Ring Around the Rosie, Chapter 8/?
Title: Ring Around the Rosie
Author: onabearskinrug
Character/Pairing: Ten/Rose with Jack, Mickey, Jake, Pete, Jackie, and others
Rating: Teen this chapter
Summary: The Doctor and Jack are stranded in London when the TARDIS malfunctions and, based on the Doctor's alien gifts, open a psychic detective agency. When an old serial killer comes out to play, it's up to our heroes and DI Rose Tyler to play his deadly game before any more lives are lost.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or the amazingly brilliant Psych.
A/N: I've been watching too much Psych lately, and this little bunny popped into my head. Mega thanks to the gorgeous and amazing timelord1, kelkat9, and who_in_whoville for encouraging me to wander a bit out of my comfort zone, and ultra-mega thanks to who_in_whoville for coming up with the awesome title! Oh, and fannishliss for inspiring the awesome puzzle ring angle and helping me with all my metalworking issues! Also, timelord1 wrote the second puzzle clue and helped a great deal with Jackie's lines here cause I had serious writer's block AND cause she's amazing :-)
Also, if anyone is familiar with investigation procedure and whatnot, I'd love some help to make this more realistic. Most of what I have here I picked up from TV, or I'm just making up my own protocol. Would anyone like to serve as my sounding board? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? :-)
Catch up:
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7
“Yo, Doc!” Jack’s voice echoed through the TARDIS corridors. “Where are you?”
“In here, Jack!” the Doctor called back, turning his attention back to the vast walk-in closet in front of him. He surveyed the collection of brown pinstriped suits, Oxford shirts, Henleys, ties, and trainers, scrutinizing every possible combination of suit/shirt/tie and the probability that Rose would be pleased, based on her past reactions and hormonal outputs to his various outfits.
“Sight for sore eyes,” Jack teased. The Doctor turned and saw Jack, leaning against the doorway of his bedroom, taking in his vest-and-boxer-brief combination with a lascivious grin. He tossed a set of keys across the room, which the Doctor caught neatly in his hand. “Mind telling me why you need the car? Though I really don’t mind if this is my reward…”
“Stop it, Jack,” he replied, feigning exasperation. “But thanks for coming by so quickly. Can I…er…ask your help with something?” He gestured towards the closet.
“With what?” Jack asked, perplexed. “You cleaning out your closet? Reorganizing? I know someone we can hire to do that for you, you know. A professional closet organizer. Olga Something-or-Other. She was gorgeous…”
“Not that,” The Doctor rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Rose and I are going to do a little digging at the Renaissance Faire. She vetoed costumes so now I’m at a loss…Jack? Why are you look at me like that?”
Jack was gaping at him. “You and Rose…you’re going out today? Just the two of you?”
The Doctor nearly rolled his eyes at his partner. “Yes, haven’t I said that? It’s her day off, but she saw an ad in the paper and asked if I could go. I’m picking her up in an hour. She didn’t call and ask you?”
“Um, no. Frankly, I’m a little hurt. No accounting for taste, I guess.”
“Well, not gonna argue with that,” the Doctor grinned. “Now, really. What does a normal bloke wear to go to a Renaissance Faire?”
“You are not a normal bloke, Doctor,” Jack grinned and walked over to join the Doctor in front of his closet. He let out a low whistle. “I can see what you mean. Do you wear the brown pinstripes, the brown pinstripes, or the brown pinstripes?”
“I’m mainly concerned about the shirt-and-tie combination,” the Doctor told Jack, moving into the closet and gesturing at the rack of shirts. “Rose seems to like that swirly blue tie, but is a full shirt-and-tie combination really appropriate for a day outdoors?” His voice was growing increasingly panicked as his arms gestured all over the small room. “Maybe just a shirt? What about layers? What number of layers is appropriate? Oh, my God, Jack, this is a date, isn’t it? I’ve never taken a girl on a date before! What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Okay, Doctor, calm down,” Jack soothed, placing his arm on his friend’s shoulders. “Deep breaths, in and out…”
The Doctor did as he said, taking deep breaths in and out while Jack shuffled through the hanging shirts. He handed him one of the brown suits and a simple deep blue Oxford. “Here, put these on. No undershirt, no tie. First few buttons undone. You’ve got a great neck, might as well show it off. Yeah, I said it, don’t give me that look. Go on, get dressed, you’ll feel better. And your hair is perfect, keep it just like that. Brown Chucks. You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, fine…good, I‘m fine,” the Doctor said, his voice only somewhat unsteady as he moved into his bathroom to change clothes. Jack sat down on the edge of the bed and listening to the Doctor moving around in the ensuite. What was going on with him? Even when the pressure was mounting, even at a high-stakes investigation, he was never this flustered. Plus, he’d never seemed anything other than ridiculously happy, even to the point of giddy, in Rose’s presence. Jack had never seen him like this before. Why was he so suddenly having panic attacks at the thought of spending the day with her?
The Doctor emerged from the ensuite, fully dressed and hair in perfect place, and headed towards the closet for his shoes. “So you gonna tell me what all of this is about?” Jack questioned.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Doctor replied. Chucks in hand, he sat next to Jack on the bed and became very engrossed in lacing and tying the perfect knot.
“You and Rose have been joined at the hip for nearly a week. You spend more time with her than with anyone else. Hell, even I’ve barely seen one of you without the other. So you’re going to investigate at the Renaissance Faire. I remember Janice’s profile. It’s not unreasonable. Yet you were hyperventilating not five minutes ago. You gotta toss me a bone here, Doc.”
The Doctor, apparently satisfied with his shoelaces, straightened up and rubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah, sorry, Jack. You’re right. Just…odd dreams last night is all. Very odd. Unnerving.”
“What kind of dreams? Sexy ones?” Jack grinned and waggled his eyebrows. He’d meant it as a joke, but the way the Doctor flushed at the words and couldn’t quite meet his eyes confirmed it.
Jack started howling with laughter. “Oh, this is priceless! Never thought I’d see the day! Come on, tell me. How do Time Lords have sex dreams? I’ll bet it was wild. Rose has gotta be a firecracker in bed.”
“Jack,” the Doctor warned. “Keep it together. God, I’m spending too much time with you humans. All these mad hormones rushing about. Must be affecting me more than I realized. Anyway, it’s got me on edge. I don’t know if I can look at her and not see what I saw in the dream. She was…well…I don’t think there’s a word in your language that could do her justice.”
“Wow,” Jack breathed. “You’ve got it bad, Doctor.”
The Doctor scoffed and pushed off the bed in frustration. “I do not ‘have it bad’ as you so eloquently put it. Who knows what the dream was all about? I enjoy her company and appreciate her intelligence. If the TARDIS were functional, I would ask her along without a second thought. It was just a first for me, Jack. Never had a dream like it before and now I’m all…discombobulated.”
Jack couldn’t hide his smirk. “Discombobulated?”
The Doctor looked thoughtful. “You’re right, doesn’t fit the teeth. The point still stands. I’m picking her up in forty-five minutes. How do I face her?”
“Look, it’s not like you actually slept with her. Humans have weird dreams all the time. You and I have sex three or four times a week. You know, in my head.” Jack grinned at him.
The Doctor couldn’t help but smile affectionately back at his best friend. “Yeah?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Now, you’re beautiful. Let’s go grab a Pop Tart and you can tell me all about this dream of yours…” He turned to head out of the TARDIS and back into their office.
“Hold on just a minute,” the Doctor said, stopping Jack with a hand on his shoulder. “You mind if I try something? A little…experiment, I guess? For the sake of science?”
Jack looked at him, confused, but still nodded his head.
The Doctor reached out, wrapped his arms around Jack’s neck and pulled him into a hug. Jack froze, keeping his hands firmly at his side as the Doctor held him in his embrace. He wasn’t sure what to do or how to respond. He and the Doctor were friends, best friends, and had shared celebratory hugs on occasion, but typically, he was pretty hands-off. Except with Rose. So what the hell was he doing, just hugging him out of the blue and…sniffing him?
Before Jack could react, the Doctor pulled away, hands on Jack’s shoulders, and smiled a bit before patting him in an almost conciliatory gesture. “Sorry, Rose’s was better. Anyway, Pop-Tarts?”
******
The Doctor watched Rose grin in delight as a minstrel’s lilting tune wafted from beyond the arched entrance to the Renaissance Faire. People were milling around the gate, some dressed in elaborate medieval-themed costumes while others were in simple, modern fare like he and Rose. He remembered his shock at seeing her dressed so casually when he’d arrived to pick her up. He’d only ever seen her in her nicely-tailored business wear, her hair often tied back and always in sensible-but-stylish shoes. Today, in her dark jeans, turquoise hooded sweatshirt, white t-shirt and trainers, her blonde hair hanging loose around her shoulders, Rose looked young, comfortable, and completely unassuming. Even though they weren’t here in an official investigative capacity, the Doctor knew that, on some level, Rose was still playing detective, conscious of putting people at ease so they could speak freely around her.
That’s my girl, he thought affectionately, squeezing her hand. Always thinking.
Rose squeezed back and turned to face him. “I’m just gonna go pick up our tickets, they’re at Ye Olde Box Office.”
“Oh, I suppose they took Lady Visa, did they?”
Rose laughed. “And Sir MasterCard. Now don’t you disappear, I’ll just be a moment.”
The Doctor grinned after her, steadfastly not admiring the fit of her jeans as she walked away. Very quickly, he began to shift his weight restlessly from foot to foot. He did not like being idle for any length of time, and he was just contemplating what he could do to fill the next few minutes when he felt a small tap on his shoulder.
He spun around and found himself face-to-face with Rose, who was smiling mischievously at him, tongue caught between her teeth. He smiled back and was about to ask how she’d gotten back so quickly when she launched herself at him, locking her arms around his neck and crashing their lips together.
Ohhhhh, this was so much better than the dream. It was as if Rose knew exactly how to kiss him, exactly where to stroke her tongue to make him go wild for her. Her hands were in his hair, his were somewhere in the vicinity of her bum, and he was vaguely aware of passersby catcalling as they snogged heatedly in the middle of the crowd.
Rose broke away from him far too soon, and his lips followed after hers as he made a little noise of disapproval in his throat. Rose smiled broadly at him, pulling him down to gently nip at his earlobe and whispered, “Did you remember to wear your lucky pinstriped pants?”
The Doctor gaped at her. “How on Earth…” It was then that he noticed that Rose was dressed completely differently than she had been earlier. Her jeans were a lighter wash, her jacket was red, and her hair was tied back in a simple ponytail.
All the blood drained from his face, while at the same time he began to practically buzz with excitement. “You’re from the future…we’re in the TARDIS? Where am I? Why are you here? Rose…”
Rose pressed her fingers to his lips. “Just go with it, yeah?” She glanced around before pressing another swift kiss to his lips. “Gotta run. That oughta hold you for a while.”
He watched her scamper off, and was just about to call after her when he felt the tap on his shoulder once more.
“Here ya go,” Rose said as he spun around, taking in the darker jeans and blue sweatshirt. “Blimey, you all right? I leave you alone for two minutes and you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Not exactly a ghost,” the Doctor murmured before shaking his head minutely and turning his full attention back to Rose. “Sorry, must have lost my head a bit there. Ready?”
“Ready!” she replied, taking his hand and smiling at him. “Come on! We don’t want to miss the jousting!”
******
They did, in fact, make it to the jousting, and the Doctor moaned thoroughly about the inaccuracies during the entire event. They wandered a bit after, enjoying a lunch of turkey legs and chips, an animal powered carousel ride, and a trip around the fairgrounds in a horse-drawn cart. They admired the accuracy (or lack thereof) of people’s costumes, and Rose listened with rapt attention to the Doctor’s stories of being mistaken for Merlin in King Arthur’s court.
It was when they were seated on a bench, sharing a lemonade between them that the Doctor realized that he felt good. Remarkably, unfathomably good. He hadn’t felt anything near this good since he’d recovered from his regeneration sickness in Jack’s family home on the Boeshane Peninsula. Though he and Jack both still had gaps in their memories from the Game Station, he remembered the massive Christmas dinner that followed his recovery. It seemed as though the entire community had come out to thank them for taking down a dangerous alien force, but it was only when they were all sitting around the small family table that the Doctor felt some semblance of content. He laughed with Grey, Jack’s younger brother, and showed the 51st Century family how to use Christmas crackers. They donned the silly paper hats, and the Doctor felt like he belonged somewhere, for the first time in his very long life.
Sitting there with Rose, a feeling of not only contentment, but peace finally settled over him. He was watching Rose laugh at his stories, watching her eyes light up and sparkle as she asked him about his life and his travels, watching her sip at the plastic cup that was in no way historically accurate, watching her hair shine in the mid-afternoon sun, and for the first time in over 900 years, he felt happy.
He decided not to ignore his impulse to wrap his arms around her shoulder and pull her into his side. He sighed when she seemed to mold to his body, curling into him and making a small, happy noise that would have been inaudible to a human’s ears.
When the realization hit him, it should have been with the force of a wrecking ball. Instead it was a quiet, creeping thing that had been building slowly and gently over the last week of smiles, laughter, innocent touches, not-so-innocent dreams and incredible kisses from the future. And when it hit him, it wasn’t nearly as terrifying as he thought it would be.
Jack was right. Well, that bit was terrifying. The next bit, however…
The Doctor indeed had it bad for Detective Inspector Rose Tyler.
And he was very suddenly overtaken by the compulsion to tell her so.
In fact, in his lovely, quiet euphoria, he was just about to speak up when a minstrel stopped directly in front of them, carrying a lute and plucking out the opening notes to I Wanna Hold Your Hand.
Rose laughed and clapped her hands in delight. “How’d you ever figure out that this was my favorite song? Oh, you mad, sneaky alien!”
The Doctor smiled back, loving seeing her happy but secretly glad the minstrel had such good timing. He managed to calm his racing hearts, step back and think about this most recent revelation logically. Despite his rather spectacular snog with Future Rose that morning, he could feel in his bones that this was not the right time to give voice to his feelings. He knew Rose was attracted to him, but he found it hard to believe that she had come to feel as strongly for him as he did for her in such a short span of time. He still couldn’t get a sense of her future timelines, so he had no idea how to ensure the timeline he caught a glimpse of this morning. Certainly time could be rewritten, he’d seen it often enough in his travels, but he wanted to do everything in his power to have Rose and her spectacular snogging skills traveling with him through time and space.
The minstrel finished singing, and Rose clapped enthusiastically. Other people had gathered, clapping with warm smiles on their faces, obviously assuming the two of them were a couple enjoying a romantic moment. Rose looked at him with shining, smiling eyes before leaning in and pressing a lingering kiss near the corner of his mouth. She then threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight, as usual making his hearts thrum out an uneven staccato.
“That was lovely,” she whispered in his ear. “Thank you.”
Even though he hadn’t done a thing (although he had his suspicions, based on his visit from Future Rose earlier), knowing that Rose was happy and in his arms was enough. Even if he had to feel for Rose from afar for now, not acknowledging what was building between them, he knew it was preferable to anything he’d felt before Rose had come into his life.
“You’re welcome,” he murmured, giving her one last squeeze before breaking their embrace and smiling. “Now, you’ve had your fun, Inspector. Shall we do a bit of investigating? I believe our best course of action would be to check out the handmade goods, see if we can get some information out of the vendors. What do you think?”
“Sounds promising, Dr. Smith,” Rose teased. She stood up and stretched, offering her hand to the Doctor. He smiled and allowed her to pull him up before leading them to the many tables, booths, and tents that housed the different crafters. Walking among them, the Doctor noticed a great deal of clothing, pewter goods, and even an entire tent dedicated to elaborate corsets that he half-wished Rose would stop to admire. But he knew where Rose was headed. She wanted to look at the handmade jewelry, and he knew she was hoping they’d find something similar to the rings. The investigation was stagnating, and he knew she was desperate for a new direction.
However, things were looking more and more dire as they moved through the section. There were tables of lovely beaded jewelry, some with intricate pieces that were woven together with wire, and several with a great deal of elaborate pendants, but nothing that she felt required further scrutiny.
Until they glanced at the goods on one of the last tables and simultaneously froze. There, sitting right in front of them, was a display of hand-molded rings and pendants. While there didn’t seem to be any similar puzzle rings, the pendants bore a striking resemblance, the interlocking design held together by simple silver chains. Immediately, Rose perked up and began to browse, catching the attention of the purveyor of the stand.
“Ahh, good lady,” the older man said silkily. “I see my wares have caught your eye. A beautiful maiden should be adorned with beautiful things, yes?”
The Doctor glared at the man. He was quite a bit older than Rose, looking like he was nearing fifty despite being in fairly good shape. His hair was thinning, though not balding, and had taken on a salt-and-pepper quality that he knew some women found attractive. He wore a pair of leather gloves with his basic tunic and trousers, and the Doctor decided he did not like the way the man had fixed Rose in his piercing gaze. It was unnerving him, and he knew it had nothing to do with jealousy.
Rose, friendly and disarming as ever, simply laughed. “And these are beautiful. I love the pendants. Did you make everything on the table?”
“Yes, milady,” he answered her in the same smooth tone as before. “My father was skilled in the craft. In fact, he made his and my mother’s wedding rings. They were quite similar to the pendants. Your rings are quite lovely as well. I applaud your excellent taste.”
“Oh, thank you!” Rose replied, glancing down at the two small rings that always adorned her fingers. “They belonged to my grandmother.”
“Ah, family heirlooms. You know, that the ring symbolizes eternity. The endless circle. Beginning and ending in the same place. Rings are best when tradition are attached to them, don’t you agree?”
The Doctor could tell Rose’s guard was up. His was as well. Something was…off about this purveyor, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He needed more information.
“You are very talented,” the Doctor broke in, handling as many pieces as he could, passing them to the man to replace in their holders, hoping to find an excuse to touch man and hopefully get a glimpse of his timeline or thoughts. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful. Any skin that could be brushed accidentally was covered by sleeves or gloves, and he finally asked if the man had any additional stock somewhere.
“I do have other wares available in the mystical realm known as the Internet,” he said, handing the Doctor a business card. “There are many similar designs, though represented in a great number of different pieces.” He turned his attention back to Rose, and the degree to which he was focused on her made the Doctor uncomfortable. “Sometimes, though things are noticeably different, it is comforting to focus on the similarities, yes?”
Rose held the man’s gaze for a moment before plucking the business card from the Doctor’s hands and inspecting it carefully. “Claude’s Wares. Claude, thank you. These are really, really beautiful. Maybe I’ll have to sneak John here some hints for my birthday, yeah?”
Rose laughed, a sound that was so contagious that most of the people around her felt compelled to join in. Claude just gave her a tight-lipped, forced smile. “You have such lovely blonde hair. One of the merchants is selling ornaments you may enjoy. I bid you good day, good sir and lady.” He turned away quickly and immediately zeroed in on another customer who had just approached his stand.
Rose scowled and tucked the business card into her bag as they moved on to the next table, which was selling the lovely, elaborate hair ornaments. “Rude, wasn’t he? Couldn’t wait to move on to the next sale once he knew we weren’t buying.”
“Something about him was off,” the Doctor murmured, absently picking up a floral clip and holding it against her hair.
“Hmmm…” Rose trailed off thoughtfully. “You’re right, as usual. Just that gut instinct, you know? Oh, well, some odd people do frequent this circuit sometimes. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
She didn’t sound convinced, and her eyes remained distant for the next few minutes, completely lost in thought. It wasn’t until the Doctor plopped a gorgeous, pink floral garland on her head and began pinning it into place that the clerk’s delighted squeals brought her back into the moment.
“There we go,” the Doctor said, turning her to face the small mirror. “Gorgeous. It suits you, Inspector. In fact…” The Doctor pulled a billfold out of his pocket and offered a few notes to the clerks before placing her hand on the small of Rose’s back and leading her towards the last few stands.
Rose laughed. “And Jack told me you were a cheap date. I’ll have to tell him how wrong he was.”
At the words “cheap date,” the Doctor froze, memories from his dream and their kiss this morning flooding back to him. Suddenly, his entire body felt flushed, and his hand on Rose’s lower back felt incredibly intimate. He moved his hand to grip hers, squeezing gently and feeling much better about his wandering appendages being in neutral territory.
“Doctor,” Rose stopped walking and placed a hand on his arm, pulling him gently towards her. “I have to say, strange vendors aside, today has been really, really great. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.”
The Doctor grinned. “I’m glad.”
She stood on her tiptoes and placed another kiss on his cheek before enveloping him in a hug. “Thank you. For everything.”
“Anything for you, Rose Tyler,” he said, tweaking her nose affectionately before moving on, their joined hands swinging gently between them.
Anything for her, he thought as he watched Rose gush appropriately over hand-crafted swords and armor. Wonder if she has any idea how true that statement is.
Next Chapter
Author: onabearskinrug
Character/Pairing: Ten/Rose with Jack, Mickey, Jake, Pete, Jackie, and others
Rating: Teen this chapter
Summary: The Doctor and Jack are stranded in London when the TARDIS malfunctions and, based on the Doctor's alien gifts, open a psychic detective agency. When an old serial killer comes out to play, it's up to our heroes and DI Rose Tyler to play his deadly game before any more lives are lost.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or the amazingly brilliant Psych.
A/N: I've been watching too much Psych lately, and this little bunny popped into my head. Mega thanks to the gorgeous and amazing timelord1, kelkat9, and who_in_whoville for encouraging me to wander a bit out of my comfort zone, and ultra-mega thanks to who_in_whoville for coming up with the awesome title! Oh, and fannishliss for inspiring the awesome puzzle ring angle and helping me with all my metalworking issues! Also, timelord1 wrote the second puzzle clue and helped a great deal with Jackie's lines here cause I had serious writer's block AND cause she's amazing :-)
Also, if anyone is familiar with investigation procedure and whatnot, I'd love some help to make this more realistic. Most of what I have here I picked up from TV, or I'm just making up my own protocol. Would anyone like to serve as my sounding board? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? :-)
Catch up:
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7
“Yo, Doc!” Jack’s voice echoed through the TARDIS corridors. “Where are you?”
“In here, Jack!” the Doctor called back, turning his attention back to the vast walk-in closet in front of him. He surveyed the collection of brown pinstriped suits, Oxford shirts, Henleys, ties, and trainers, scrutinizing every possible combination of suit/shirt/tie and the probability that Rose would be pleased, based on her past reactions and hormonal outputs to his various outfits.
“Sight for sore eyes,” Jack teased. The Doctor turned and saw Jack, leaning against the doorway of his bedroom, taking in his vest-and-boxer-brief combination with a lascivious grin. He tossed a set of keys across the room, which the Doctor caught neatly in his hand. “Mind telling me why you need the car? Though I really don’t mind if this is my reward…”
“Stop it, Jack,” he replied, feigning exasperation. “But thanks for coming by so quickly. Can I…er…ask your help with something?” He gestured towards the closet.
“With what?” Jack asked, perplexed. “You cleaning out your closet? Reorganizing? I know someone we can hire to do that for you, you know. A professional closet organizer. Olga Something-or-Other. She was gorgeous…”
“Not that,” The Doctor rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Rose and I are going to do a little digging at the Renaissance Faire. She vetoed costumes so now I’m at a loss…Jack? Why are you look at me like that?”
Jack was gaping at him. “You and Rose…you’re going out today? Just the two of you?”
The Doctor nearly rolled his eyes at his partner. “Yes, haven’t I said that? It’s her day off, but she saw an ad in the paper and asked if I could go. I’m picking her up in an hour. She didn’t call and ask you?”
“Um, no. Frankly, I’m a little hurt. No accounting for taste, I guess.”
“Well, not gonna argue with that,” the Doctor grinned. “Now, really. What does a normal bloke wear to go to a Renaissance Faire?”
“You are not a normal bloke, Doctor,” Jack grinned and walked over to join the Doctor in front of his closet. He let out a low whistle. “I can see what you mean. Do you wear the brown pinstripes, the brown pinstripes, or the brown pinstripes?”
“I’m mainly concerned about the shirt-and-tie combination,” the Doctor told Jack, moving into the closet and gesturing at the rack of shirts. “Rose seems to like that swirly blue tie, but is a full shirt-and-tie combination really appropriate for a day outdoors?” His voice was growing increasingly panicked as his arms gestured all over the small room. “Maybe just a shirt? What about layers? What number of layers is appropriate? Oh, my God, Jack, this is a date, isn’t it? I’ve never taken a girl on a date before! What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Okay, Doctor, calm down,” Jack soothed, placing his arm on his friend’s shoulders. “Deep breaths, in and out…”
The Doctor did as he said, taking deep breaths in and out while Jack shuffled through the hanging shirts. He handed him one of the brown suits and a simple deep blue Oxford. “Here, put these on. No undershirt, no tie. First few buttons undone. You’ve got a great neck, might as well show it off. Yeah, I said it, don’t give me that look. Go on, get dressed, you’ll feel better. And your hair is perfect, keep it just like that. Brown Chucks. You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, fine…good, I‘m fine,” the Doctor said, his voice only somewhat unsteady as he moved into his bathroom to change clothes. Jack sat down on the edge of the bed and listening to the Doctor moving around in the ensuite. What was going on with him? Even when the pressure was mounting, even at a high-stakes investigation, he was never this flustered. Plus, he’d never seemed anything other than ridiculously happy, even to the point of giddy, in Rose’s presence. Jack had never seen him like this before. Why was he so suddenly having panic attacks at the thought of spending the day with her?
The Doctor emerged from the ensuite, fully dressed and hair in perfect place, and headed towards the closet for his shoes. “So you gonna tell me what all of this is about?” Jack questioned.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Doctor replied. Chucks in hand, he sat next to Jack on the bed and became very engrossed in lacing and tying the perfect knot.
“You and Rose have been joined at the hip for nearly a week. You spend more time with her than with anyone else. Hell, even I’ve barely seen one of you without the other. So you’re going to investigate at the Renaissance Faire. I remember Janice’s profile. It’s not unreasonable. Yet you were hyperventilating not five minutes ago. You gotta toss me a bone here, Doc.”
The Doctor, apparently satisfied with his shoelaces, straightened up and rubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah, sorry, Jack. You’re right. Just…odd dreams last night is all. Very odd. Unnerving.”
“What kind of dreams? Sexy ones?” Jack grinned and waggled his eyebrows. He’d meant it as a joke, but the way the Doctor flushed at the words and couldn’t quite meet his eyes confirmed it.
Jack started howling with laughter. “Oh, this is priceless! Never thought I’d see the day! Come on, tell me. How do Time Lords have sex dreams? I’ll bet it was wild. Rose has gotta be a firecracker in bed.”
“Jack,” the Doctor warned. “Keep it together. God, I’m spending too much time with you humans. All these mad hormones rushing about. Must be affecting me more than I realized. Anyway, it’s got me on edge. I don’t know if I can look at her and not see what I saw in the dream. She was…well…I don’t think there’s a word in your language that could do her justice.”
“Wow,” Jack breathed. “You’ve got it bad, Doctor.”
The Doctor scoffed and pushed off the bed in frustration. “I do not ‘have it bad’ as you so eloquently put it. Who knows what the dream was all about? I enjoy her company and appreciate her intelligence. If the TARDIS were functional, I would ask her along without a second thought. It was just a first for me, Jack. Never had a dream like it before and now I’m all…discombobulated.”
Jack couldn’t hide his smirk. “Discombobulated?”
The Doctor looked thoughtful. “You’re right, doesn’t fit the teeth. The point still stands. I’m picking her up in forty-five minutes. How do I face her?”
“Look, it’s not like you actually slept with her. Humans have weird dreams all the time. You and I have sex three or four times a week. You know, in my head.” Jack grinned at him.
The Doctor couldn’t help but smile affectionately back at his best friend. “Yeah?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Now, you’re beautiful. Let’s go grab a Pop Tart and you can tell me all about this dream of yours…” He turned to head out of the TARDIS and back into their office.
“Hold on just a minute,” the Doctor said, stopping Jack with a hand on his shoulder. “You mind if I try something? A little…experiment, I guess? For the sake of science?”
Jack looked at him, confused, but still nodded his head.
The Doctor reached out, wrapped his arms around Jack’s neck and pulled him into a hug. Jack froze, keeping his hands firmly at his side as the Doctor held him in his embrace. He wasn’t sure what to do or how to respond. He and the Doctor were friends, best friends, and had shared celebratory hugs on occasion, but typically, he was pretty hands-off. Except with Rose. So what the hell was he doing, just hugging him out of the blue and…sniffing him?
Before Jack could react, the Doctor pulled away, hands on Jack’s shoulders, and smiled a bit before patting him in an almost conciliatory gesture. “Sorry, Rose’s was better. Anyway, Pop-Tarts?”
******
The Doctor watched Rose grin in delight as a minstrel’s lilting tune wafted from beyond the arched entrance to the Renaissance Faire. People were milling around the gate, some dressed in elaborate medieval-themed costumes while others were in simple, modern fare like he and Rose. He remembered his shock at seeing her dressed so casually when he’d arrived to pick her up. He’d only ever seen her in her nicely-tailored business wear, her hair often tied back and always in sensible-but-stylish shoes. Today, in her dark jeans, turquoise hooded sweatshirt, white t-shirt and trainers, her blonde hair hanging loose around her shoulders, Rose looked young, comfortable, and completely unassuming. Even though they weren’t here in an official investigative capacity, the Doctor knew that, on some level, Rose was still playing detective, conscious of putting people at ease so they could speak freely around her.
That’s my girl, he thought affectionately, squeezing her hand. Always thinking.
Rose squeezed back and turned to face him. “I’m just gonna go pick up our tickets, they’re at Ye Olde Box Office.”
“Oh, I suppose they took Lady Visa, did they?”
Rose laughed. “And Sir MasterCard. Now don’t you disappear, I’ll just be a moment.”
The Doctor grinned after her, steadfastly not admiring the fit of her jeans as she walked away. Very quickly, he began to shift his weight restlessly from foot to foot. He did not like being idle for any length of time, and he was just contemplating what he could do to fill the next few minutes when he felt a small tap on his shoulder.
He spun around and found himself face-to-face with Rose, who was smiling mischievously at him, tongue caught between her teeth. He smiled back and was about to ask how she’d gotten back so quickly when she launched herself at him, locking her arms around his neck and crashing their lips together.
Ohhhhh, this was so much better than the dream. It was as if Rose knew exactly how to kiss him, exactly where to stroke her tongue to make him go wild for her. Her hands were in his hair, his were somewhere in the vicinity of her bum, and he was vaguely aware of passersby catcalling as they snogged heatedly in the middle of the crowd.
Rose broke away from him far too soon, and his lips followed after hers as he made a little noise of disapproval in his throat. Rose smiled broadly at him, pulling him down to gently nip at his earlobe and whispered, “Did you remember to wear your lucky pinstriped pants?”
The Doctor gaped at her. “How on Earth…” It was then that he noticed that Rose was dressed completely differently than she had been earlier. Her jeans were a lighter wash, her jacket was red, and her hair was tied back in a simple ponytail.
All the blood drained from his face, while at the same time he began to practically buzz with excitement. “You’re from the future…we’re in the TARDIS? Where am I? Why are you here? Rose…”
Rose pressed her fingers to his lips. “Just go with it, yeah?” She glanced around before pressing another swift kiss to his lips. “Gotta run. That oughta hold you for a while.”
He watched her scamper off, and was just about to call after her when he felt the tap on his shoulder once more.
“Here ya go,” Rose said as he spun around, taking in the darker jeans and blue sweatshirt. “Blimey, you all right? I leave you alone for two minutes and you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Not exactly a ghost,” the Doctor murmured before shaking his head minutely and turning his full attention back to Rose. “Sorry, must have lost my head a bit there. Ready?”
“Ready!” she replied, taking his hand and smiling at him. “Come on! We don’t want to miss the jousting!”
******
They did, in fact, make it to the jousting, and the Doctor moaned thoroughly about the inaccuracies during the entire event. They wandered a bit after, enjoying a lunch of turkey legs and chips, an animal powered carousel ride, and a trip around the fairgrounds in a horse-drawn cart. They admired the accuracy (or lack thereof) of people’s costumes, and Rose listened with rapt attention to the Doctor’s stories of being mistaken for Merlin in King Arthur’s court.
It was when they were seated on a bench, sharing a lemonade between them that the Doctor realized that he felt good. Remarkably, unfathomably good. He hadn’t felt anything near this good since he’d recovered from his regeneration sickness in Jack’s family home on the Boeshane Peninsula. Though he and Jack both still had gaps in their memories from the Game Station, he remembered the massive Christmas dinner that followed his recovery. It seemed as though the entire community had come out to thank them for taking down a dangerous alien force, but it was only when they were all sitting around the small family table that the Doctor felt some semblance of content. He laughed with Grey, Jack’s younger brother, and showed the 51st Century family how to use Christmas crackers. They donned the silly paper hats, and the Doctor felt like he belonged somewhere, for the first time in his very long life.
Sitting there with Rose, a feeling of not only contentment, but peace finally settled over him. He was watching Rose laugh at his stories, watching her eyes light up and sparkle as she asked him about his life and his travels, watching her sip at the plastic cup that was in no way historically accurate, watching her hair shine in the mid-afternoon sun, and for the first time in over 900 years, he felt happy.
He decided not to ignore his impulse to wrap his arms around her shoulder and pull her into his side. He sighed when she seemed to mold to his body, curling into him and making a small, happy noise that would have been inaudible to a human’s ears.
When the realization hit him, it should have been with the force of a wrecking ball. Instead it was a quiet, creeping thing that had been building slowly and gently over the last week of smiles, laughter, innocent touches, not-so-innocent dreams and incredible kisses from the future. And when it hit him, it wasn’t nearly as terrifying as he thought it would be.
Jack was right. Well, that bit was terrifying. The next bit, however…
The Doctor indeed had it bad for Detective Inspector Rose Tyler.
And he was very suddenly overtaken by the compulsion to tell her so.
In fact, in his lovely, quiet euphoria, he was just about to speak up when a minstrel stopped directly in front of them, carrying a lute and plucking out the opening notes to I Wanna Hold Your Hand.
Rose laughed and clapped her hands in delight. “How’d you ever figure out that this was my favorite song? Oh, you mad, sneaky alien!”
The Doctor smiled back, loving seeing her happy but secretly glad the minstrel had such good timing. He managed to calm his racing hearts, step back and think about this most recent revelation logically. Despite his rather spectacular snog with Future Rose that morning, he could feel in his bones that this was not the right time to give voice to his feelings. He knew Rose was attracted to him, but he found it hard to believe that she had come to feel as strongly for him as he did for her in such a short span of time. He still couldn’t get a sense of her future timelines, so he had no idea how to ensure the timeline he caught a glimpse of this morning. Certainly time could be rewritten, he’d seen it often enough in his travels, but he wanted to do everything in his power to have Rose and her spectacular snogging skills traveling with him through time and space.
The minstrel finished singing, and Rose clapped enthusiastically. Other people had gathered, clapping with warm smiles on their faces, obviously assuming the two of them were a couple enjoying a romantic moment. Rose looked at him with shining, smiling eyes before leaning in and pressing a lingering kiss near the corner of his mouth. She then threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight, as usual making his hearts thrum out an uneven staccato.
“That was lovely,” she whispered in his ear. “Thank you.”
Even though he hadn’t done a thing (although he had his suspicions, based on his visit from Future Rose earlier), knowing that Rose was happy and in his arms was enough. Even if he had to feel for Rose from afar for now, not acknowledging what was building between them, he knew it was preferable to anything he’d felt before Rose had come into his life.
“You’re welcome,” he murmured, giving her one last squeeze before breaking their embrace and smiling. “Now, you’ve had your fun, Inspector. Shall we do a bit of investigating? I believe our best course of action would be to check out the handmade goods, see if we can get some information out of the vendors. What do you think?”
“Sounds promising, Dr. Smith,” Rose teased. She stood up and stretched, offering her hand to the Doctor. He smiled and allowed her to pull him up before leading them to the many tables, booths, and tents that housed the different crafters. Walking among them, the Doctor noticed a great deal of clothing, pewter goods, and even an entire tent dedicated to elaborate corsets that he half-wished Rose would stop to admire. But he knew where Rose was headed. She wanted to look at the handmade jewelry, and he knew she was hoping they’d find something similar to the rings. The investigation was stagnating, and he knew she was desperate for a new direction.
However, things were looking more and more dire as they moved through the section. There were tables of lovely beaded jewelry, some with intricate pieces that were woven together with wire, and several with a great deal of elaborate pendants, but nothing that she felt required further scrutiny.
Until they glanced at the goods on one of the last tables and simultaneously froze. There, sitting right in front of them, was a display of hand-molded rings and pendants. While there didn’t seem to be any similar puzzle rings, the pendants bore a striking resemblance, the interlocking design held together by simple silver chains. Immediately, Rose perked up and began to browse, catching the attention of the purveyor of the stand.
“Ahh, good lady,” the older man said silkily. “I see my wares have caught your eye. A beautiful maiden should be adorned with beautiful things, yes?”
The Doctor glared at the man. He was quite a bit older than Rose, looking like he was nearing fifty despite being in fairly good shape. His hair was thinning, though not balding, and had taken on a salt-and-pepper quality that he knew some women found attractive. He wore a pair of leather gloves with his basic tunic and trousers, and the Doctor decided he did not like the way the man had fixed Rose in his piercing gaze. It was unnerving him, and he knew it had nothing to do with jealousy.
Rose, friendly and disarming as ever, simply laughed. “And these are beautiful. I love the pendants. Did you make everything on the table?”
“Yes, milady,” he answered her in the same smooth tone as before. “My father was skilled in the craft. In fact, he made his and my mother’s wedding rings. They were quite similar to the pendants. Your rings are quite lovely as well. I applaud your excellent taste.”
“Oh, thank you!” Rose replied, glancing down at the two small rings that always adorned her fingers. “They belonged to my grandmother.”
“Ah, family heirlooms. You know, that the ring symbolizes eternity. The endless circle. Beginning and ending in the same place. Rings are best when tradition are attached to them, don’t you agree?”
The Doctor could tell Rose’s guard was up. His was as well. Something was…off about this purveyor, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He needed more information.
“You are very talented,” the Doctor broke in, handling as many pieces as he could, passing them to the man to replace in their holders, hoping to find an excuse to touch man and hopefully get a glimpse of his timeline or thoughts. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful. Any skin that could be brushed accidentally was covered by sleeves or gloves, and he finally asked if the man had any additional stock somewhere.
“I do have other wares available in the mystical realm known as the Internet,” he said, handing the Doctor a business card. “There are many similar designs, though represented in a great number of different pieces.” He turned his attention back to Rose, and the degree to which he was focused on her made the Doctor uncomfortable. “Sometimes, though things are noticeably different, it is comforting to focus on the similarities, yes?”
Rose held the man’s gaze for a moment before plucking the business card from the Doctor’s hands and inspecting it carefully. “Claude’s Wares. Claude, thank you. These are really, really beautiful. Maybe I’ll have to sneak John here some hints for my birthday, yeah?”
Rose laughed, a sound that was so contagious that most of the people around her felt compelled to join in. Claude just gave her a tight-lipped, forced smile. “You have such lovely blonde hair. One of the merchants is selling ornaments you may enjoy. I bid you good day, good sir and lady.” He turned away quickly and immediately zeroed in on another customer who had just approached his stand.
Rose scowled and tucked the business card into her bag as they moved on to the next table, which was selling the lovely, elaborate hair ornaments. “Rude, wasn’t he? Couldn’t wait to move on to the next sale once he knew we weren’t buying.”
“Something about him was off,” the Doctor murmured, absently picking up a floral clip and holding it against her hair.
“Hmmm…” Rose trailed off thoughtfully. “You’re right, as usual. Just that gut instinct, you know? Oh, well, some odd people do frequent this circuit sometimes. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
She didn’t sound convinced, and her eyes remained distant for the next few minutes, completely lost in thought. It wasn’t until the Doctor plopped a gorgeous, pink floral garland on her head and began pinning it into place that the clerk’s delighted squeals brought her back into the moment.
“There we go,” the Doctor said, turning her to face the small mirror. “Gorgeous. It suits you, Inspector. In fact…” The Doctor pulled a billfold out of his pocket and offered a few notes to the clerks before placing her hand on the small of Rose’s back and leading her towards the last few stands.
Rose laughed. “And Jack told me you were a cheap date. I’ll have to tell him how wrong he was.”
At the words “cheap date,” the Doctor froze, memories from his dream and their kiss this morning flooding back to him. Suddenly, his entire body felt flushed, and his hand on Rose’s lower back felt incredibly intimate. He moved his hand to grip hers, squeezing gently and feeling much better about his wandering appendages being in neutral territory.
“Doctor,” Rose stopped walking and placed a hand on his arm, pulling him gently towards her. “I have to say, strange vendors aside, today has been really, really great. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.”
The Doctor grinned. “I’m glad.”
She stood on her tiptoes and placed another kiss on his cheek before enveloping him in a hug. “Thank you. For everything.”
“Anything for you, Rose Tyler,” he said, tweaking her nose affectionately before moving on, their joined hands swinging gently between them.
Anything for her, he thought as he watched Rose gush appropriately over hand-crafted swords and armor. Wonder if she has any idea how true that statement is.
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