Fic: Inseparable Chapter 6
Title: Inseparable (Doctor Who/Torchwood cross-over)
Chapter: 6
Written by:
mrssjw
Rating: Overall - T... This chapter - PG-13
Spoilers: Anything that happened in Series 3 of Doctor Who and through episode 9 of Torchwood, Series 2.
Characters in this chapter: Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor, TARDIS
Story Summary: She thought they would be together forever; that they were inseparable... but that was before the last day of her life. Now she's back, but she's not the same girl she was. There are things she isn't telling him; won't tell him... with good reason. A trip to visit some old friends in Cardiff cause a lot of these unspoken sentiments to come to the forefront, but not all of them are cheery and bright...
~Not your standard fluffy reunion fic. A darker side to our Golden Rose, with plenty of heated embraces... and yes, a good deal of the sweet fluff-stuff, but it's hard not to indulge!~
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter Setting: The TARDIS (Interior; Console Room); Roald Dahl Plass, Cardiff, Wales, Earth; Late April, 2010.
Within seconds of their return to the TARDIS, the Doctor excused himself from her company, and disappeared into the catacombs of his ship. Frowning thoughtfully, Rose walked around the console, trailing her fingers along the controls. A melodic hum began somewhere in the back of Rose’s mind, and she smiled up at the center column.
“I’m happy to be home, too. How have you been, old girl?”
A mysterious flash of images passed through Roses’ brain. Dirty streets; arrows being flung in the TARDIS; lots of heat and red light, like being inside a furnace; Jack hanging on for dear life; A strange man at the controls… the TARDIS gave a delicate shiver in the woman’s mind. A last image filtered through, although Rose could tell the TARDIS was feeling sick at the memory.
Red light washed every surface of the interior. A large, growling machine had taken over the place of the console. Pain, piercing and vibrant, coursed through the machine, causing the TARDIS to shudder. Someone was killing her slowly.
A hand on Rose’s shoulder made her look up. Somehow she had wrapped an arm around one of the coral columns, and tears were streaming down her face. The Doctor gave her a sympathetic look, unwound her from the column and drew her into his arms. Rose sobbed quietly into his suit jacket. He held her close, letting her cry herself out, while gently stroking her back and hair.
After a few minutes, she lifted her head to look up at him. The Doctor returned her look equally. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face was covered in tear-streaked eye makeup. And yet… she was so beautiful to him. She looked so young just then, and it reminded him of the vast disparity in their ages. He often forgot, since she was clever and quick, and kept him feeling young. He kissed her forehead softly, telling himself there could only be one reason she would be crying like that.
“You must miss them immensely.” He knew what family meant to Rose. Therefore, the Doctor was incredibly surprised when Rose dug into his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief he’d forgotten was in there. Drying her face and wiping her nose, she shot him a look.
“Doctor, we’ve been over this before. Yes, I miss my family, but I missed you more.” She turned away from him and sat in the captain’s bench.
“But, if you weren’t crying because of that, then why?”
“The TARDIS.” Rose’s voice was so soft, he had to take a couple steps to hear her. Yet he kept moving closer, until he was sitting next to her, holding her hand.
“What about her?” The Doctor was no stranger to confusion, but not usually when it concerned his ship.
“She was so sick. In so much pain… How could you let that happen to her?” Well acquainted, too, with Rose’s slightly maternal protective instincts, the Doctor was not surprised by the fierce note in her voice. There was, however, something he needed to know, although he had a sinking feeling that he already knew what her response would be.
“Rose, how did you know the TARDIS was sick?”
“She told me. You certainly didn’t think to tell me a lot things!” An outraged ding rang through his head as his ship took Rose’s side.
I was going to tell her! At least, I think I was… Another ding told the Doctor exactly what the TARDIS thought. It was far from pleasant. He half-wondered if she’d been biding her time, waiting for the right moment to berate him, or if this was merely situational. Another question popped from his mouth before he could stop himself.
“What else?”
“What?”
“What else did she show you?” Rose pursed her lips at him. Not a good sign.
“There were several dirty alleyways, and arrows and the inside of a furnace, and Jack… Then she showed me a man trying to fly the TARDIS, and then-” she swallowed hard, “She was in so much pain. What sort of machine was eating her?”
The Doctor sighed heavily.
“It was a Paradox machine.”
“What?”
“A Paradox Machine. It’s a device that allows two time zones conflict. That’s what a Paradox is.”
“Yeah, I know. Reapers and time wounds and all that. I remember. What I want to know is, why you built a machine to do what you keep saying is so terrible? And why use the TARDIS like that?!”
“First off, I didn’t build that thing. I would never have cannibalized me beautiful ship like that! Secondly, the heart of a TARDIS is the only thing that would have even worked for that machine. It was controlling the Time Vortex; manipulating it to change the course of Human history with its own future.”
Rose was horrified with the image in her mind’s eye. The TARDIS showed her the killer spheres that murdered and attacked without mercy or prejudice, and through it all, the strange man sat laughing.
“He called them ‘toclophane’, but that’s not what they were.” The Doctor said solemnly, and Rose knew the TARDIS was showing them the same things. Rose squeezed his hand lightly.
“Who is he?” she asked quietly. He sighed.
“He was the Master.”
“The Master?” she repeated incredulously, “Bit presumptuous, don’t you think? Who did he think he was, a God?” She finished with a thin smile.
“Actually, yes,” came the Doctor’s reply, lacking humor.
“Oh… well he clearly wasn’t a very nice person.” The Doctor snorted at the understatement.
“No, he was not. A Time Lord gone mad does not generally tend to be nice.”
“He was a Time Lord?” Shock spoke volumes in Rose’s voice. The Doctor rubbed her hand between both of his. There was no two way about it. He had to tell her the entire story… From the beginning. He settled himself back on the bench and put an arm around her shoulders.
Drawing a deep breath, the Doctor told Rose all about the Master. He told her what he had said to Martha and Jack, but he also told her about the history he had with the Master as well. He knew she was listening intently; she kept nibbling on her lower lip. When he got near the end of his tale, he could feel the emotions clog his throat.
“In the end, it was the woman who loved him who pulled the trigger.”
“If he was a Time Lord, why didn’t he just regenerate?” Her softly asked query dug into his hearts. She couldn’t know what it had felt like to know that one was truly the last of your kind. She wouldn’t understand how much it had hurt a second time around, as he watched his species die out before his eyes.
The first time, he’d had her there at his side to remind him to enjoy life, instead of feel the guilt and anguish of being the only survivor. Yet this time, there hadn’t been any Rose to buoy his spirits again. She hadn’t been there to hold his hand and remind him that there was more than sadness and grief to life. He had had no one else to turn to.
“He refused to.” He choked out, “He said that he’d rather die than have to stay with me forever.” Rose stifled a gasp. It was clear the Doctor needed something. Or rather, someone. While she knew she couldn’t give him forever like she wanted to, she could give him the next best thing. Pressing a hand to his left heart, Rose looked up into her Doctor’s eyes. They were swimming with the loneliness he was reliving. Wanting to take that sadness away from his handsome face, she kissed him gently.
“And here I am,” she whispered, “And I would rather die than be without you.”
Tears, something she had never seen from him before stood, unshed, in his eyes. Lifting her hand from his heart to cup his cheek, Rose allowed herself to be as honest with him as he had been with her.
“Doctor, I never gave up trying to get back to you. At one time, I almost gave up on life completely, but I couldn’t do that. Not when there was some small speck of hope that I might be able to get to you again.” The pain of memory was mirrored on both their faces. Finally, Rose collected herself to push past her melancholy. Trying for a brighter than not smile, she asked,
“So, where did you pick up this Martha person? From the sounds of it, she doesn’t exactly fit the profile of your companions. I always thought you wanted someone who could think on their feet.”
Looking sternly at her, the Doctor chided her for her barely concealed insult.
“Now, Rose, be fair. Martha has her own strengths and weaknesses, just like any other human.” Rose mumbled something about the strength of Martha’s weaknesses, and the Doctor’s lips quirked in a smile.
“Why don’t you like her?” he asked casually.
“She replaced me!” Rose burst out hotly, then bit down on her lip hard. She hadn’t planned on saying anything like that out loud. All humor left the Doctor’s face as he once again looked at her for a long, solemn moment.
“Martha could never replace you, Rose Tyler.” Feeling relieved at hearing him say it, Rose smiled up at him.
“Where did you and Martha meet?” He scratched behind his ear.
“It was in a hospital in London. I was checking out these plasma cores… which turned out to be the Judoon. The whole building was scooped up and put on the moon. She helped me to escape the Judoon’s alien search long enough to find who they were actually looking for.”
“And who was that?” Rose was interested in finding out everything she could about Martha, since it looked like she was going to have to make an effort to befriend her.
“A plasmavore, actually. She drank my blood!” He remembered with a goofy grin. “Not many people can say they had their blood sucked out through a bendy straw by a Plasmavore! Well, I mean, I’m sure there are plenty of people who would be able to, except that their… well… dead.”
Rose watched him closely as he got up and started fiddling with controls on the console, before finally picking up the navigational globe he often played with.
“So, then how did she end up traveling with you?” Now he looked at her skeptically.
“Why are you so interested in Martha?”
“I’m not. Not really, anyway. I just was wondering what you had been up to while I was away.”
“Oh, okay then. I took Martha to meet William Shakespeare, as a way to say ‘thank you for helping to me save a lot of people’.” His face perked up with joy.
“Did I tell you, Shakespeare was an absolute genius! Saw right though the psychic paper and everything! I mean, the man was brilliant! We ran into a bit of trouble with a few Carrionites, but that was a snap…” The Doctor’s exuberant expression slowly faded to thoughtfulness.
“I think I offended her,” he said softly. Rose frowned, and tucked her legs up underneath her on the seat.
“What do you mean?” The Doctor blinked at her, as if he’d momentarily forgotten where he was.
“What? Oh, Martha. I think I offended her that night. There were all these strange things going on, and they almost seemed like witchcraft.”
“I didn’t think that was real.”
“It’s not. That’s why it was so confusing to me. But anyway, we were in our room, and I was trying to put all the pieces together out loud…”
“As you do,” Rose interjected with a smile. He returned her smile briefly.
“Quite right. But something I said must have offended her, because she turned away fairly quickly.”
“Were you being rude again?” Rose laughed.
“I don’t think so. I don’t suppose you could apologize to her for me?”
“Oi!” Rose exclaimed, “Why should I tell her you’re sorry? You’ve gotten yourself into this one, mate, you can get yourself out!” The Doctor tried to look contrite, but failed as a smile bloomed and held.
“Well, it was worth a try.” Rose’s laugh quickly segued into a yawn and the Doctor took that as his cue to get his beloved companion to bed. A tiny thrill ran through him at the thought, but he ruthlessly shoved it away. Her bed, by herself, to sleep. He shooed her off to her room, and breathed a sigh when she was out of sight.
He hadn’t meant to let the conversation run so late. He’d promised Jack that they would stay in the area for a couple days. Jack wanted to spend some time with Rose and the Doctor before they went off again. The only reason the Doctor had agree was because he saw how happy Rose had been to see Jack again, and she and Gwen seemed to be well on their way towards a great friendship. Plus, the Doctor was curious to see what other secrets lie within Torchwood Three.
A small noise behind him made the Doctor turn with a start. Rose was standing there, wearing slippers, a robe and a puzzled expression.
“What’s the matter, Rose? What’s wrong?”
“My room,” she said, at a loss for anything more to say.
“Is there something wrong with it?” He turned to look over the systems on the monitor.
“No, it’s perfect.” He looked over his shoulder at her with a small frown.
“So, what’s the problem then?”
“It’s exactly as I left it. It doesn’t even look like I was gone at all.” When she finished, the Doctor blushed slightly.
“Well, I - I couldn’t just… You left your top sitting over there!” He pointed. Rose looked confused by his outburst.
“Your blue one, the one you wore to New Earth. It found it, well, Donna found it, but all the same, you just left it lying there!” Coming closer to the flustered Doctor, Rose smiled brightly up at him, as realization dawned.
He couldn’t bring himself to lock up her room airtight, the way they had done with Jack’s. He had kept it alive and ready, probably out of some tiny, unknown speck of hope that she would one day be coming back to it. Either that, or he was just sort of sad and pathetic and unable to let go. But she really hoped it was the first one. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him gently.
“Thank you, Doctor, for keeping my home open and ready for me.” Then she walked back toward the hallway to her room. She paused at the corner.
“Oh, and by the way, tomorrow I’m going to ask you about Donna. Goodnight Doctor.” He smiled at her retreating form.
“G’night Rose.”
Chapter 7
Chapter: 6
Written by:
mrssjw
Rating: Overall - T... This chapter - PG-13
Spoilers: Anything that happened in Series 3 of Doctor Who and through episode 9 of Torchwood, Series 2.
Characters in this chapter: Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor, TARDIS
Story Summary: She thought they would be together forever; that they were inseparable... but that was before the last day of her life. Now she's back, but she's not the same girl she was. There are things she isn't telling him; won't tell him... with good reason. A trip to visit some old friends in Cardiff cause a lot of these unspoken sentiments to come to the forefront, but not all of them are cheery and bright...
~Not your standard fluffy reunion fic. A darker side to our Golden Rose, with plenty of heated embraces... and yes, a good deal of the sweet fluff-stuff, but it's hard not to indulge!~
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter Setting: The TARDIS (Interior; Console Room); Roald Dahl Plass, Cardiff, Wales, Earth; Late April, 2010.
Within seconds of their return to the TARDIS, the Doctor excused himself from her company, and disappeared into the catacombs of his ship. Frowning thoughtfully, Rose walked around the console, trailing her fingers along the controls. A melodic hum began somewhere in the back of Rose’s mind, and she smiled up at the center column.
“I’m happy to be home, too. How have you been, old girl?”
A mysterious flash of images passed through Roses’ brain. Dirty streets; arrows being flung in the TARDIS; lots of heat and red light, like being inside a furnace; Jack hanging on for dear life; A strange man at the controls… the TARDIS gave a delicate shiver in the woman’s mind. A last image filtered through, although Rose could tell the TARDIS was feeling sick at the memory.
Red light washed every surface of the interior. A large, growling machine had taken over the place of the console. Pain, piercing and vibrant, coursed through the machine, causing the TARDIS to shudder. Someone was killing her slowly.
A hand on Rose’s shoulder made her look up. Somehow she had wrapped an arm around one of the coral columns, and tears were streaming down her face. The Doctor gave her a sympathetic look, unwound her from the column and drew her into his arms. Rose sobbed quietly into his suit jacket. He held her close, letting her cry herself out, while gently stroking her back and hair.
After a few minutes, she lifted her head to look up at him. The Doctor returned her look equally. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face was covered in tear-streaked eye makeup. And yet… she was so beautiful to him. She looked so young just then, and it reminded him of the vast disparity in their ages. He often forgot, since she was clever and quick, and kept him feeling young. He kissed her forehead softly, telling himself there could only be one reason she would be crying like that.
“You must miss them immensely.” He knew what family meant to Rose. Therefore, the Doctor was incredibly surprised when Rose dug into his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief he’d forgotten was in there. Drying her face and wiping her nose, she shot him a look.
“Doctor, we’ve been over this before. Yes, I miss my family, but I missed you more.” She turned away from him and sat in the captain’s bench.
“But, if you weren’t crying because of that, then why?”
“The TARDIS.” Rose’s voice was so soft, he had to take a couple steps to hear her. Yet he kept moving closer, until he was sitting next to her, holding her hand.
“What about her?” The Doctor was no stranger to confusion, but not usually when it concerned his ship.
“She was so sick. In so much pain… How could you let that happen to her?” Well acquainted, too, with Rose’s slightly maternal protective instincts, the Doctor was not surprised by the fierce note in her voice. There was, however, something he needed to know, although he had a sinking feeling that he already knew what her response would be.
“Rose, how did you know the TARDIS was sick?”
“She told me. You certainly didn’t think to tell me a lot things!” An outraged ding rang through his head as his ship took Rose’s side.
I was going to tell her! At least, I think I was… Another ding told the Doctor exactly what the TARDIS thought. It was far from pleasant. He half-wondered if she’d been biding her time, waiting for the right moment to berate him, or if this was merely situational. Another question popped from his mouth before he could stop himself.
“What else?”
“What?”
“What else did she show you?” Rose pursed her lips at him. Not a good sign.
“There were several dirty alleyways, and arrows and the inside of a furnace, and Jack… Then she showed me a man trying to fly the TARDIS, and then-” she swallowed hard, “She was in so much pain. What sort of machine was eating her?”
The Doctor sighed heavily.
“It was a Paradox machine.”
“What?”
“A Paradox Machine. It’s a device that allows two time zones conflict. That’s what a Paradox is.”
“Yeah, I know. Reapers and time wounds and all that. I remember. What I want to know is, why you built a machine to do what you keep saying is so terrible? And why use the TARDIS like that?!”
“First off, I didn’t build that thing. I would never have cannibalized me beautiful ship like that! Secondly, the heart of a TARDIS is the only thing that would have even worked for that machine. It was controlling the Time Vortex; manipulating it to change the course of Human history with its own future.”
Rose was horrified with the image in her mind’s eye. The TARDIS showed her the killer spheres that murdered and attacked without mercy or prejudice, and through it all, the strange man sat laughing.
“He called them ‘toclophane’, but that’s not what they were.” The Doctor said solemnly, and Rose knew the TARDIS was showing them the same things. Rose squeezed his hand lightly.
“Who is he?” she asked quietly. He sighed.
“He was the Master.”
“The Master?” she repeated incredulously, “Bit presumptuous, don’t you think? Who did he think he was, a God?” She finished with a thin smile.
“Actually, yes,” came the Doctor’s reply, lacking humor.
“Oh… well he clearly wasn’t a very nice person.” The Doctor snorted at the understatement.
“No, he was not. A Time Lord gone mad does not generally tend to be nice.”
“He was a Time Lord?” Shock spoke volumes in Rose’s voice. The Doctor rubbed her hand between both of his. There was no two way about it. He had to tell her the entire story… From the beginning. He settled himself back on the bench and put an arm around her shoulders.
Drawing a deep breath, the Doctor told Rose all about the Master. He told her what he had said to Martha and Jack, but he also told her about the history he had with the Master as well. He knew she was listening intently; she kept nibbling on her lower lip. When he got near the end of his tale, he could feel the emotions clog his throat.
“In the end, it was the woman who loved him who pulled the trigger.”
“If he was a Time Lord, why didn’t he just regenerate?” Her softly asked query dug into his hearts. She couldn’t know what it had felt like to know that one was truly the last of your kind. She wouldn’t understand how much it had hurt a second time around, as he watched his species die out before his eyes.
The first time, he’d had her there at his side to remind him to enjoy life, instead of feel the guilt and anguish of being the only survivor. Yet this time, there hadn’t been any Rose to buoy his spirits again. She hadn’t been there to hold his hand and remind him that there was more than sadness and grief to life. He had had no one else to turn to.
“He refused to.” He choked out, “He said that he’d rather die than have to stay with me forever.” Rose stifled a gasp. It was clear the Doctor needed something. Or rather, someone. While she knew she couldn’t give him forever like she wanted to, she could give him the next best thing. Pressing a hand to his left heart, Rose looked up into her Doctor’s eyes. They were swimming with the loneliness he was reliving. Wanting to take that sadness away from his handsome face, she kissed him gently.
“And here I am,” she whispered, “And I would rather die than be without you.”
Tears, something she had never seen from him before stood, unshed, in his eyes. Lifting her hand from his heart to cup his cheek, Rose allowed herself to be as honest with him as he had been with her.
“Doctor, I never gave up trying to get back to you. At one time, I almost gave up on life completely, but I couldn’t do that. Not when there was some small speck of hope that I might be able to get to you again.” The pain of memory was mirrored on both their faces. Finally, Rose collected herself to push past her melancholy. Trying for a brighter than not smile, she asked,
“So, where did you pick up this Martha person? From the sounds of it, she doesn’t exactly fit the profile of your companions. I always thought you wanted someone who could think on their feet.”
Looking sternly at her, the Doctor chided her for her barely concealed insult.
“Now, Rose, be fair. Martha has her own strengths and weaknesses, just like any other human.” Rose mumbled something about the strength of Martha’s weaknesses, and the Doctor’s lips quirked in a smile.
“Why don’t you like her?” he asked casually.
“She replaced me!” Rose burst out hotly, then bit down on her lip hard. She hadn’t planned on saying anything like that out loud. All humor left the Doctor’s face as he once again looked at her for a long, solemn moment.
“Martha could never replace you, Rose Tyler.” Feeling relieved at hearing him say it, Rose smiled up at him.
“Where did you and Martha meet?” He scratched behind his ear.
“It was in a hospital in London. I was checking out these plasma cores… which turned out to be the Judoon. The whole building was scooped up and put on the moon. She helped me to escape the Judoon’s alien search long enough to find who they were actually looking for.”
“And who was that?” Rose was interested in finding out everything she could about Martha, since it looked like she was going to have to make an effort to befriend her.
“A plasmavore, actually. She drank my blood!” He remembered with a goofy grin. “Not many people can say they had their blood sucked out through a bendy straw by a Plasmavore! Well, I mean, I’m sure there are plenty of people who would be able to, except that their… well… dead.”
Rose watched him closely as he got up and started fiddling with controls on the console, before finally picking up the navigational globe he often played with.
“So, then how did she end up traveling with you?” Now he looked at her skeptically.
“Why are you so interested in Martha?”
“I’m not. Not really, anyway. I just was wondering what you had been up to while I was away.”
“Oh, okay then. I took Martha to meet William Shakespeare, as a way to say ‘thank you for helping to me save a lot of people’.” His face perked up with joy.
“Did I tell you, Shakespeare was an absolute genius! Saw right though the psychic paper and everything! I mean, the man was brilliant! We ran into a bit of trouble with a few Carrionites, but that was a snap…” The Doctor’s exuberant expression slowly faded to thoughtfulness.
“I think I offended her,” he said softly. Rose frowned, and tucked her legs up underneath her on the seat.
“What do you mean?” The Doctor blinked at her, as if he’d momentarily forgotten where he was.
“What? Oh, Martha. I think I offended her that night. There were all these strange things going on, and they almost seemed like witchcraft.”
“I didn’t think that was real.”
“It’s not. That’s why it was so confusing to me. But anyway, we were in our room, and I was trying to put all the pieces together out loud…”
“As you do,” Rose interjected with a smile. He returned her smile briefly.
“Quite right. But something I said must have offended her, because she turned away fairly quickly.”
“Were you being rude again?” Rose laughed.
“I don’t think so. I don’t suppose you could apologize to her for me?”
“Oi!” Rose exclaimed, “Why should I tell her you’re sorry? You’ve gotten yourself into this one, mate, you can get yourself out!” The Doctor tried to look contrite, but failed as a smile bloomed and held.
“Well, it was worth a try.” Rose’s laugh quickly segued into a yawn and the Doctor took that as his cue to get his beloved companion to bed. A tiny thrill ran through him at the thought, but he ruthlessly shoved it away. Her bed, by herself, to sleep. He shooed her off to her room, and breathed a sigh when she was out of sight.
He hadn’t meant to let the conversation run so late. He’d promised Jack that they would stay in the area for a couple days. Jack wanted to spend some time with Rose and the Doctor before they went off again. The only reason the Doctor had agree was because he saw how happy Rose had been to see Jack again, and she and Gwen seemed to be well on their way towards a great friendship. Plus, the Doctor was curious to see what other secrets lie within Torchwood Three.
A small noise behind him made the Doctor turn with a start. Rose was standing there, wearing slippers, a robe and a puzzled expression.
“What’s the matter, Rose? What’s wrong?”
“My room,” she said, at a loss for anything more to say.
“Is there something wrong with it?” He turned to look over the systems on the monitor.
“No, it’s perfect.” He looked over his shoulder at her with a small frown.
“So, what’s the problem then?”
“It’s exactly as I left it. It doesn’t even look like I was gone at all.” When she finished, the Doctor blushed slightly.
“Well, I - I couldn’t just… You left your top sitting over there!” He pointed. Rose looked confused by his outburst.
“Your blue one, the one you wore to New Earth. It found it, well, Donna found it, but all the same, you just left it lying there!” Coming closer to the flustered Doctor, Rose smiled brightly up at him, as realization dawned.
He couldn’t bring himself to lock up her room airtight, the way they had done with Jack’s. He had kept it alive and ready, probably out of some tiny, unknown speck of hope that she would one day be coming back to it. Either that, or he was just sort of sad and pathetic and unable to let go. But she really hoped it was the first one. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him gently.
“Thank you, Doctor, for keeping my home open and ready for me.” Then she walked back toward the hallway to her room. She paused at the corner.
“Oh, and by the way, tomorrow I’m going to ask you about Donna. Goodnight Doctor.” He smiled at her retreating form.
“G’night Rose.”
Chapter 7