As soon as Rose heard the Doctor's voice, she felt as if this weight, this terrible weight she had been carrying in her gut for years, dissolved into butterflies. She whirled around, and…yes, it was him! Oh god, it was finally, really him! Not a grainy image on the dimension cannon's screen or the sound of the TARDIS dematerializing after she'd arrived just a minute too late. After years of work and months of jumping through realities, she was finally in the same place, in the same room as the Doctor.
In the two seconds it took him to notice her, she drank in the sight of him - tan jacket damp and rumpled, wet hair plastered to his face, and as gorgeous as ever. Then he looked up and their eyes met. She couldn't help but laugh from joy, from relief, from the way his mouth gaped open in astonishment as he stared at her, transfixed.
Heart beating madly, she ran towards him.
But before she covered even half the distance, something changed in the Doctor that made her slow and then halt her steps. He went rigid, and the soft look of wonder on his face changed into harsh lines of anger. It happened so quickly and he transformed so completely that she almost felt dizzy.
"What are you?" he said in a flat voice. It was his "no second chances" voice. The voice that showed his nine hundred years and all the terrible burdens he'd collected in that very long life.
"Doctor?" she asked shakily, a hundred questions in the two syllables of his name.
"I said," he drew his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed it at her like he meant to use it as a weapon. "What. Are. You?" He took several aggressive steps towards her. "How did you get past the barrier?"
Rose turned to look at Jack, eyes begging him for some explanation. When she saw only concern and confusion on her friend's face, she turned back to the Doctor, "Doctor, 's me. It's Rose…" Her voice broke as she struggled to comprehend why this was all going so wrong. Of all the ways she'd imagined their reunion, him staring at her with such rage in his eyes was never a scenario that had occurred to her.
She'd always known that maybe he'd never love her like she loved him. That would make sense with their vastly different abilities and lifespans. He'd had his chance to tell her on Bad Wolf Bay and had held back. Could a Time Lord really lose track of time like that? She'd contemplated this question endlessly in the years since, examining and reexamining their relationship until it drove her mad.
But even if he wasn't in love with her, she had thought that he was at least fond of her. The Stuff of Legend. Shiver and Shake. Best mates. She had even gotten her hopes up a little when Martha had said he'd spoken about Rose often. But then again, Martha hadn't said he's spoken favorably about Rose. And Martha was…blimey probably one of the most beautiful people she'd ever met in real life. Maybe the Doctor wasn't thrilled with the idea of Rose coming back and complicating things for him and his new companion?
But the fury with which he faced Rose now couldn't be accounted for by the fact that she was simply an inconvenience. An emotion that strong had to originate from something much deeper. It wasn't just that he was angry at her presence, he was hurt by it. Which…didn't make any sense at all.
"No. You aren't." he sneered, "It would be impossible for Rose Tyler to be here. You're one of the Master's, right? How did you find us? How did you bypass the security? WHY ARE YOU WEARING HER FACE?!" the Doctor roared the last question, his voice cruel and demanding and nothing like the man she remembered. She was brought up short by his thunder for a moment before his words fully sunk in.
Oh. Oh!
Rose couldn't help the breath of relief she puffed out, nor the smile that tugged at her lips. So he wasn't angry at her. He just thought she was some kind of imposter. Because even as she stood before him, that daft alien still thought her coming back was impossible.
At least this was something she could easily set to rights. When he'd regenerated, he'd been able to prove to her he was still the same man. Now it was her turn to do the same for him.
"Doctor," she grinned as she shook her head in bemusement, "It's me, honest. Let me prove it, yeah?"
The Doctor's face didn't so much as twitch, but she pushed on, taking slow steps towards him as she spoke.
"When I first met you, you blew up the shop I worked at. You saved me from killer shop dummies, from…from so much more than that, really. You grabbed my hand and showed me a new mad and wonderful way of living. And in that basement, you said one word. Just one word. You said 'run.' And off we went! Never really stopped, did we?" Now only a few feet away, Rose halted, allowing a clearly spooked Doctor the chance to make the last steps himself, if he wanted.
"Rose?" he asked, slowly lowering and pocketing his sonic screwdriver.
"Yeah, been tryin' to tell ya - mph!" whatever she was going to say was cut off as the Doctor leapt forward and crushed her to his chest in a tight embrace that half knocked the wind out of her.
"You're real!" he whispered into her hair, and she could only nod into the damp wool of his coat. "You're real," he said again, "You're real. You're real. You're real! You're here! Oh Rose Tyler, you brilliant, brilliant woman! You're real and you're here and -" with that he used their embrace to lift her into the air in a series of dizzying twirls.
Rose giggled, then laughed. She laughed until she couldn't anymore because the Doctor was snogging the life out of her. And oh god, it was better than she'd ever imagined. The fatigue of traveling and the mildewy factory faded away as her whole brain was taken up with the smell and taste and feel of him. His lips were hard on hers, their kisses uncoordinated in their enthusiasm, but she reveled in the feeling, pulling him closer by the lapels of his suit. One hand drifted up to first cup his cheek, then run through his thick hair. She felt the rumble of an inaudible groan through his chest, and thought she just might float away from pure joy. When she broke the kiss to catch her breath, he only held her tighter and peppered kisses all over her face. She was laughing and crying, and god she was finally home.
"Oi, what are these tears for," he murmured as he tried to kiss them away.
"Sorry, just sorta missed ya is all," she said breathlessly.
After a few more butterfly kisses to her cheeks, he nudged her nose with his and asked, "How in Rassilon's name did you manage it, Rose Tyler? I believe I told you crossing universes was impossible."
"Yeah, well turns out, not so much," Rose said, unwinding her fingers from his hair and letting her hands fall to cover each of his hearts. She gave him one more peck on the lips and then eased back so she could see more of his face. There was no way she could sound at all intelligible if his lips had remained in such close proximity to hers.
"We made this thing, this dimension cannon…" She trailed off at the sudden thought that she should kiss each one of his freckles. Apparently coherent speech was still not quite in her grasp.
"So…?" he prompted, giving her hips a little squeeze that sent a pleasant shiver through her.
Rose blinked then giggled, "So I could get back." At the smug look on his face she just laughed harder and whacked him in the chest, "Shut up!"
"That could be arranged…" he whispered as he bent down to recapture her lips. His hands swept up her back, drawing her closer as his lips parted against hers. Needing no more of an invitation, Rose deepened the kiss, her breath hitching when his tongue first brushed against hers. The part of her that couldn't believe this was happening faded and then vanished as he continued to fill up her senses.
"Uh guys," Jack said bringing her back down to Earth an indeterminate amount of time later. Rose realized she'd completely forgotten the room's other occupants. She buried her face into the Doctor's chest in embarrassment for a moment before turning back towards Jack and Martha.
"Er…sorry," she said trying not to let her utter joy escape in a continuous fit of breathless giggles.
"No you aren't," Jack smirked.
"Yeah, not even a little," she agreed as she laced her fingers with the Doctor's and beamed up at him.
"C'mon," she said tugging at his hand, "I was in the middle of meeting Martha when you barged in."
She started over towards the other woman, but her arm pulled taught when the Doctor stayed rooted to the spot. She turned back towards him with a playful remark on her lips, but was brought up short when she saw the look on his face. It was frighteningly similar to how he'd looked the last time she'd seen him - when he'd burned up a sun to say goodbye.
"What?" she asked, stepping back towards him, a chill interrupting the happy glow that had been thrumming through her, "What is it? What's wrong?"
The Doctor closed his eyes for a moment before he broke her heart all over again.
"You…you have to go back," he said softly, sounding so empty it made her chest ache.
"Back? What do you mean, back?" Rose asked, worried she knew exactly what he meant.
"To Pete's world."
Then, so quickly she could barely follow the movement, he dropped her hand to clutch at her upper arms in a desperate grip, "You can go back, can't you? You can Rose, please tell me you can!" He'd gone from distraught to terrified and Rose found herself lost in the changing tides of his emotions.
"I could…" she said slowly.
She flinched when he ducked his head and let out an audible sigh of relief, "But Doctor, I didn't come all this way just to -"
"You have to!" the Doctor interrupted, almost frantic, his usual Time Lord restraint dissolved. "Rose you have to! Right now! Soon as you can!"
She shrugged out of his grip, and he let her go. That was the whole bloody problem though, wasn't it? He was always talking himself into letting her go. Forcing her to go.
"No," she said firmly. Calmly. "You don't get to do that to me. You don't get to -"
"There isn't time to explain," he interrupted, "Just…it's not safe Rose! It's not safe for you here! You have to go. You have to go now!"
"Easy Doc," Jack said, walking up to the distressed Time Lord and putting a hand on his shoulder, "You've got a point," he said, glancing warily at Rose, "But it doesn't have to be right this second. Not before you explain what's going on. She deserves that much. We have the building secured. He's not getting in here anytime soon."
"Can't make a jump for a few hours anyway," Rose said with a sad little shrug, "This is my third one today. Cannon has to charge back up before I can use it again."
The Doctor ran a hand through is hair and cursed in some language that didn't translate. After taking a deep breath, he stepped back toward Rose and took both of her hands in his.
"I'm sorry," he said rubbing the back of her hands with his thumbs "I'm so sorry, but you have to leave -"
"No, Doctor I -" he held up a hand and she bit her lip to keep the rest of her denial in.
"Rose listen, you have to go back. You have to. It's just about the last thing in all the universes I want, I promise. I'd give anything to keep you with me..."
"Then why can't I stay?" Rose hated the tears in her voice, the pleading note she knew hadn't been there a moment ago. The Doctor pulled her back into his arms and she let him hold her as she tried to makes sense out of any of this.
"Because he'd kill you," he whispered, lips brushing her forehead, "Kill you, or worse."
Something about the way he said it, the certainty with which he spoke made her shiver.
"I can't let him do that," he said softly, "Rose, you're the one thing…" he let out a shaky breath, "I need you safe."
She pulled away from him once again, anger winning over the other emotions swirling within her, "God, Doctor, not this again! How many times are you going to try sending me away before you realize that's not what I want? It will never be what I want! When are you going to realize that I get a say in this too?"
"Maybe, before…there were times I should have…" he broke off with a groan of frustration. "This time is different," he finished with resolve.
"It always is, Doctor," she said tiredly, "And we always get through it together. Shiver and Shake, yeah?" That got her a sad smile from him.
"Rose I…" he ran a hand through his damp hair, making it stick up in wild spikes, "Let me explain. Just, at least let me explain."
"Don't see how I could make an informed decision if you didn't," she joked weakly.
"Thank you," he kissed her on the forehead and then he eased back to look down at her. His eyes scanned her face and her heart clenched when she realized he was drinking her in, already starting to say goodbye. He looked so…tired - every one of his nine hundred years.