Support Stacie Fic: On Sanctuary Base Six , for papilio_luna
Title: On Sanctuary Base Six
Author: ladychi
Beta Babe: unfolded73
Rating: Teen
Summary: Missing scenes from The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit.
Author's Notes: Written for papilio_luna for the Support Stacie auction. She requested Season Two-style will-they-won't-they UST. Thank you to unfolded73 for doing the most fantastic beta job ever, and saving me from a mid-evening freak-out.
On Sanctuary Base Six
"It's a bit different than what you're describing," Ida explained. "Sorting by color does us no good here. You've got three basic types of fabrics, which you can discern by feel. There's the natural stuff, which feels a bit fuzzy and soft. Not much of that around here. It's too flammable, but most of us have a few nice things in that we'll need washed from time to time. There's the stiffer fabric that we use for under-spacesuit wear, and finally you've got just your polyesters, which are sort of smooth. Just sort them into those piles, the computer does the rest." She leaned across Rose and tapped a few buttons on the machine. "So you select the type of fabric, and then the cycle type -- most of us just use the hot-cold-medium-hot option..."
Rose nodded, but couldn't help feeling like perhaps she ought to be taking notes. "The machine dries and then folds the clothes, but you'll be responsible for stacking them into piles," Ida continued. "Each crew member has their number stitched in the inseam of their standard-issue clothing and most of them have their personal items marked, as well. Anything not marked you can put in that bin over there," she gestured to a barrel. "That's the lost-and-found."
"What about the Ood?"
"They do their own laundry on the night shift," Ida said. "You won't encounter many of them here."
"They're sort of..."
"They take some getting used to," Ida admitted, "but I doubt we'd be able to do what we do around here without them."
Rose bit her lip. If they were going to be stranded, millions of years into her future, she would have to learn to accept a different human culture -- even one that enslaved alien races. At least for the time being.
"Right." Rose put her hands in her pockets. "Thank you, Ida. I'd best get to work." She looked around at the piles of laundry stacked haphazardly around the room.
"We do live a bit like teenagers," Ida said with a smile, "so we appreciate the help."
"Right." The door closed behind Idea and Rose wiped her hands on her jeans determinedly. "From lunch lady to laundress. Oh well, the Doctor never said it'd be glamorous."
**
"So." Zack stared at his computer, ignoring the man fiddling with controls behind him. "Rose. She's your..."
"Friend. Traveling companion," the Doctor elaborated. "We sort of... pop in and about together. Wandering around the universe, doing this and that."
"Beautiful girl like that, and she's only your friend?" Zack shrugged. "To each his own, I guess."
"It's... complicated," the Doctor allowed, tapping at the keys in front of him. "Rose is...."
"Had a girl that was complicated back home," Zack said. "She was a hell of a girl, though."
The Doctor half-smiled. "So's Rose."
There was a long pause.
"I am sorry," Zack said solemnly, "about your ship."
"Wellll," the Doctor pulled out an oblong metallic objection from his pocket with a sonic beam at the end and aimed it at a console, nodding in satisfaction at whatever he read there. "She's a bit tricky, is the TARDIS. She's out there, somewhere. I just have to find her."
Zack nodded, but didn't seem convinced.
**
It was completely dark. Rose hadn't realized how difficult it would be to sleep in complete darkness. Even on the TARDIS, there was a digital alarm clock close to her bed that blinked on and off in a steady LCD blue glow. The complete void of any light was oppressive, reaching down to strangle her. She reached over to her cell phone and clicked it on, finding the dull light somehow reassuring.
The door squeaked open. "Rose?"
"Doctor?" She sat up, blinking her eyes rapidly at the rush of light from the hallway.
"There's a shortage of space," the Doctor said, sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. "We've got the same quarters." He looked around. "The same... really small quarters. Welllll. Bigger on the inside's a bit of a luxury I suppose, and really far off in their future, so. I told them...." He coughed. "I told them you'd be all right with that?"
"Yeah," Rose said, flipping on the light and scooting over. "Yes, of course. That's... come on in."
The Doctor stepped inside and the door snicked closed behind him. He stood, surveying the space for a long moment, before he spoke again. "So, I'll just..."
"You could --" Rose said at the same time, and blushed. "I'm sorry, you can go first."
"It's not important," the Doctor said, ruffling the back of his neck.
"It's just that I'm having a hard time sleeping," Rose admitted. "It's very different than the TARDIS, being on this ship."
A slow smile crossed the Doctor's face. "Want a bit of a cuddle?"
Rose grinned. "Yeah, thanks. If you want to."
The Doctor nodded and immediately went to work, removing his jacket and tie.
"You don't have to," Rose said suddenly. The rustling on the end of the bed stopped, and a dark head of rooster-like hair popped up inquisitively.
"I don't have to what?"
"Cuddle with me. You can go... muck about with the engineers or something," she said, her eyes firmly closed as though to ward off what was taking place at the moment.
"Ah," the Doctor said, and his awareness was punctuated by the sharp sting of a trainer hitting the wall opposite the bed -- not much of a feat considering there was only about two feet of space between the end of the bed and the wall. "I've needed a nap for a few days."
He stood at the end of the bed, undecided, for a long moment, and then he flicked off the light. Rose found herself holding her breath, not really daring to hope, until she felt him slide against her, wrapping one surprisingly strong arm around her waist. The fabric of his trousers rubbed pleasantly against the skin of her thighs, and she wished, for a moment, that she had worn longer bottoms.
The silence and the darkness seemed to weigh them both down, because the Doctor's breath behind her seemed more labored than it usually was. She held perfectly still, unwilling to move and disturb him. Slowly, though, the stiff position she held her body in became uncomfortable, and she relaxed more against him. She could feel his finger rub slowly back and forth against her forearm, and his feet angled to point towards hers. His hair brushed up against her neck, and she held back the giggle that threatened to escape from her throat.
His hand went from stroking her arm to covering her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. A great tension released inside of her, and she closed her eyes.
Trying not to think about how even his slightly-lower body temperature felt like the most perfect heater and blanket, and how if she pressed her bum backwards a bit she might be even warmer, or how pleasurable it would be to have him run his hands over her instead of the innocent way they held hands, she sighed. "Goodnight, Doctor."
His hand squeezed hers. "Goodnight, Rose."
**
"He's not hard to look at, that man of yours," Ida said, while they broke their fast in the cafeteria together.
"Just a bit foxy," Rose said, grinning. It was one thing she'd found, traveling all over the universe with the Doctor: gossip was still one of the most frequently used forms of entertainment. It made her a little less homesick for Shareen and gab sessions about hair and men.
"And that hair!" Ida said, gesturing toward her own. "Hair like that is wasted on a man."
Rose laughed. "He's got great hair."
"How's he measure up in other areas?" Ida leaned forward. "I'm not on duty. I'm allowed to be as nosy as I like, and you're allowed to tell me to toss off."
"Oh," Rose said, pushing the food around her plate. "We're not exactly like that."
"Really?" Ida shook her head. "I thought for sure you were."
"It's complicated." Rose rubbed under her eyes. "And... confusing, all at the same time."
Ida made a sympathetic sound. "Hot and cold, is he?"
"Sort of, yeah," Rose said. "Not on purpose, though, really. I think he doesn't really know. Or maybe he does. He's a bit difficult to figure out. Sort of... alien."
"Men are different species," Ida said sagely. "And whatever language they're speaking, it's not the one we do. And yet, the human race continues on, don't we? Miracle, honestly."
Rose grinned and finished off the last of her water. "Exactly."
**
"Sorry to disturb you, mate, but you look like you've had an anvil dropped on your head," Captain Zack said, squeezing the Doctor's shoulder. "Something wrong?"
"What? Oh me? Nothing, nothing at all. Everything's perfect under the sun. Or, under the intense gravitational pull of a black hole, as I guess would be considerably more appropriate. Peachy, me."
Zack narrowed his eyes. "You sure about that?"
"Yeah," the Doctor said. "Just... you know, I am very, very old."
"Nonsense," Zack said, waving a hand.
"Oh, I don't look it, but I am." The Doctor smiled. "And after all these centuries of living, after everything I've seen, do you know what I'm most surprised by?"
"What?"
"People. Humans. You are...unfathomable, at the best of times. Incomprehensible, at the worst."
"Ah, women trouble," Zack said, smiling. "Only one way to fix that."
"Oh?"
"Death. They only stop being trouble when you're dead, Doctor. And that's the honest truth."
The Doctor laughed.
**
After it was all over, after the beast in the pit and pushing a man out of a spaceship and saying goodbye and the best hug of her entire life, Rose lingered in the kitchen of the TARDIS, her hands wrapped around a mug of tea, one leg crossed over the other. The Doctor entered and looked a little surprised to see her.
"I thought you were for bed," he said, reaching into a cabinet for a mug.
"Couldn't sleep," Rose said. "Or... I didn't want to try, just yet. I think I'm going to miss it."
"Being in one place?" the Doctor asked.
"I was thinking more Ida and Zack and Danny," Rose said.
"We could go back, visit your mum, if you wanted to," the Doctor said.
Rose shook her head. "No, thanks. Maybe we'll see them again, yeah?"
"It's possible," the Doctor allowed. "It would be a coincidence of nearly impossible odds, but it's possible."
"Good," Rose said, and rubbed her eyes. "Long, scary day."
"It was, that." The Doctor took her hand and squeezed it. "Are you all right?"
Acting on impulse, Rose brought his palm to her cheek and laid her head against it. "I'll be all right, yeah. It's good to be back home."
The Doctor's face broke into a grin, and he gently tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Nothing like the TARDIS."
"You do sort of miss your own bed," Rose said. "And the sound of the engines."
"Well." The Doctor dropped his palm and dumped his mug of tea out in the sink. "I'm going to go fix the gretyk stabilizer. I'll see you in the morning."
Stunned at how fast the conversation had turned, Rose blinked and nodded. "All right. Good night, Doctor."
**
Safe in her own bed again, Rose was just about to turn off the light when she saw a familiar outline in the door. He didn't pause this time, just headed straight to her side, his hair standing nearly straight up, and she could tell his hands had been in it.
"Here's the thing. My dilemma, if you will. My problem." The Doctor sat down in a chair next to her bed, but quickly found that uncomfortable, immediately standing again. "Rose Tyler, you are..." he gestured wildly. "Addictive. Heady. Like taking a shot of tequila much too quickly."
Her stomach turned, and her heart beat erratically. "What are you saying?"
"I'm going to miss the sanctuary base, too." The Doctor rubbed his neck. "Because it gave me an excuse."
"Doctor, you don't really need an excuse," Rose said. "You could just... ask."
"It's not like that. It's... the Time Lords..." he sighed, and gestured at the bed. "Can I sit?"
"Yeah," Rose said, sitting up and patting the bed. "Come on."
He sat, and he sat close, close enough that their thighs were touching and the heat from his body burned hers. It wasn't new, they often sat like this, but there was something different tonight. Something that had started with cuddling to cure insomnia and led to talk of mortgages and now... this. He grasped her hand in his own. "I..."
"It was nice," Rose said, squeezing his hand. "On the Sanctuary Base."
"Yes. Yeah, it was that," the Doctor agreed. "It can't... I can't..."
"You don't have to," Rose said. "It doesn't have to change, Doctor. We can just be us, right?"
"Everything changes," the Doctor said, his eyes somehow sad, a look that always made Rose want to kiss him until he smiled. "You're human, you're going to want a mortgage and promises and carpets..."
"I want you," Rose said, and blushed fiercely. "And this life, and... everything about it, yeah? Don't worry about me needing those things."
"I want you to stay," the Doctor said.
"All right," Rose said, smiling. "Forever, yeah?"
A slow smile broke across his face. "Yeah."
"Good." Rose laid back down, mostly so she wouldn't follow through on her urge to seal that promise with something more symbolic -- like a good heavy snog.
He reached for her hand and turned it over, gently kissing the pulse point of her wrist, leaning over slowly, until his eyes were right above hers. Slowly, his lips lowered, until she could feel them -- almost feel them, but she knew they weren't really touching. Suddenly, he straightened and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I can't really... I..."
"Doctor --"
He was nearly out the door, but she heard him say "good night", just before it shut with a click.
Rose fell back to her bed, confusion rolling around in her brain, but just before she finally fell asleep, she had one single thought. "Finally."
Author: ladychi
Beta Babe: unfolded73
Rating: Teen
Summary: Missing scenes from The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit.
Author's Notes: Written for papilio_luna for the Support Stacie auction. She requested Season Two-style will-they-won't-they UST. Thank you to unfolded73 for doing the most fantastic beta job ever, and saving me from a mid-evening freak-out.
On Sanctuary Base Six
"It's a bit different than what you're describing," Ida explained. "Sorting by color does us no good here. You've got three basic types of fabrics, which you can discern by feel. There's the natural stuff, which feels a bit fuzzy and soft. Not much of that around here. It's too flammable, but most of us have a few nice things in that we'll need washed from time to time. There's the stiffer fabric that we use for under-spacesuit wear, and finally you've got just your polyesters, which are sort of smooth. Just sort them into those piles, the computer does the rest." She leaned across Rose and tapped a few buttons on the machine. "So you select the type of fabric, and then the cycle type -- most of us just use the hot-cold-medium-hot option..."
Rose nodded, but couldn't help feeling like perhaps she ought to be taking notes. "The machine dries and then folds the clothes, but you'll be responsible for stacking them into piles," Ida continued. "Each crew member has their number stitched in the inseam of their standard-issue clothing and most of them have their personal items marked, as well. Anything not marked you can put in that bin over there," she gestured to a barrel. "That's the lost-and-found."
"What about the Ood?"
"They do their own laundry on the night shift," Ida said. "You won't encounter many of them here."
"They're sort of..."
"They take some getting used to," Ida admitted, "but I doubt we'd be able to do what we do around here without them."
Rose bit her lip. If they were going to be stranded, millions of years into her future, she would have to learn to accept a different human culture -- even one that enslaved alien races. At least for the time being.
"Right." Rose put her hands in her pockets. "Thank you, Ida. I'd best get to work." She looked around at the piles of laundry stacked haphazardly around the room.
"We do live a bit like teenagers," Ida said with a smile, "so we appreciate the help."
"Right." The door closed behind Idea and Rose wiped her hands on her jeans determinedly. "From lunch lady to laundress. Oh well, the Doctor never said it'd be glamorous."
**
"So." Zack stared at his computer, ignoring the man fiddling with controls behind him. "Rose. She's your..."
"Friend. Traveling companion," the Doctor elaborated. "We sort of... pop in and about together. Wandering around the universe, doing this and that."
"Beautiful girl like that, and she's only your friend?" Zack shrugged. "To each his own, I guess."
"It's... complicated," the Doctor allowed, tapping at the keys in front of him. "Rose is...."
"Had a girl that was complicated back home," Zack said. "She was a hell of a girl, though."
The Doctor half-smiled. "So's Rose."
There was a long pause.
"I am sorry," Zack said solemnly, "about your ship."
"Wellll," the Doctor pulled out an oblong metallic objection from his pocket with a sonic beam at the end and aimed it at a console, nodding in satisfaction at whatever he read there. "She's a bit tricky, is the TARDIS. She's out there, somewhere. I just have to find her."
Zack nodded, but didn't seem convinced.
**
It was completely dark. Rose hadn't realized how difficult it would be to sleep in complete darkness. Even on the TARDIS, there was a digital alarm clock close to her bed that blinked on and off in a steady LCD blue glow. The complete void of any light was oppressive, reaching down to strangle her. She reached over to her cell phone and clicked it on, finding the dull light somehow reassuring.
The door squeaked open. "Rose?"
"Doctor?" She sat up, blinking her eyes rapidly at the rush of light from the hallway.
"There's a shortage of space," the Doctor said, sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. "We've got the same quarters." He looked around. "The same... really small quarters. Welllll. Bigger on the inside's a bit of a luxury I suppose, and really far off in their future, so. I told them...." He coughed. "I told them you'd be all right with that?"
"Yeah," Rose said, flipping on the light and scooting over. "Yes, of course. That's... come on in."
The Doctor stepped inside and the door snicked closed behind him. He stood, surveying the space for a long moment, before he spoke again. "So, I'll just..."
"You could --" Rose said at the same time, and blushed. "I'm sorry, you can go first."
"It's not important," the Doctor said, ruffling the back of his neck.
"It's just that I'm having a hard time sleeping," Rose admitted. "It's very different than the TARDIS, being on this ship."
A slow smile crossed the Doctor's face. "Want a bit of a cuddle?"
Rose grinned. "Yeah, thanks. If you want to."
The Doctor nodded and immediately went to work, removing his jacket and tie.
"You don't have to," Rose said suddenly. The rustling on the end of the bed stopped, and a dark head of rooster-like hair popped up inquisitively.
"I don't have to what?"
"Cuddle with me. You can go... muck about with the engineers or something," she said, her eyes firmly closed as though to ward off what was taking place at the moment.
"Ah," the Doctor said, and his awareness was punctuated by the sharp sting of a trainer hitting the wall opposite the bed -- not much of a feat considering there was only about two feet of space between the end of the bed and the wall. "I've needed a nap for a few days."
He stood at the end of the bed, undecided, for a long moment, and then he flicked off the light. Rose found herself holding her breath, not really daring to hope, until she felt him slide against her, wrapping one surprisingly strong arm around her waist. The fabric of his trousers rubbed pleasantly against the skin of her thighs, and she wished, for a moment, that she had worn longer bottoms.
The silence and the darkness seemed to weigh them both down, because the Doctor's breath behind her seemed more labored than it usually was. She held perfectly still, unwilling to move and disturb him. Slowly, though, the stiff position she held her body in became uncomfortable, and she relaxed more against him. She could feel his finger rub slowly back and forth against her forearm, and his feet angled to point towards hers. His hair brushed up against her neck, and she held back the giggle that threatened to escape from her throat.
His hand went from stroking her arm to covering her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. A great tension released inside of her, and she closed her eyes.
Trying not to think about how even his slightly-lower body temperature felt like the most perfect heater and blanket, and how if she pressed her bum backwards a bit she might be even warmer, or how pleasurable it would be to have him run his hands over her instead of the innocent way they held hands, she sighed. "Goodnight, Doctor."
His hand squeezed hers. "Goodnight, Rose."
**
"He's not hard to look at, that man of yours," Ida said, while they broke their fast in the cafeteria together.
"Just a bit foxy," Rose said, grinning. It was one thing she'd found, traveling all over the universe with the Doctor: gossip was still one of the most frequently used forms of entertainment. It made her a little less homesick for Shareen and gab sessions about hair and men.
"And that hair!" Ida said, gesturing toward her own. "Hair like that is wasted on a man."
Rose laughed. "He's got great hair."
"How's he measure up in other areas?" Ida leaned forward. "I'm not on duty. I'm allowed to be as nosy as I like, and you're allowed to tell me to toss off."
"Oh," Rose said, pushing the food around her plate. "We're not exactly like that."
"Really?" Ida shook her head. "I thought for sure you were."
"It's complicated." Rose rubbed under her eyes. "And... confusing, all at the same time."
Ida made a sympathetic sound. "Hot and cold, is he?"
"Sort of, yeah," Rose said. "Not on purpose, though, really. I think he doesn't really know. Or maybe he does. He's a bit difficult to figure out. Sort of... alien."
"Men are different species," Ida said sagely. "And whatever language they're speaking, it's not the one we do. And yet, the human race continues on, don't we? Miracle, honestly."
Rose grinned and finished off the last of her water. "Exactly."
**
"Sorry to disturb you, mate, but you look like you've had an anvil dropped on your head," Captain Zack said, squeezing the Doctor's shoulder. "Something wrong?"
"What? Oh me? Nothing, nothing at all. Everything's perfect under the sun. Or, under the intense gravitational pull of a black hole, as I guess would be considerably more appropriate. Peachy, me."
Zack narrowed his eyes. "You sure about that?"
"Yeah," the Doctor said. "Just... you know, I am very, very old."
"Nonsense," Zack said, waving a hand.
"Oh, I don't look it, but I am." The Doctor smiled. "And after all these centuries of living, after everything I've seen, do you know what I'm most surprised by?"
"What?"
"People. Humans. You are...unfathomable, at the best of times. Incomprehensible, at the worst."
"Ah, women trouble," Zack said, smiling. "Only one way to fix that."
"Oh?"
"Death. They only stop being trouble when you're dead, Doctor. And that's the honest truth."
The Doctor laughed.
**
After it was all over, after the beast in the pit and pushing a man out of a spaceship and saying goodbye and the best hug of her entire life, Rose lingered in the kitchen of the TARDIS, her hands wrapped around a mug of tea, one leg crossed over the other. The Doctor entered and looked a little surprised to see her.
"I thought you were for bed," he said, reaching into a cabinet for a mug.
"Couldn't sleep," Rose said. "Or... I didn't want to try, just yet. I think I'm going to miss it."
"Being in one place?" the Doctor asked.
"I was thinking more Ida and Zack and Danny," Rose said.
"We could go back, visit your mum, if you wanted to," the Doctor said.
Rose shook her head. "No, thanks. Maybe we'll see them again, yeah?"
"It's possible," the Doctor allowed. "It would be a coincidence of nearly impossible odds, but it's possible."
"Good," Rose said, and rubbed her eyes. "Long, scary day."
"It was, that." The Doctor took her hand and squeezed it. "Are you all right?"
Acting on impulse, Rose brought his palm to her cheek and laid her head against it. "I'll be all right, yeah. It's good to be back home."
The Doctor's face broke into a grin, and he gently tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Nothing like the TARDIS."
"You do sort of miss your own bed," Rose said. "And the sound of the engines."
"Well." The Doctor dropped his palm and dumped his mug of tea out in the sink. "I'm going to go fix the gretyk stabilizer. I'll see you in the morning."
Stunned at how fast the conversation had turned, Rose blinked and nodded. "All right. Good night, Doctor."
**
Safe in her own bed again, Rose was just about to turn off the light when she saw a familiar outline in the door. He didn't pause this time, just headed straight to her side, his hair standing nearly straight up, and she could tell his hands had been in it.
"Here's the thing. My dilemma, if you will. My problem." The Doctor sat down in a chair next to her bed, but quickly found that uncomfortable, immediately standing again. "Rose Tyler, you are..." he gestured wildly. "Addictive. Heady. Like taking a shot of tequila much too quickly."
Her stomach turned, and her heart beat erratically. "What are you saying?"
"I'm going to miss the sanctuary base, too." The Doctor rubbed his neck. "Because it gave me an excuse."
"Doctor, you don't really need an excuse," Rose said. "You could just... ask."
"It's not like that. It's... the Time Lords..." he sighed, and gestured at the bed. "Can I sit?"
"Yeah," Rose said, sitting up and patting the bed. "Come on."
He sat, and he sat close, close enough that their thighs were touching and the heat from his body burned hers. It wasn't new, they often sat like this, but there was something different tonight. Something that had started with cuddling to cure insomnia and led to talk of mortgages and now... this. He grasped her hand in his own. "I..."
"It was nice," Rose said, squeezing his hand. "On the Sanctuary Base."
"Yes. Yeah, it was that," the Doctor agreed. "It can't... I can't..."
"You don't have to," Rose said. "It doesn't have to change, Doctor. We can just be us, right?"
"Everything changes," the Doctor said, his eyes somehow sad, a look that always made Rose want to kiss him until he smiled. "You're human, you're going to want a mortgage and promises and carpets..."
"I want you," Rose said, and blushed fiercely. "And this life, and... everything about it, yeah? Don't worry about me needing those things."
"I want you to stay," the Doctor said.
"All right," Rose said, smiling. "Forever, yeah?"
A slow smile broke across his face. "Yeah."
"Good." Rose laid back down, mostly so she wouldn't follow through on her urge to seal that promise with something more symbolic -- like a good heavy snog.
He reached for her hand and turned it over, gently kissing the pulse point of her wrist, leaning over slowly, until his eyes were right above hers. Slowly, his lips lowered, until she could feel them -- almost feel them, but she knew they weren't really touching. Suddenly, he straightened and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I can't really... I..."
"Doctor --"
He was nearly out the door, but she heard him say "good night", just before it shut with a click.
Rose fell back to her bed, confusion rolling around in her brain, but just before she finally fell asleep, she had one single thought. "Finally."