for writers_muses: RP Prompt: Greatest Fear (A Trip to Gallifrey)

[rude_not_ginger]

One of you has just been forced to confront your biggest fear, choose another muse to be on the receiving end of that and what comes after.

Rose was nervous. It was really like a giant knot of nervous wound tightly up around a ball of tension that felt more like nervous too, if that was even possible. Which considering the things she's seen on her travels she was pretty sure it was. Plus it was in her stomach at the moment. Maybe it was a mistake asking to go to Gallifrey, and even if it was a mistake it wasn't like she could take it back now. The TARDIS had landed and she was not exactly pacing but there was a tiny bit of shuffling of her feet going on. Pink high top Converse on her feet tied a bit too tight on the left foot made her wonder if she should retie them, which made her look at her foot every so often.

Gallifrey was right outside the TARDIS doors, well as long as he'd managed right, and she was scared to open them. Glancing back over her shoulder, biting her bottom lip she nodded to the Doctor who was setting what she assumed was the parking brake. She really should ask him just what was going on with all the pulls and flips of things. Maybe another day. "I can't open the doors, I'm too... well choices at the moment are nervous, excited, or ready to toss up that box of crackers I just ate bit ago. Take your pick."

He smiled a little at her comment about the crackers, then stared at the door. He swore he'd never come back. Never ever. He reached under the console and pulled out a Seal of the High Council he'd acquired in his Third incarnation (how did he get that again? Something about the Death Zone...?) and stuffed it in his pocket. The psychic paper was useless on his homeworld, as were most of his other usual tricks.

"I've parked us just inside of the city," he said. He reached over the console and handed her a tiny gold ring. "Non-Gallifreyans aren't allowed here, you'll need to wear this biodampener, keep you hidden. 'Course if they get suspicious there's very little we can do, but we'll just have to stay quiet, cause as little uproar as we can."

Nervous? Oh, just a little bit. He walked over to the door to the TARDIS. "You ready?" he asked, both to her and himself.

Rose took the ring in her fingers and slipped it over hers. It didn't rightly fit on her ring finger, natch, but it slid easily against her index finger. She looked at the band wondering how exactly it worked, but figured she didn't really have time for a discussion on that just at the moment. But now she had something for her thumb to run against, and spin roughly against her finger. It was going to be a distraction for sure, but really that actually sounded like a good thing in the moment. This was Gallifrey, and this was a big deal to her and to the Doctor. Probably more to him, and she realized that. More than realized it she recognized the importance of this trip. It wasn't just something to keep her safe it was something that was going to leave a mark with her forever.

Her fists balled up at her sides, tugging on the denim of her jeans a bit before glancing back at the Doctor, "You're gonna have to go first." Because honestly if they were going to get arrested or something she wasn't going to be the girl with the biodampener on her finger that wasn't even allowed on the planet. That wouldn't go well at all.

"I know." He swallowed and tightened his jaw. The home he never wanted when he had it. Rose was just about at arm's length and he reached over to take her hand.

Outside the door was the entryway to the Citadel. He was parked (quite accurately, he was pleased to say) in the TARDIS docking stations between two column-shaped TARDISes. Had they been further into the city, his illegally-procured TARDIS would've immediately drawn the attention of the authorities and that would've been a world of danger he and Rose didn't need to be in.

The streets, like the buildings, were white stone, shaped and then polished to a high sheen. The buildings were tall and elaborately designed with golden spires. The city itself was encased in a mighty glass dome, meant to keep out intruders and separate the Time Lords from the rest of Gallifrey.

If the Doctor had his way, he'd have parked the TARDIS outside of the city and shown her the mountain he grew up on. They could've lied in the soft red grass and stared up at the twin suns sparkling in the orange sky. But no, no, Rose would want to see where he spent his youth. His whole young life was in front of them, behind the Citadel. Everything beyond the glass dome was muted and dull, save the open spaces reserved for diplomats and astrologers.

He didn't speak as they stepped outside, he just looked around at the world that was. The world he destroyed.

Rose wasn't even sure what she had been expecting, and because of that she wasn't sure if she should feel impressed or disappointed. She'd heard slight comments through out the years about Gallifrey, but she'd never even dreamed of what it looked like. There was no image of it in her mind, or a thought of how it might be to visit. Stepping out of the TARDIS there was no steady hand that reached for hers as he walked out the doors, and for a moment she could actually feel that lack of a pull from him. Despite not having an image of it in her mind, it was hard not to be impressed by it. She almost wished she was wearing her heeled boots just to hear the sound they would've made against the stone beneath her feet. Everything felt so clean, so pristine as if no one had dared to touch it with anything to mess up the way they existed. They were Time Lords after all, and really who could blame them for wanting to keep this to themselves.

Lifting her hand to above her eyes she looked up to the dome that covered the city, a smile cracking across her features, "Well talk 'bout a glass ceiling. No wonder you're always a guy."

Tiny ships scurried across the top of the dome and the Doctor imagined what their lives were like, now. Full of studying and meditation and research, most likely. Lives that, in a few short centuries, would be snuffed out. The guilt hit him hard.

Rose's words, however, went over his head. "I beg your pardon?"

Leave it to him to not understand what she was talking about. Though it was sort of nice for a change, considering she was pretty often asking for explanations and such, "The whole... glass ceiling thing? I mean women in jobs..." pursing her lips she shook her head, "Never mind. Not really important. So alright, walkin' tour begins now."

Rose stepped closer to him slipping her arm into the crook of his naturally and smiled up at him. Taking on her best boring museum guide voice she kept her voice low so as to not draw attention to them, "Today in Gallifrey you'll see to the left... a building. Right. So I'm not the best one to be leading this, so just where are we?"

"Sorry," he said, shaking his head a bit. "It's just...been a while, actually." But she already knew about that. There was no need to get into it further. He motioned to the tallest building in front of the TARDIS.

"The Citadel. Housing diplomats, researchers...I actually blew up the attic there, once. Completely by accident. Well, mostly. Well, it was for their own good. 'Round the corner here we have the Academy. Now that's the best place to start looking 'round, because I know I won't be there. Can show you the astronomical area, that's where I spent a lot of my time when I was young."

The streets only had a few pedestrians, some dressed in classic Gallifreyan robes with full coronet, others more casually. Each passed the Doctor and Rose uncaring, too important for their existence. Well, that was at least exactly how he remembered.

The Academy was both wide and tall, with areas clearly built (or perhaps grown) from the sides to house more students. Each peak of the building was topped with a spire that ended in the interlocking 8's of the Seal of Rassilon.

The Doctor pointed to a smaller section of the building. "Prydonian House. That was mine. Classically known for creating tyrannical dictators and troublemakers."

It was a bit unsettling to see that everyone really did just walk by as if they weren't even worth looking at. Rose was used to being in strange places and standing out, people at least glancing at the two of them. Rose was actually used to the odd looks of how 'little' she'd wear in some of the places they'd end up, but being over looked? It felt odd. She wasn't really upset by it, just unsettled really. Still she looked at the buildings as he pointed them out, and she could almost feel the distance the Doctor was trying to put between him and the words he spoke. Rose felt almost awful now for even suggesting the trip, asking to see this. Maybe it was too much for him. Her hand slipped from the crook of his arm to lace her fingers around his hand giving him a gentle squeeze, as she stopped walking. Looking up at him she took a short breath, "If this is too much, if it's too hard... we can go."

Oh, he immediately wanted to agree. He wanted to agree and make a break for the TARDIS and go off...anywhere else. Barcelona, he never did get to take her to Barcelona. But that would be going back on their agreement, and her safety...well, that was more important than his pained memories.

"Naaaaaaah, already got all the way here, might as well at least show you around. Got to warn you, though, the school is just full of the most dull people. Study, study, study, they never want to do anything, and that's all I've ever wanted to do. Fly, travel, and just see."

Rose nodded, leaning in a bit closer to him just so he knew he wasn't actually alone here. This was part of his history and it wasn't something he needed to worry about. They'd see things like they always did. It would just be another adventure, another chapter in their book. Rose knew it was difficult for him to be there, but perhaps just being there with her would make it different for him in some way. "Consider me warned, the place is now officially lousy with dull ones. Got it. Lucky for me then I ended up running into the likes of you then." She smiled up at him, with the sort of smile that only Rose Tyler could give him. A smile of warmth and compassion that she knew might actually make him feel a bit better.

He smiled back. It was a little strained, but still there. Saying it was hard would be an understatement, but he did want to share this with her. Show her what his life was like. He might've sooner if...well, all the ifs in the world wouldn't make Gallifrey any less a piece of history rather than his actual home.

"Come on, this way." He gave her hand a tug and pulled her over to a lift. The lift was a thin piece of what looked like gold on the ground. The Doctor hopped on and motioned for Rose to join him.

As much of a mistake as this felt to Rose in the moment she hoped that eventually there would be that shift from being an uncomfortable situation to something both of them could look back at with fondness. In all fairness Rose almost felt guilty for thinking that it could become one of those stories that always started out with the bright smile of the Doctor and the phrase, 'Oh remember that time we...' and the rest of the story would just be amazing and something you had to be there to really understand. Her hand had slipped from the crook of his elbow to lace to his fingers easily, and honestly she had barely realized it at the time. It was only when she felt him tug her toward a direction that she even realized that the transition had occurred. It was natural in that way, just the way it should've been she figured.

He pulled her toward a gold piece of sidewalk which he promptly stood on. With a quizzical look she eyed it cautiously before she stepped onto that same square beside him. Of course once both of them where on it the slip of gold moved and Rose laughed lightly at the whole thing, "Well that's not what I expected at all really."

"One of the more basic lifts, actually," the Doctor said, shrugging. If you want to see extravagant and high-tech, you should see the foot-lifts they're using at the Capitol during this period of history. Non-natives thought the President could fly. Fascinating stuff. I fell off one, once. Not a pretty sight."

A slight ding came from the lift and the Doctor spoke clearly. "Astronomy Tower." The lift shifted and moved up and forward, circling the tower as it went up it. The Doctor put an arm around Rose's shoulder but looked otherwise serene. It was as if it was an ordinary lift to him. Something he went up every day as a child.

It might've been ordinary to the Doctor but Rose was grateful for the Doctor's arm holding against her shoulder, and as the lift wound up around the center of the tower Rose had to shut her eyes to keep from trying to focus on everything she saw that was in turn making her slightly dizzy and turning her stomach just a bit. Still she kept her wits about herself, and managed to take in deep breaths just to stop herself from losing a bit of herself in the ascent up to the Astronomy Tower that the Doctor had picked out. When the lift stopped Rose was more than relieved, though she did realize that all things that go up, must also come down but she'd deal with that when it happened.

The Doctor kept his arm around Rose even as they stepped off of the lift and onto one of the glass-and-stone balconies surrounding the Astronomy tower. From this height the blue TARDIS was a speck on the ground, yet the city was still impossibly large within the dome. His home.

He grinned. "Come on, Rose. Can't miss it. Got a spot on the top I used to sit up on when I was young. You can see the whole starscape. Suns set should be in a few minutes."

She smiled up at him, the grin was good to see. An arched eyebrow came up at his remark, "Suns?" Still she followed him easily. Even easier with his arm still tight against her shoulders, felt natural even just to be following along next to him like this. She could even feel a bit more of the relax in him which was a relief, because she hated to think that her choice of seeing this had been the wrong one. Her eyes flowed across the place taking in the view and the different things that she barely even could imagine if she'd had a hundred years to think about Gallifrey. "It's so.... I mean I'm lookin' for a word an' I'm comin' up with Impressive. Yeah impressive sounds good."

"Impressive? Really. I like impressive." He led the way to a white-stone staircase that went up the side of the spire. On the top was an enclosed room with dozens of screens and telescopes pointed for a variety of worlds.

"It's empty, must be the wrong time of day," he said. "Or the right, depending on how you look at it."

Rose was astounded really. It was nothing like any of the observatories she'd been to for school. Little day trips and a light show set to some old static voice track was nothing compared to what she'd seen right out the door of the TARDIS, but seeing this? This was just something else. Screens and scopes and all sorts of things that Rose was simply floored by. Plus as the Doctor had just pointed out, it was empty. Which only took Rose a matter of seconds before she was slipping from beneath his steady arm and sort of skipping toward one of the scopes to look up into the skies and see what she could see. Eye still gazing into the heavens she waved the Doctor over, "Alright then what'm I lookin' at here."

The Doctor slid next to her and looked at the screen. "This," he said, "Is an electrocoreographical sightscope. A less complicated version of the observation tools used in the Capital. You're looking at Deverestra, it looks like." He pointed to one of the swirly Gallifreyan letters above the planetary image. He took her hand and placed it over a slender stone bar next to the telescope. He gave a pull, and the image of the planet on the screen zoomed in until it looked down at a city street as if from a satellite. Which, really, it sort of was.

"This is how I found the first few planets I went to when I first got the TARDIS. Let me tell you, Christmas looks absolutely bizarre by SightScope." he grinned.

Rose nodded along with the big words and stared at the screen, and then let her gaze wander to his hand atop hers and the stone piece that her fingers were pressing against. It felt like a slide of sorts, but when he pulled she shifted her gaze back to the screen quickly. It really was a lot of technology, but she had to assume that they needed all of it. Being Time Lords and watching out for everything had to have it's needs and such. Everything seemed sort of close to what she figured they'd need, but still had that odd thing about it that made it all that more interesting.

"So what you just look for a planet, check it out then go pop on in for a visit?" Rose watched the view of the planet shift and change as her hand moved over the stone. Glancing to where her hand was at she shifted it again and watched the image shift along with it.

"Well I can see why you'd want to get out and see it instead of just like this, I mean it's sort of cold. Staring at the streets and watching the people from way up here."

"Not exactly. Not from here. Here, everything is very basic. Students see the planets from here, learn how to use the technology for when they take proper jobs. If I'd actually gone through and had some sort of career after school, I imagine I'd have been quite the pro at these systems. Here we go, give it a twist this way and you can actually see a different timeline. Pull it back, but not too far." He helped her with that again, the motion as instinctual as his movements on the TARDIS. He'd spent so much of his young life in this room, staring at the screens and imagining life.

But Rose was right. This was cold. Almost voyeuristic. He wanted to actually experience life, not just watch it like the Time Lords did.

It was starting to be a bit too much for her to even understand, because honestly how can you just look at what's been in the past, to know what's gone on and to know how people can just be there and then not...

She knows that this is how it is, and she's known it since the first trip out, but seeing how it all begins, how the Time Lord decides what they think is right or wrong or needs to be watched... it's a bit unsettling. Though really she's not even sure if that's how it goes, the whole Time Lord thing. She's only known him... and even that's quite a feat to dare say that she knows him.

Time rewound for her at the touch of a hand and it nearly felt like cheating, just turning a dial. She smirked, "Now quite as complex a system. I mean unless they're hiding the bike pump on it somewhere?"

"Well, the TARDIS has a few missing bits on it that should've been replaced but she's a bit out of date. No parts available I...well, I improvised. Still works perfectly well, don't you think? Gets you there rather than just looking, that's what I wanted."

He takes Rose's hand and has her twist the dial again, moving away from Deverestra and to a different location. "I wonder," he said, twisting another dial. THETA SIGMA'S PREFERENCES popped up and he let out a laugh. "Would you look at that." He waved a hand over the screen and it switched immediately to Earth, 1963.

"One of my favorite years as a teenager to watch. I loved the Beatles."

Rose laughed as the view on the screen changed to Earth, it was odd for sure to just look at it. "Wasn't even born yet," she breathed as she glanced to the view of the world she knew. Turning to look at him she smiled, "You really just sat here watching Earth for the Beatles? I mean that's what you did? All these planets and star systems and you watched..." Rose glanced to the display again, "Nineteen Sixty-Three?"

Amused was really the tone of her voice, and she really was amused because the thought of the Doctor as a teenager was sort of adorable, of course she had to remember that he didn't look like this... not yet at least. "Explains the shoes at least," Rose teased toeing the tip of her shoe against his shin a bit.

"Oi, now, I was rather fond of the sixties. Lived there for a while while Susan went to school. She was ridiculously fond of Earth. I mean, you think I'm fond of Earth, you should've seen her. Threatened to leave the TARDIS and me if I wouldn't stay in the 20th century for her." He sighed. Still. Gone now.

He turned another dial, this one sending them to Earth, 1986. "Ah, yes. When I was 35, I ended up developing the most ridiculous crush on Madonna. Very nearly forgot about that. Been so long. Still. Students can set preferences, but apparently I was the only one who really did. Most people just used this room for school projects."

Rose smirked over at him, it really was sort of good to hear him talking about himself. Not that he didn't do it other times, but it was always in passing or off some other comment, but for his conversation to just sort of spin off on it's own... it felt comfortable to her.

"Just 35 and you were looking at 1986 and crushing on the Material Girl?" Rose laughed lightly covering her mouth with the back of her hand, "Sorry... but with like the lace over her outfit and the-" Her hands gestured out to a version of Madonna she was a bit more familiar with, cone shaped bra and all. "Here I thought you had better taste than that."

"So... wait, you were 35 and looking at 1986... so then... what year is it here? Like when are we?"

"I was 35! That's practically a teenager for Gallifreyans. They don't even stop calling you Time Tot until you're at least fifty or so. And as a matter of fact, I did like Madonna. Her videos were banned from the halls, so I was even more of a fan." He snorted and twisted the dials until a series of Gallifreyan numbers appeared on the screen.

"It looks like it's Day 128 on 4756.7 RE....ooooh, it's Intuitive Revolution Day, Rose. Landed you on a holiday. Not too terribly far off from my birthday, as well." He nodded. "Gallifrey exists in a sort of...time-protected era. You normally can't cut through it to visit other timelines within Gallifrey, but I've done some modifying on the TARDIS and slipped us through."

Rose shook her head at the numbers, knowing it was way in the future. Way way in the future with letters and decimal points and Time Lords having crushes on Madonna sort of times. Shaking the image of the Doctor watching the banned Madonna videos from her mind she glanced around, "So other than spying on people and catching up on women that wear underwear as outerwear as a possible match made in the way way ridiculously way past, what else did you do up here?"

Rose turned around looking at the rest of the level they were on, "Said kids did projects up here, but not you? This goin' back to the school thing a bit, yeah?" Rose wasn't sure if she wanted to ask what the projects were or what he was doing instead, but opted for the instead... instead.

"So everyone else is doing their school work. It's Day fifty two on the year of four-six-eight-five-A-Y-point-oh-niner..." Rose smirked up at the Doctor a bit, "All the kids are studying their future planets and monitoring the mold growing on loaves of bread... And the Doctor can be found... doing what?"

"Well, learning how to observe and not interfere. That's the way of the Time Lords. Complicated and ever-so-boring projects, let me tell you. Genetic sub re-writing, time loop inversion, practicing emotional detachment, that sort of thing. As for me, I can usually be found setting off pranks, annoying Koschei and Ushas, getting in some form of trouble---I know this doesn't sound like me at all---but that's what I was generally doing. I also..."

He hopped up and ran out of the room, motioning for Rose to follow. He climbed up a ladder that had been carved into the side of the building, eventually getting him up to the roof where the spire was. Streaks of electricity went from spiretop to other buildings, in time with whatever student was doing whatever project.

It took her a moment to watch where he was headed, but she followed at his beckoning. The ladder was part of the wall, and she'd almost mistaken it for a bookshelf with no books until he shoved his foot into it. Up she went just a few steps behind the Doctor until she was standing on the roof next to the Doctor overlooking the city. It was astounding to see, to watch the sparks of energy flow from the top of the building across to others and back again. "This where you'd be then?" Rose moved toward the edge of the roof looking down over it into the streets below her, "Droppin' things maybe?"

"Sometimes," he laughed. "First time I got expelled I learned to watch who I was dropping things on."

He took her hand again and pointed out to the horizon, where the two suns in the burnt orange sky were nearing the mountains on the horizon. "Sunsset."

"Right," Rose replied before his hand too hers once more. She looked out to the horizon, for once not distracted by the actual city and those within it to watch the suns set like he'd brought her there to watch in the first place. It really was magnificent to watch, the way they seemed to light up the whole sky with hues of orange and red. She'd watched hundreds of sunsets with Mickey, watched thousands with the Doctor, but this one... it felt so much different from all those. "It's amazin' Doctor," she simply stared at it for a moment as she leaned against him a bit her fingers shifting against his hand to clasp onto his tighter.

He forgot how beautiful it was. He liked to watch it when he was younger but after a while it felt like if you'd seen one sunset from the top of the Astronomy tower then you'd seen 'em all. Now...this was all he had. The past. She leaned against him and he pulled her close. He didn't usually feel...safe like this. He felt safe with Rose. It wasn't safe here at all, but...she made him calm.

"I-I'm glad," he murmured. "That I can share this with you."

She couldn't take her eyes off the way the sky was lighting up and shifting colors so easily, as if it was being painted right before her eyes. Tucking her hair behind her ear she exhaled lightly as he pulled her closer. The suns started to touch the tops of the mountains and she knew that soon enough they'd slip behind the peaks and then night would start. Resting her head against his arm she wanted to shut her eyes, but she didn't want to miss another moment of the colors. "I'm so glad you shared this with me, I mean.. I know it's not easy... being here and all. I'm real glad I'm here with you."

"It's not," he admitted. "But...I've needed this, for a long time. See what's long since gone. I actually forgot what a suns set looked like. It's been so long. Even longer, I rarely came home before the War."

As the first sun slipped beneath the mountain, a flash of silver hit the sky from the light against the distant trees. "Children are told that flash is the Sisters checking in on their children before bed. It's really just the sun refraction against the distance, but....still. When you're young..."

The flash of light was so unexpected she was glad she hadn't looked away. It was so brilliant and so sudden that it felt just like what it was called, and she wondered if that was what could have motivated so many of them to go out into the stars. To see just what else could be so brilliant and bright for such a short span of time. "When you're young it feels like the truth..."

Glancing up to him she met his eyes for a moment, "When you're young all the stories are amazing and you think that maybe one day you'll go out there and make your own." Taking a breath she smiled up at him, "Only some of us are lucky enough to get to grow up and do just that."

He smiled softly at her sentiment. "That we do. Go out, see the universe, burn bright and brilliantly. Stuff of legends we are, you and I." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He may have lingered a moment too long. He'd blame it on sentimentality.

"And now we're on one of the oldest planets in the universe, watching the suns." He pointed to the base of the mountain. "When I was a child, I lived down there. Little house with my family."

Her eyes finally shut tight when he pressed a kiss to her forehead, nearly sealing the moment as something that they specifically shared together. It wasn't just another sunset on another planet, it wasn't just any other little piece of an adventure. This was something that they really were sharing, and it felt right. When he pulled back she still held her eyes shut for a moment. Opening them she turned to face the skyline again, following the direction he pointed she nodded. "Were you happy? I mean with your family... livin' here, trying to grow up to be the man you are today?"

"I only lived with them until I was eight. Taken to the Academy, then. By the time I graduated they had both died. Well, my mother died. My father refused to regenerate...these things happen." He pulled Rose a little closer, feeling sympathy for the father he never really knew. "But what I do remember was...you know, happy."

"Should go down there, I think. House was left to me, and I'm still in school at this point. It'll be a safe place to stay after we wander the city. Don't want to risk you being detected while we sleep."

Losing a father, one that one barely knows Rose understood. She knew how lucky she was to have met him when he was alive, even if it had been against all the actual rules of time travel. She'd seen him, met him, she'd known him for that small bit of time and she'd never forget that. Nodding she glanced back to the mountains where his home was. It sounded a bit odd to think that she'd be heading to his home, to the place he'd grown up in. Well not exactly grown up in but had spent his youth in. Not that just eight years could be considered his youth really if thirty-five was a teenager. Pulling away from his side a bit Rose shifted to in front of him lacing her arms around his waist and looking up at him with a cautious eye, "Now you say detected and yeah I know I'm not allowed an' all that, but say something does go wrong? I mean... I'd like to be prepared here. This isn't an off with my head situation is it?"

"Naaaah, they'll probably just banish you from the city. Death Zone hasn't been active in millenia and that's really the only thing to be terrified of as a form of imprisonment or torture. You're just really my companion, you'll be safe." As for him? Well, he just wouldn't get caught. Breaking the time vortex as he did was so dangerous he didn't want to think of the consequences.

He brushed a lock of her hair from her cheek and smiled again. "We're safe here. S'why we're here, remember?"

Nodded in a very matter of fact way she drew her mouth into a tight line and smirked ever so slightly before turning back around to look out onto the city. It was night now, and the buildings were lighting up dotting the cityscape with a starry skyline all their own. Her hand reached for his once more, letting her fingers lace into his easily. "Alright then Doctor, take me to your place." Which to be honest Rose thought sounded awfully funny to be coming from her lips. Mostly because of all the phrases she'd managed to slip out here and there, even getting the Queen to say 'We are not amused.' The phrase your place or mine never even crossed her thoughts, until just now. And now it wasn't even a choice of where to go, but still it was funny to Rose at least.

It felt strange, the weight that phrase held. Still, it was innocent, right? They'd never...and he didn't...well, he did, but that wasn't the point, was it? He nodded and straightened, moving back to the ladder. It would be best, getting out of the city. Getting out of the world he hated and back into the world he had good memories of.

Muse: The Doctor (Ten)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Total Word Count: 13,002
Written with non-WM muse: banished_dame