fic: Leaving the Beach
Title: Leaving the Beach, 3/?
Characters: Rose/Ten, Jackie, Pete, Tony
Rating: R
Summary: What happens next, and all that.
Disclaimer: Oh, they're not mine. But maybe I'm in the parallel universe and they are... Ok, I'm not.
~~~
A week later, and things had fallen into an awkward routine. Jackie had been bustling and organizing the Doctor, sorting out clothes, and fussing the admin department of Torchwood for new credentials and paperwork.
Tony had taken an instant like to the Doctor, making a beeline for him every time he walked in the room, and the Doctor had enjoyed giving focused attention to the toddler. They were alike in many ways, Rose thought, and not just the 'newness' of this Doctor. It was the very Doctorishness of him that made him like the small child, eager and inquisitive. Rose wondered idly if, were it not for the safety aspect, a small child would be the ideal companion for him.
Well, for the other Doctor, anyway. She halted the thought right there. She wouldn't allow herself to dwell on it, or she knew she might feel compelled to break open reality to find him again.
Pete had been impassive, watching everything and saying very little. He'd always been a little less trusting of the Doctor than her dad in the other universe, but Rose sensed that wasn't it. He was a good judge of character - he had been right about the Doctor's inadequacies after the birth of the new cybermen - and he wasn't hostile. He was just watching.
Rose hadn't been on a bed with the Doctor since the hotel, and the only kisses they had shared since then were chaste goodnight kisses, under the full glare of Jackie, and the quiet gaze of Pete.
The Doctor seemed, understandably, nervous, and Rose was getting a bit ticked off. She was trying to get her own feelings straight, and her parents were busy focusing on the Doctor - either to make him him falter or to spruce him up, she couldn't tell. But it was annoying; mostly, she realized, because by him holding back like this, she was beginning to see how much she actually wanted him. She didn't want her parents in on that, for some reason. Wanted to realize that by herself, not by design.
"Rose, love, a word." Pete said. Rose frowned and followed him into the kitchen. It was evening, the sun setting in autumn, and the windows in this house were enormous, so there was a pinkish glow over everything.
"What?" Rose said, feeling a little like a naughty kid about to get rumbled.
"You think it's not him, right?"
"I.. I don't know yet." She faltered.
"Let me tell you something, little Rosie. When Jackie first came here, she wasn't my Jackie. She literally wasn't her. She'd lived a different life, thought different things, turned out very different. And it bothered me at first, because it should. But over time, I just couldn't get away from the fact that everything that made her Jackie was still there. And if I loved Jackie, and I did, was there really anything stopping me loving her? And by then, we'd started building our own memories, so, you know, it was good." He leaned over the central work surface, thoughtfully, occasionally making eye-contact to drive home a point.
"Yeah, I know where you're going with this, and it's not the same. He's not the same man from a parallel universe, is he? He's new. It's different." She didn't mean to sound quite so dismissive.
"Yes, it is different, Rose. Because he's not the same man from a parallel universe. He didn't live a life without ever knowing you, didn't have the last however many years thinking different thoughts to the man in the other universe, making different choices. He is the man from the other universe. He is still everything you spent years telling us you wanted. You have shared memories, a shared life - Jackie and I never had that, we had to start from scratch." Pete stood up, and put his hand tenderly on her cheek.
"I... I..." She tried to speak, but only sobs came.
"He gave up everything for you. And yes, there's still another him in another universe, and he'll go on forever. Do you think that man, who gave you up in the hopes that he could make you happy, would want you to waste away without at least trying to live the life he wanted for you?" Pete finished, and enveloped her in his biggest, daddiest hug.
~~~
It was much later, and the sunset hues had long passed as Rose made herself a cup of tea in the kitchen. She squeezed out the teabag, setting it down on the surface. Mum would faff about that, of course, but she didn't really care right now. She sipped the tea, and held the the mug with both hands, staring at the green splash-back tiles.
"Any in the pot for me?" A voice said, and she smiled into the mug, without turning.
"There's no pot, you throwback. It's squeeze a teabag in your cup and like it."
She could feel him standing behind her now, his breath in her hair, and she saw his hands circle round her and fold over her own.
"How about I just take this one?" She could tell he was grinning. She let him take the mug and turned to face him. He took a step back and raised it to his mouth, looking her right in the eye as he did so. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Jackie had incinerated the blue suit. His hair was still insanely great.
"So, tea in a kitchen. Don't get much more domestic than this." He said.
"Yeah. You liking your new domestic life?" Rose asked, unsure. There was no-one else around, and he was much less nervous suddenly.
"Well, it's not exactly that domestic. Not like I've got a desk job, I'm working for Torchwood." He moved forward to set the mug down behind her, but didn't step back. "But I am liking tea, in the kitchen."
He was right in her personal space. It shouldn't make her feel quite as unnerved as she did - they'd practically inhabited each other's space when she was full time on the TARDIS, and although she loved it, it hadn't made her feel quite like this. Her heart was racing, and she realized it was because he'd never looked at her in quite such an unguarded way. He was looking into her, and reached up to sweep away the hair that obscured her eyes.
She chewed in her lower lip nervously. What had suddenly given him the confidence to do this? Her eyes narrowed.
"Has my dad 'had a word'?" She said, suspicious but playful.
"Your Dad," He began, looking up and making a show of thinking about what to say, "Your Dad is a man of few, but well chosen, words. He's made particularly good use of 'smash' and 'your bollocks' in a warning, which I appreciated, and largely for the imagination in which they were employed. I was most impressed by his use of words to form the sentences 'What are you waiting for, you skinny tosser? She's not waited years for you so you can be the lodger'."
Rose groaned, resting her forehead against his chest in mock despair. He giggled, planting an affectionate kiss on the top of her head. Looking down, she put her hands against his chest and breathed in. He took hold of her wrists and pulled them up to his shoulders, and she looked up into his face, the distance between them gone. She closed her eyes for a moment, one last little moment of hesitation inside her. Silently, she sent a pointless little psychic message to the other Doctor, telling him that it was going to be OK, that she was going to give everything she could to this other life, so that somehow, he would have that life.
Before she'd even finished the thought, she felt his mouth against hers, and she melted into him, hands running through that great hair, his arms pulling her so close, the force of the kiss pushing her against the work surface. He reached under her top, his warm hands on the silky skin of her back and she arched into it, as he began to trail kisses down her neck. She took a gasping breath as his tongue traced a line up to her ear and he sucked in the lobe. She chuckled a little.
"That tongue of yours, I bet it could do anything."
"Rose Tyler, is that a challenge?" He said softly into her ear. She pulled back, and they were nose to nose.
"I think it is, Doctor. Are you up for it?" She smiled wickedly.
He pressed himself against her purposefully.
"I would say that I am clearly up for anything. There's one thing though. Your mother needs to be certain she won't have to bang on the door, so..." He reached round and fished in his back pocket, retrieving a small box, "I came prepared!" He raised an eyebrow and Rose burst out out laughing.
"Shh.. you'll get everyone running in here." He chided.
"Well you're not having me in the kitchen anyway." Rose was indignant.
"Aw, I thought we were going for domestic." He sounded genuinely disappointed.
"Yeah well, when we've got our own place, you can take me in every room, but while my parents are still awake, we're going to my bedroom." She took his hand and led him through the door.
~~~
Characters: Rose/Ten, Jackie, Pete, Tony
Rating: R
Summary: What happens next, and all that.
Disclaimer: Oh, they're not mine. But maybe I'm in the parallel universe and they are... Ok, I'm not.
~~~
A week later, and things had fallen into an awkward routine. Jackie had been bustling and organizing the Doctor, sorting out clothes, and fussing the admin department of Torchwood for new credentials and paperwork.
Tony had taken an instant like to the Doctor, making a beeline for him every time he walked in the room, and the Doctor had enjoyed giving focused attention to the toddler. They were alike in many ways, Rose thought, and not just the 'newness' of this Doctor. It was the very Doctorishness of him that made him like the small child, eager and inquisitive. Rose wondered idly if, were it not for the safety aspect, a small child would be the ideal companion for him.
Well, for the other Doctor, anyway. She halted the thought right there. She wouldn't allow herself to dwell on it, or she knew she might feel compelled to break open reality to find him again.
Pete had been impassive, watching everything and saying very little. He'd always been a little less trusting of the Doctor than her dad in the other universe, but Rose sensed that wasn't it. He was a good judge of character - he had been right about the Doctor's inadequacies after the birth of the new cybermen - and he wasn't hostile. He was just watching.
Rose hadn't been on a bed with the Doctor since the hotel, and the only kisses they had shared since then were chaste goodnight kisses, under the full glare of Jackie, and the quiet gaze of Pete.
The Doctor seemed, understandably, nervous, and Rose was getting a bit ticked off. She was trying to get her own feelings straight, and her parents were busy focusing on the Doctor - either to make him him falter or to spruce him up, she couldn't tell. But it was annoying; mostly, she realized, because by him holding back like this, she was beginning to see how much she actually wanted him. She didn't want her parents in on that, for some reason. Wanted to realize that by herself, not by design.
"Rose, love, a word." Pete said. Rose frowned and followed him into the kitchen. It was evening, the sun setting in autumn, and the windows in this house were enormous, so there was a pinkish glow over everything.
"What?" Rose said, feeling a little like a naughty kid about to get rumbled.
"You think it's not him, right?"
"I.. I don't know yet." She faltered.
"Let me tell you something, little Rosie. When Jackie first came here, she wasn't my Jackie. She literally wasn't her. She'd lived a different life, thought different things, turned out very different. And it bothered me at first, because it should. But over time, I just couldn't get away from the fact that everything that made her Jackie was still there. And if I loved Jackie, and I did, was there really anything stopping me loving her? And by then, we'd started building our own memories, so, you know, it was good." He leaned over the central work surface, thoughtfully, occasionally making eye-contact to drive home a point.
"Yeah, I know where you're going with this, and it's not the same. He's not the same man from a parallel universe, is he? He's new. It's different." She didn't mean to sound quite so dismissive.
"Yes, it is different, Rose. Because he's not the same man from a parallel universe. He didn't live a life without ever knowing you, didn't have the last however many years thinking different thoughts to the man in the other universe, making different choices. He is the man from the other universe. He is still everything you spent years telling us you wanted. You have shared memories, a shared life - Jackie and I never had that, we had to start from scratch." Pete stood up, and put his hand tenderly on her cheek.
"I... I..." She tried to speak, but only sobs came.
"He gave up everything for you. And yes, there's still another him in another universe, and he'll go on forever. Do you think that man, who gave you up in the hopes that he could make you happy, would want you to waste away without at least trying to live the life he wanted for you?" Pete finished, and enveloped her in his biggest, daddiest hug.
~~~
It was much later, and the sunset hues had long passed as Rose made herself a cup of tea in the kitchen. She squeezed out the teabag, setting it down on the surface. Mum would faff about that, of course, but she didn't really care right now. She sipped the tea, and held the the mug with both hands, staring at the green splash-back tiles.
"Any in the pot for me?" A voice said, and she smiled into the mug, without turning.
"There's no pot, you throwback. It's squeeze a teabag in your cup and like it."
She could feel him standing behind her now, his breath in her hair, and she saw his hands circle round her and fold over her own.
"How about I just take this one?" She could tell he was grinning. She let him take the mug and turned to face him. He took a step back and raised it to his mouth, looking her right in the eye as he did so. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Jackie had incinerated the blue suit. His hair was still insanely great.
"So, tea in a kitchen. Don't get much more domestic than this." He said.
"Yeah. You liking your new domestic life?" Rose asked, unsure. There was no-one else around, and he was much less nervous suddenly.
"Well, it's not exactly that domestic. Not like I've got a desk job, I'm working for Torchwood." He moved forward to set the mug down behind her, but didn't step back. "But I am liking tea, in the kitchen."
He was right in her personal space. It shouldn't make her feel quite as unnerved as she did - they'd practically inhabited each other's space when she was full time on the TARDIS, and although she loved it, it hadn't made her feel quite like this. Her heart was racing, and she realized it was because he'd never looked at her in quite such an unguarded way. He was looking into her, and reached up to sweep away the hair that obscured her eyes.
She chewed in her lower lip nervously. What had suddenly given him the confidence to do this? Her eyes narrowed.
"Has my dad 'had a word'?" She said, suspicious but playful.
"Your Dad," He began, looking up and making a show of thinking about what to say, "Your Dad is a man of few, but well chosen, words. He's made particularly good use of 'smash' and 'your bollocks' in a warning, which I appreciated, and largely for the imagination in which they were employed. I was most impressed by his use of words to form the sentences 'What are you waiting for, you skinny tosser? She's not waited years for you so you can be the lodger'."
Rose groaned, resting her forehead against his chest in mock despair. He giggled, planting an affectionate kiss on the top of her head. Looking down, she put her hands against his chest and breathed in. He took hold of her wrists and pulled them up to his shoulders, and she looked up into his face, the distance between them gone. She closed her eyes for a moment, one last little moment of hesitation inside her. Silently, she sent a pointless little psychic message to the other Doctor, telling him that it was going to be OK, that she was going to give everything she could to this other life, so that somehow, he would have that life.
Before she'd even finished the thought, she felt his mouth against hers, and she melted into him, hands running through that great hair, his arms pulling her so close, the force of the kiss pushing her against the work surface. He reached under her top, his warm hands on the silky skin of her back and she arched into it, as he began to trail kisses down her neck. She took a gasping breath as his tongue traced a line up to her ear and he sucked in the lobe. She chuckled a little.
"That tongue of yours, I bet it could do anything."
"Rose Tyler, is that a challenge?" He said softly into her ear. She pulled back, and they were nose to nose.
"I think it is, Doctor. Are you up for it?" She smiled wickedly.
He pressed himself against her purposefully.
"I would say that I am clearly up for anything. There's one thing though. Your mother needs to be certain she won't have to bang on the door, so..." He reached round and fished in his back pocket, retrieving a small box, "I came prepared!" He raised an eyebrow and Rose burst out out laughing.
"Shh.. you'll get everyone running in here." He chided.
"Well you're not having me in the kitchen anyway." Rose was indignant.
"Aw, I thought we were going for domestic." He sounded genuinely disappointed.
"Yeah well, when we've got our own place, you can take me in every room, but while my parents are still awake, we're going to my bedroom." She took his hand and led him through the door.
~~~