Fic: One Night In Paris (1&2 of ?)
Title: One Night In Paris (1&2 of ?)
Author: Vicki/
kimori1024
Characters/Pairing: Doctor (9)/Rose (only characters so far)
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None that I can see
Summary: The Doctor promises Rose a holiday and they end up in Paris France, 1979. Rose is thrilled, but why is the Doctor so on edge?
Disclaimer: I don’t own Doctor Who or any of the characters as the BBC has the prior claim. I really don’t own anything but my own mind and on most days that is an uncertainty... A/N: First 2 chapters of a new fanfiction that has been nagging to be written for the past 2 months... I really hope y'all like it ^_^ It’s un-beta’d as always, so any mistakes are my own. Please let me know what you think & Comments are Love!
Archived: A Teaspoon and an Open Mind
Chapter 1 -
The TARDIS had once again missed the time zone by about twenty five years, and the country completely, but Rose didn’t care. It was Paris, it was Spring, it was 1979, and it was beautiful. By the scowl on the Doctor’s face when they’d landed, she didn’t know what to expect outside the doors. Last time he’d made that look, they’d ended up running away from some pretty nasty nitrogen based duck-like creatures. She’d nearly gotten her head bitten off and she had just done her hair too. It was supposed to be Barcelona for a holiday and The Doctor swore up and down to her that the TARDIS had been dragged off course by the gravitational pull of some giant egg that had threatened the universe’s existence; it wasn’t his fault at all. But she’d seen the grin on his face; a holiday would have been too domestic for him, would it? Now, he denied that was true, so she made him promise to take her on a proper holiday and if those were his true intensions originally, he couldn’t object. They argued a bit, she won and he’d agreed to take her to Barcelona on Earth at least. But now they’d missed their destination and ending up in Paris, and Rose was thrilled.
The Doctor was staring angrily at the scanner and muttering only what Rose could assume to be Gallifreyian obscenities under his breath. She also noticed that he seemed to be dangerously close to hitting his head against the console. He must just be angry that he finally had no excuse but to take her on holiday. Good, she deserved this after nearly escaping giant birds that destroyed her hair with slime; he’d just have to except that a girl needs a break every once in a while. Ignoring her traveling companion, Rose skipped over to the door and peeked out. It was even better than the view on the scanner and the air smelled of pastries and wine. Perfect. She stepped out a bit and saw couples walking by; everything just looked so romantic. Now only f she could get in some of that, Mickey wasn’t exactly Don Juan and the Doctor, well; she couldn’t say she hadn’t tried. She wondered sometimes if he saw her as any more than just an ape. She side glanced back through the open TARDIS door; he still looked perplexed at something, but maybe once he got outside and felt this and saw it, she knew he’d feel better. And maybe, even something more... She quickly turned away and back to the city before her, attempting to push down any thoughts that were now sprouting in her mind. She focused on all of the other people in the park, or what she assumed was a park that they had landed in and promptly decided that her clothes wouldn’t do. She reentered the TARDIS and headed toward the wardrobe; 1979, she could have fun with this.
The TARDIS seemed excited about this whole thing as well. the wardrobe room had been moved to right beside Rose’s own bedroom. She ran in happily, and found before her an array of retro gear. She was sure that the Doctor would have a fit at the amount of time she was taking on picking out her outfit, even to her it felt like she’d bee searching for the perfect pieces for hours. But at last, she’d found the perfect outfit down to every last detail. If she was in Paris on holiday with the Doctor, she was going to make this count. She’d found the perfect mini skirt made of some sort of scarlet red material and a matching top that tied around her chest and billowed out to just about the waist of the skirt. The sleeves were off the shoulder and ruffled at the shoulders coming to a bell shape at her finger tips. She toped it all off with knee high red leather boots with nearly impossible four inch heels. When she was outside, she had also noticed a slight nip in the air, so for good measure, she found a perfect pale pink trench coat and a white cassimere scarf. She even found a cute round hat that she couldn’t resist. With one last look in the mirror and the TARDIS’s woman to woman hum of approval, Rose was finally ready for her holiday.
“Doctor?” Rose prompted as she entered the console room. She let the scarf hang down and the coat was closed but not buttoned, she’d thought a lot about how to make the first appearance in her outfit. She knew he would criticize it anyway, but she couldn’t help but try.
He looked up when she called his name, but the look on his face was nearly unreadable. His mouth was open and she waited for a snarky comment, but none came. He looked like he’d seen a ghost and Rose even did a double take behind her to make sure one of those duck things hadn’t found its way on board.
“Do I really look that bad?” Rose asked, a little worried. She took the round hat off of her head and thumbed it nervously in her hands.
“Um, you, ahem,” The Doctor cleared his throat as his voice cracked. “You look... nice...” He nodded his head and his eyes followed her as she moved past him over towards the doors. “Where’d you get that, uh, coat... and hat?”
“The wardrobe? Ya like, then? Or do I just look nice for a human?” She accentuated the last part to her best northern accent in an attempt to lighten the mood. She had to admit, she liked that he was paying attention to what she was wearing, but the look on his face made her a bit uncomfortable. Well, at least he didn’t look like he was being tormented anymore. “Doctor, you alright?”
“Oh, yeah, fine.” He shook his head as if coming out of a daze. In a few long strides he was by her side and held out his hand. He let out a long sigh. “Ready?”
“Yep!” Rose grinned back at him, slipping her hand into his and twisted her fingers through his long digits. With her free hand, she placed her hat back over her blonde hair and turned to him, tongue slyly between her teeth. “Holiday in Paris, what could possibly go wrong?”
“You’re going to make me regret this aren’t you?” She could tell that whatever had been bothering him lingered a bit, but her smile was contagious and soon he was grinning back.
“Why, whatever do you mean?” Relaxed by his smile and the feel of his hand, she looked up at him with her best innocent little-girl look, but with her tongue still firmly playing peek-a-boo. With one last squeeze of his hand, she pushed open the doors, and they ran out into the holiday sun.
Chapter 2 -
They’d spent a half hour wandering by the time Rose had realized that they’d defiantly be needing some sort of guide. Since stepping out of the TARDIS, the Doctor had seemed completely preoccupied with something else. He seemed to be on the look out for someone or something. He promised a holiday, she did not want another giant duck incident.
“Doctor, we’re not going to be attacked by aliens or anythin’, are we? remember, you said holiday, as in relaxation....” Rose eyed the Time Lord suspiciously.
“No, we are in no danger, I swear.” He looked down at Rose as he spoke, taking a rare break from surveying their surroundings. “How about we go to the Louvre or something?” He smiled and began to pull her in the direction of the museum. “We’re within walking distance, you know.”
Rose stopped and pulled his arm back for a moment causing him to stop. “Yeah, Doctor, I know we’re in walkin’ distance, we passed in ten minutes ago when you said you didn’t want to go.”
“Well, I want to go now.” He gave her a pouting face, but she wasn’t having any of it.
“Why couldn’t we ‘ave gone then?” She sighed and loosened, letting him pull her in the direction of their destination again. “You just seemed so dead set against going in...”
“Well that was ten minutes ago, as you so kindly pointed out.” He grinned and strode along, Rose taking two or three steps for every one of his. “Strange when things spark your fancy. Can’t wait to see the Mona Lisa!”
“Really?” she asked slyly, now picking up pace to match his. “I heard it was nuthin’ special to look at. Just a painting of some depressed woman with no eyebrows.”
“Oh, Rose! It is a masterpiece! In fact, I knew old Leonardo personally at the time he painted it! Beautiful piece of priceless artwork.” He smiled brilliantly now. She loved when he started to talk like this. You could just feel the energy around him when he was passionate about something; the excitement was just so contagious. suddenly, his head and dipped down, millimeters away from her’s. His lips brushed past her ear and she could feel his warm breath tickling her cheek, the musky smell of leather mingled with the scent that was uniquely Doctor filled her senses. Her breath caught in her throat as he spoke oh so quietly, “But, d’ya know what Rose? Between you and me, you’re right; she was an absolutely dreadful woman.” He laughed and pulled away and she was once again left with only his hand and a racing heart. When she looked up again, after allowing sufficient time to let the flush in her cheeks that had nothing to do with the breeze die down, she noticed that they must have been walking the whole time; for now they were at the art museum and he was holding the door open for her.
“After you, my lady?” The Doctor smiled, bowing his head slightly. She slapped him on the chest playfully and they walked in hand in hand.
“Oh, am I a lady now?” she asked, tongue between her teeth. She flipped the tassels at the end of the scarf in his face. The Doctor smiled back at her, but she could see his eyes were somewhere else; not really looking, just there. But before she had a chance to say anything, his eyes sparkled again and his hand jerked her toward a gallery.
The two of them browsed the galleries of priceless artwork, paintings, sculptures and various masterpieces. Rose honestly thought it would be a bit more interesting. She looked over at the Doctor who seemed to be quite enjoying himself and actually seemed to be relaxed for the first time since they’d arrived. She watched his blue eyes wander over each piece, like a child looking over a shelf of toys in a shop. He probably met half of these artists, most likely knew them personally. Whenever she pondered over what his past must have been like, she always felt herself become overwhelmed; this time was no different.
His cool fingers were suddenly entwined in her’s and her thoughts were broken. He once again pulled her arm down another corridor with determined steps until he stopped abruptly, thereby causing her to softly hit his back.
“Well, here she is!” he spoke. It was his satisfied tone mixed with the ‘I’m just too brilliant for my own good’ tone that Rose had grown accustomed to.
Rose followed the Doctor’s gaze to the painting on the wall. Well, it was more or less encased in some sort of dead lock barrier, but it was still clearly visible through the glass. There was the Mona Lisa starring back at her. She looked back at the Doctor’s face and it was still complacent, a broad grin leading from ear to ear. She looked back to the painting and then back to his expression, though she still couldn’t figure out why he was so smug about this. She was sure he hadn’t painted the damn thing; at least she didn’t think so.
His hand had pulled away from her’s by now and his sonic screwdriver was out and was busily scanning the front of the glass pane. His eyes were intense as he followed each movement of the blue light. He stopped for a brief moment and then continued with one more flick of his wrist.
Rose looked around them; somehow, she doubted that a sonic screwdriver was common on 1970s earth, hell they weren’t exactly on the top of everybody’s shopping list in 2007. There were more than a few odd looks sent their way and now a tour group was heading towards them. She nudged the Doctor with her elbow as he placed his device into an inner pocket and smiled broadly, rolling back on his heels.
“Perfect,” he said, clearly all self-satisfied tone this time around. He must have been too caught up in his ego to notice Rose’s nudge, so she took the opportunity to break his bubble with a small jab to the back of his leg with her not so dull boot tip as he mumbled something about how fantastically brilliant he was.
“Ow, Rose, what was that for?” That had gotten his attention at least.
“I somehow doubt that the sonic screwdriver was invented before the cell phone,” she whispered sarcastically at his faux-innocent face. “Don’t give me that look Doctor, this is supposed to be a holiday and I don’t want to be pulled in by the police or nuthin’; or even god knows you’ll attract some sort of evil alien menace with three eyes with that thing. Holiday, alright?”
“Just needed to check something,” he retorted. “Anyway, he only had one.”
“What?” Rose didn’t quite catch the last part, but he was already striding ahead of her. She was still standing there pondering what he’d just said when he turned his head to the side, glancing back at her.
“Coming? I’m pretty hungry, let’s get something to eat.” he reached his hand backward as he continued to walk ahead. Sighing deeply, Rose pushed the length of her scarf back over her shoulder and ran to catch up with him, thrusting her hand into his. As she continued to jog to keep up with his pace, she vaguely wondered if there was anything known as a simple holiday to the Doctor.