fic: Comfort Her
Title: Comfort Her
Author: dreaamer
Characters/Pariings: Ten/Rose, Mickey
Summary: "You tore her heart out without a second thought!"
Author's Note: Inspired by madeelly . This is a post-GitF ficlet, with a twist (of sorts) at the end.
"Are you alright?" Rose asked quietly, her brow furrowing slightly. The Doctor looked up at Rose, smiling weakly.
"I'm always alright," he said, then continuedto fiddle with the controls.
Rose was about to open her mouth to contradict him when Mickey tugged lightly at her arm.
"Come on, Rose," he said softly, knowing the Doctor needed some time to himself. "It's time you showed me around the rest of this place."
Rose hesitated, staring at the Doctor intently. He looked so broken. But he obviously didn't want to talk to her at the moment, and she wasn't going to push him. So she reluctantly allowed Mickey to lead her toward the hallway, still staring at the Doctor as she went, until he was completely out of her sight.
Mickey led her down the hall until they'd reached the lounge. He stopped, sighing deeply. Rose simply stared at the floor, her head turned down, her hair covering her face.
"I know you're upset, Rose," Mickey began. "But so is he. And he needs some time alone for the moment. I just wanted to give him the chance to cool off." He paused for a moment, then continued. "Are you alright?"
Rose looked up at Mickey for a brief moment, her eyes shining with unshed tears, her forehead wrinkled with worry.
"I'm always alright," she whispered, letting her gaze fall back down to the grated floor.
With that she turned and fled down the hall and into her bedroom.
That's when Mickey made his decision.
****
The Doctor stood in the console room, the letter from Reinette in his left hand, while the other hand fiddled absently with the controls on the console.
He slipped the letter into his jacket pocket, then sighed, rubbing his hands over his eyes. The sound of footsteps made him spin around.
Mickey stood in the entrance to the console room, his eyes dark with anger.
"Mickey," the Doctor said softly, as if he were about to tell him to leave.
"You're a right bloody git, you know that?" said Mickey, walked towards the Doctor.
"What?" asked the Doctor, confusion visible on his face.
"You think it's all about you, and 'ohhh, I lost Reinette, the girl of my dreams, blah blah blah'. But you never even realized that the girl of your dreams was right in front of you the whole time."
"What are you talking about?"
"Rose!" he said exasperatedly. "I'm talking about Rose, you stupid alien!"
The Doctor still hadn't gotten the message, evidently. "What's Rose got to do with Reinette?" he asked.
"Oh, you really are as dumb as you look," Mickey said, his voice raising slightly. "Are you honestly saying you didn't notice?"
"Didn't notice what?"
"Rose's face, you git! Didn't you see her? You tore her heart out and you never even had the decency to notice!" The Doctor stopped dead, his eyes widening a bit. Mickey took the rare silence from the Doctor as an opportunity to continue. "You met Reinette, and you just swanned off with her, not even thinking about Rose or me or the consquences of what you did. But Rose didn't think anything of it, of course. She gives you more credit than you deserve." The Doctor continued to stare, and Mickey went on. "And then, if that weren't enough, you went to rescue Reinette and got yourself trapped there, not even thinking about what Rose might think!" Mickey paused, taking a breath. "She loves you, Doctor. She's never had the courage to tell you, but oh, does she love you. And you just ripped out her heart without a second thought. I thought you loved her too, but I was obviously wrong."
There was a long silence in which the Doctor opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, then closed it again. Finally, he spoke.
"I did think of her," he croaked, so soft it was almost a whisper. "The whole time I was there, all I could think of was her. I had Reinette right there in front of me, but all I could ever think about was Rose." He paused, taking in a shaky breath. "I love her, Mickey. And I know I've hurt her, and I want to make this right."
"You'd better," Mickey said. "I care about her too much to let her be upset. And I know you do too."
"I need to talk to her," said the Doctor. "Really, really talk to her. Where is she?"
"Her bedroom. Where else?"
"You're right," he said, starting towards the hallway. He paused, turning back to Mickey. "By the way... thanks. For coming and talking some sense into me. I appreciate it, and... well, Rose is lucky to have someone as loyal as you. I hope you know that."
"Thanks, Doctor. Now go get your girl back."
The Doctor smiled fondly, then turned back round and bounded down the hallway toward Rose's room. He was going to make this right. He owed her that much.
****
Rose lay on her bed in a crumpled heap, tears spilling out of her eyes, soaking her pillow and sheets.
There was a knock at the door and she stopped, her head popping up. There were three more knocks, and finally she chose to answer.
****
The Doctor knocked on her door once, twice, three times. No answer. He knocked again. Still nothing. How did she know it was him? He knocked again and again. Finally there was an answer.
"Mickey?" came Rose's voice. He could tell she was exhausted and completely heartbroken, just by her voice.
"Rose, it's me," he said. There was a pause, then she spoke again.
"Go away," was the simple reply.
"Rose, I need to talk to you."
"I said go away," she said again. He could hear the anguish in her voice, even through the thick mahogany door.
"Rose Tyler," he said firmly. "I really need to talk to you... now."
There was a long silence. Finally, she replied.
"Fine," she said so softly he could barely hear it through her door.
The Doctor paused for a while, then finally braced himself for the one thing he was really not good at: confrontation.
He pushed the door open slowly, walking inside. There, on her bed, sat Rose. She was sat in the very middle of the bed, cross-legged, her head hanging down, her hair covering her face.
The Doctor shut the door behind him and walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge. Rose remained still as stone.
"Rose?" said the Doctor, making no effort to hide the fear in his voice. "Rose, talk to me. Please. Just say something."
There was a long silence, and then she spoke.
"What's there to say?" she croaked, her voice quiet and hoarse.
"Rose, I'm sorry," he said, scooting closer to her on the bed. "I'm so sorry." He reached for her hand, and she pulled it back. He winced.
"You come out with that a lot, don't you?" said Rose, lifting up her head to reveal a tear-stained face. "I wonder when you'll actually mean it."
"Rose, I do mean it."
Rose snorted. "Yeah."
"I do! Rose, I do. You have to believe me." Another long silence.
"Why should I?" she asked.
"Look, Rose, I know that I made a huge, gargantuous mistake. And I know I've really upset you, and I'm sorry. You have to believe me, Rose. I could say I'm sorry a million times and it would be worth nothing if you don't believe me. Please, Rose. Please believe me. I really am so, so sorry."
Another long silence; the longest silence yet. Finally Rose spoke.
"I forgive you," she said simply, her voice quite and shaky.
The Doctor paused, as if not fully registering what she'd just said.
"Excuse me?" he asked, unsure.
"I said I forgive you," she repeated, her tear-streaked face. "How can I stay angry at you?"
The Doctor stared into her glistening brown eyes, a small smile curving on his lips.
"Thank you," he said simply. There was another silence. After a long pause, Rose promptly smacked the Doctor on the arm. Hard. "OW!" he yelped. "What was that for?"
"You had me worried sick!" she said, new tears forming in her eyes. "Don't you ever leave me again!"
"Deal," he said, leaning forward and pulling Rose into a hug. She gratefully accepted it, letting herself fall into the embrace. She buried her face in his chest, inhaling his scent of cinnamon and the Time Vortex. He wrapped his arms around her middle, holding her as close to him as possible. "I won't ever let you go again," he said to her. "I won't ever let you go."
And they stayed that way a long time... until Mickey came barging in pointing toward the TV room, screaming "MANCHESTER BEAT ARSENAL!" at the top of his lungs.
Needless to say, Rose and the Doctor just laughed.
-fin-