed.

The Doctor smiled gently as he finished healing her cuts and helped her put on the clean shirt she'd brought with her. "And you didn't show it," he replied. "None of them knew you were scared." He walked around to face her and placed his hands tenderly on her shoulders. "But Rose, I would never have allowed them to take advantage of you. And neither of us were spending even an hour in their jail," he promised.

She smiled trustingly into his eyes, and his breath caught. "I know, Doctor."

He stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. Her arms wound around his waist as his wrapped around her shoulders. She sighed contentedly and his hearts swelled with emotion that lodged in his throat.

"I've missed this," she said shyly.

"Oh, Rose. Me too," he said honestly.

He'd been hesitant to hug her after that day, unsure how comfortable she still was with him, and she'd held back out of the same fear.

She smiled and tucked her face into his neck, delighting in the way his arms wrapped just a bit tighter around her. They stayed like that for a while before both drew back as though by mutual agreement. Their hands found each other, and the Doctor helped Rose off the table so they could walk back toward the console room. She smiled at him with her tongue in her teeth and leaned into his arm, and he offered up the daft grin she loved so much.

They would have been content to stay like that, holding hands and staring dopily at each other if a certain Captain hadn't broken the moment.

"So, it's like that, then?"

"Like what," the Doctor asked as he and Rose stopped by the TARDIS controls. He let go of her hand, but she stayed close.

"I thought you two said it wasn't like that, but you've seen Rose naked." Jack grinned cheekily for about two seconds.

Rose squeaked in embarrassment and hid her face against the Doctor's shoulder as his arm came up to draw her to him.

"Oi! Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to eavesdrop?"

Jack didn't like the glare on the Doctor's face. Clearly he didn't have all the facts, and he'd just opened his mouth anyway.

"I just…overheard…a little," Jack stuttered.

"Well, forget what you overheard," the Doctor said stonily.

"It's not what you think," Rose offered tentatively.

"Then what is it?"

"Nope." The Doctor refused to have this conversation.

Rose sighed. "Anything he'll imagine will be worse than the truth."

The Doctor didn't care. He crossed his arms petulantly, glaring at Jack, who felt, truly, for the first time, like an intruder.

"Do you really want him to know that, Rose," the Doctor asked curiously.

"Not really, but…"

"Then we don't tell him. He doesn't have to know everything, does he?" The Doctor moved agitatedly around the controls.

"Doctor," Rose placed her hand on his arm and he stilled.

Jack wondered how they could claim that they weren't "like that" when everything they did said otherwise.

The Doctor let out a deep breath. "Do what you want," he said before retreating from the room.

Once he was gone, Rose's head drooped, and she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I was only teasing."

"It's okay, Jack. I guess if that's all you heard you'd naturally jump to that conclusion."

"Can I know what really happened?"

Rose hesitated. "No, Jack. I don't think this is a story that you get to hear this time."

Jack nodded, accepting Rose's decision. "I'll just go find my room," he said placing a hand on her shoulder. "You should probably find the Doctor and fix…whatever I just did."

Rose nodded absently, but she knew it wasn't just Jack's fault. She and the Doctor had been so awkward since that day, and had only just gotten comfortable again when Jack…okay, so maybe it was mostly Jack's fault. But it was hers too. She really should have mentioned it before today. This had gone on far too long.

Rose found the Doctor slumped in a chair, sitting before the fireplace in the library. Walking up beside him, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before sitting on the arm of the chair.

"You okay?"

He nodded, taking her hand in his. "Sorry I stormed out."

She hummed, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb. "Why did you?"

He didn't want to admit that he'd been embarrassed, or that he'd been jealous of the thought that she'd share such a story with "Captain" Jack.

"Did you explain it to him, then," he asked, deflecting.

Rose frowned. "Course not. 's none of his business."

"Really?" He hated how surprised he sounded.

"Doctor," Rose hesitated. "Remember how I said this was better with two?"

"Yeah."

"I meant it. After Adam, I wasn't sure you'd let anyone else on board. Wasn't sure you'd keep me here, to be honest. But then Jack showed up, and somehow, we all have fun together, right?"

The Doctor nodded, unable to take his eyes from her face.

"But that doesn't change the fact that…" Rose trailed off, unsure of how to complete her sentence.

"That what?"

"That there are some adventures I'd rather share just with you," she finally said.

"Oh." He stared at her, stunned.

Rose laughed nervously. "I mean, can you imagine Jack in the same situation? 'Oh, come on Rose. Just take your clothes off. If you're nervous, I'll take mine off too.' He'd…"

But Rose never got to finish her sentence. The Doctor's hand tangled in her hair as his mouth covered hers and then he was kissing her like she was the only thing keeping him alive. When he drew back so she could breathe, he rested his face against her neck and kept his lips on her skin.

"For the sake of my sanity, Rose, please don't ever mention you and Jack naked in the same sentence again," he said hoarsely.

Rose gasped as his lips trailed over her jaw and tenderly touched hers again. "Okay," she breathed.

"Is it?"

"What?"

"Is this okay," he asked uncertainly.

"Oh. Yeah," she said, grinning. "Definitely okay."

"Fantastic," the Doctor said, pulling her into his lap so he could kiss her again. "Absolutely fantastic."