Fic: Veni, Vidi, Vici (2/6)
Title: Veni, Vidi, Vici (2/6) (previously 'When in Rome')
Author: soniced_up
Pairing: Nine/Rose
Rating: PG for this part. Rating will go up.
Written for the time_and_chips Anywhere but Cardiff Ficathon
Prompt: Rome - Caesar’s era.
Spoilers: Unquiet Dead, End of the World. Nothing major though
Disclaimer: BBC owns Rose, the Doctor, the TARDIS and the concept…the OC’s are MINE! MUAHAHAHA..erm.
Author’s notes: First of all I have to thank measi for the wonderful beta read. It’s because of her that this fic is actually readable. I also must thank my parnter in crime, and evil twin jennsthedevil for her support and suggestions, even if one of her suggestions did involve a banana being used in a very inappropriate fashion. Without her, this fic might have been scrapped on a couple of occasions. Thanks so much Hun. You mean the world to me.
The air was hot, almost stifling, as the bright mid summer sun beat down on the ancient civilization. There was only the slightest breeze stirring the dust at their feet as Rose and the Doctor strolled through the marketplace, arm in arm. The Doctor was, for once, happy to just be led by Rose’s curiosity. They didn’t talk; they just explored, her child-like wonder leading them from one place to the next. If she had bothered to look, she would have found that the Doctor was much more interested in watching her ever-changing expressions as they flitted across her face than in watching the comings and goings of these primitive humans.
There were vendors of all sorts lining the street. Some sold their wares or provided their services off the back of rickety old carts that were attached to filthy, spirit broken mules. Others had erected booths from which they conducted their business. They all seemed to be offering something different: some were laden with bolts of fabric, others overflowing with various vegetables and fruits. Some were selling livestock, mainly chickens and pigs, and still others were heaped with barrels, filled with what Rose assumed was ale or wine.
There was an old man standing in a tub of dirty water. His tunic was tucked up leaving his legs bare, and he was stomping on some clothes in the tub. When he was finished he took the clothing and passed it to a young boy of no more than 6 or 7 years old who took the sodden garment and wrung the water out into another tub. The boy then took it into the building behind them, appearing a few seconds later at a second floor window, where he hung it to dry on one of the many washing lines, crisscrossing the market above the patrons’ heads.
Across from the old man, Rose stopped and watched in fascinated horror as a large burly man, wearing a blood stained apron, raised a crude looking axe and chopped the head off of a squawking chicken. He then passed the bleeding and still flapping - but no longer squawking - bird to an old woman who placed it in her basket and passed him a coin, before going on her way.
Chuckling softly at Rose’s obvious disgust, the Doctor squeezed her hand, gently guiding her further into the heart of Roman commerce. As they got closer to the centre of the market, the cobbled road they walked on split off at two ninety-degree angles and formed a large square. Various shops catering to Rome’s upper class framed the square. There were also several baths, a bank and at the other end of the square, Rose could see a large elaborate building that had to be a temple of some sort.
In the centre of the market common, there was a park with several benches for shoppers to rest and converse. At the far end of the common, a man stood on a raised platform, his arms gesturing emphatically as he spoke to a small crowd. Closer to where Rose and the Doctor stood, a man played a lyre. The music he was playing was quite lovely, so Rose led the Doctor to a nearby bench where they could sit and listen.
Rose let the music wash over her as she took in everything around her. She always found it a little more disconcerting to visit her own planet at different time periods than she did visiting other planets. Alien planets, were just…well, alien. They were supposed to be strange and it was all right if she didn’t understand what she saw. The Doctor would always explain it for her. But this was her own planet, these were humans like her, but it all felt completely… alien to her. And it was fantastic, she thought with a grin.
She gave his arm a quick squeeze and turned her face into his leather-clad shoulder. She loved the smell of leather. She’d never really thought about it before meeting the Doctor, but now she was quite sure that leather mixed with Time Lord would forever remain her favourite scent.
She savoured these moments. Moments when he would sit still and just… be with her. Oh she loved the adventure and the danger and the running for their lives - she wouldn’t miss any of that for the world. But moments like these, when she could just sit quietly with him, touch him, hug him, and simply enjoy his company - these moments were a rare gift.
She loved him. She’d probably loved him since that moment, after she’d seen the Earth destroyed, when he had taken her home and they had stood in the middle of a busy London Street. He had told her that he was the last of his kind. His planet, his people were all gone - he was alone. He had given her a little piece of himself that day and she had taken it and locked it safely in her heart. It was in that moment that she made the decision to never leave him. But she hadn’t realized the true extent of her feelings for him until she had lost him. When the reapers had come and taken him from her and she thought she would never see him again, that was when it had hit her - she loved him. She truly, madly, with all her heart loved him. Once she had gotten him back, once she had dealt with the grief of watching her father die, she had noticed a shift in their relationship. They became more tactile with each other. They started to spend every waking moment with each other, well her waking moments anyway. They started to read each other’s body language more clearly and began to finish each other’s sentences.
And then there were the looks. The long sideways glances he would give her, usually when he thought she wasn’t looking. She’d look up quickly and for just a second she would see a spark of something in his eye that made her wonder, made her dare to hope. But then it would be gone, and she would laugh at her own foolishness.
She knew he cared about her, probably even loved her in his own way. But he didn’t do domestic. He had made that clear from day one, so she doubted any feelings either of them might have were going to change that for him. And that was ok. It was enough just to be with him, to be his friend, his companion. She would be content to be his “plus one” for as long as he wanted her to be. Or at least that’s what she tried to tell herself.
Shaking herself out of her mental musing, she looked up at the Doctor and was surprised to find him looking at her, his face mere inches from her own. His gaze was filled with a mixture of curiosity, amusement and something else she couldn’t describe. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest. Her eyes drifted down to his soft inviting mouth and she wondered what he would do if she tilted her head just slightly and…
“So what do you think, Rose?” The Doctor asked, sitting back suddenly and sweeping his gaze over the ancient humans going about their business.
Rose closed her eyes and willed her heart and her over-active imagination back under control. Business as usual. Right.
“It’s weird,” she said, pleased at how normal her voice sounded. “These people, they’re human, just like me, yeah? We share the same DNA and everything. And yet they seem more… alien to me than you do.”
“Excuse me?”
Rose giggled softly at his righteous indignation and bumped her shoulder playfully against his. “Oh, I know, you are supremely superior to me in every possible sense, and I couldn’t possibly begin to completely understand you even if I were to spend the next 100 years with you. Better now?”
“Oi, sarcasm!” He tried to frown but he knew Rose could see the amused twinkle in his eyes.
“All I meant was, here, in this place I don’t feel like I fit in,” she continued. “Don’t get me wrong, I love it - whether you’re showing me alien planets or my own history. I love seeing all these things with you. But…it’s hard to explain, but among these people, as human as I am, I feel like a complete outsider. But with you, as alien as you are, I just…I always feel like I’m where I belong.” She bowed her head quickly against the rising heat in her cheeks and fought the urge to cover her face. She was afraid to look at him in case he was laughing at her silly human emotions.
Rose jumped when she felt his cool, strong fingers cup her chin and tilt her face upwards. She tried to keep her eyes averted, but when he didn’t say anything and just gently held her chin, her curiosity got the best of her and her eyes darted to his.
“You are where you belong, Rose.” His voice was barely more than a whisper.
She felt the weight of his words as they crept into her heart. Her heart stopped. There wasn’t laughter or pity in his eyes. Instead his blue depths were infused with that spark of which, in the past, she’d only caught glimpses. He wasn’t trying to hide it from her this time; it was all laid out for her to see. His adoration, his trust, is faith…his love. She took a deep, ragged breath as the overwhelming truth of it all washed over her.
A ghost of a smile formed on the Doctor’s mouth as the realization filled her. He moved his hand from her jaw to cradle the side of her face, allowing his thumb to brush gently across her bottom lip. Slowly and with infinite care he dipped his head towards hers.
He’s going to kiss me. Oh my God, he’s going to kiss me. I’m dreaming. Someone pinch me. No wait, don’t.
Her eyes fluttered shut at the first feel of his warm, moist breath, and her lips parted slightly in silent invitation. Then his lips were brushing hers, so softly that she thought she might have imagined it. But there it was again, like a butterfly’s wings. Sighing softly, she pressed forward slightly, increasing the contact.
“Get your hands off her mongrel!”
Moving like someone had set a fire underneath him, the Doctor leaped to his feet and took a step back, putting distance between himself and Rose.
“Oh hello there.” The Doctor, possessing an astounding and somewhat annoying ability to adapt to any situation in a heartbeat, smiled at the Roman soldier who had addressed him. “I’m the Doctor and this is Rose.” He raised his hand in a quick wave, his fingers waggling.
His eyes darted briefly to Rose in a quick warning to stay quiet. Unfortunately, Rose was still lost in the almost kiss. To overwhelmed by her racing pulse and her sudden anger at this man who had interrupted what, quite possibly, would have been the best kiss of her life, she didn’t heed his warning.
“Yes, that’s me. Rose. Hello! And who you calling a mongrel?”
The soldier turned his attention to Rose, his gaze sweeping her from head to toe, making her feel decidedly uncomfortable. He turned back to the Doctor and did the same to him. He seemed to come to a decision because he quickly reached down and pulled his short sword from its scabbard, pointing it directly at the Doctor’s chest.
“In the name of the Imperial army, I’m arresting you.”
“Arresting me? Why, what did I do?” The Doctor was no longer smiling; in fact, as he looked from the soldier to Rose to the piece of pointed metal inches from his chest, he appeared a little concerned. Rose recognized his look as the one he got when he was frantically looking for a way to get them to safety but was coming up empty.
“You have defiled this young woman. And you will come with me,” he said in a tone that suggested he was accustomed to being obeyed.
“What?! Defiled her! I would never,” the Doctor barked.
Rose’s own denial blended with his. “Defiled me? Are you daft? He barely touched me.”
“Rose...”
“He was only gonna kiss me. Or at least I think he was gonna kiss me. With him, who knows? But the point is he wasn’t doing anything I…”
“Rose! Be quiet, let me handle this.”
She turned, her anger now directed at the Doctor. “Oh yeah sure, ‘cause you are doing such a fine job of it.”
“Rose, please.”
“Doctor really, this is just ridiculous.”
“SILENCE!” the soldier bellowed, causing both Rose and the Doctor to jump and snap their mouths shut. He pressed his sword to the Doctor’s chest, cutting a hole in his jumper but not breaking the skin. Two other soldiers suddenly appeared to flank the Doctor, each grabbing one of his arms to restrain him.
“Take the swine to Consul Severus,” the first soldier ordered.
“Yes, Praetor!” the other two bellowed in unison.
“Wait, no!” Rose cried out, a note of panic entering her voice as she realized they were to be separated. She reached out and grabbed the Praetor’s arm. “Please, you don’t have to arrest him. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“You just told me that he was about to kiss you.”
“Well, yes, but…”
“Then he has broken the law and will be punished.”
“What, kissing is illegal?”
The Praetor sighed. “It is illegal for a man of his class to have intimate physical contact with a woman of your status,” he said, speaking to her as if she were a child.
Considering the matter finished, he began to walk away, ordering his men to follow with their prisoner.
“It’s ok, Rose. I’m going to be fine,” the Doctor said, trying to reassure her. “ I’ll just explain everything to this Severus chap and we can be on our way, yeah.”
The Praetor began to laugh uproariously at this; the other two joining in a moment later.
“Oh, I don’t think that’s to be the case. Severus doesn’t have much of a liking for scum like you. You will be dealt with quite severely.”
The fear coiled tighter in the pit of Rose’s stomach as the thought that the Doctor wasn’t going to be able to talk himself out of this one washed over her. “But really he hasn’t done anything,” she said, running to keep up with them. “He hasn’t defiled me or whatever. How could he have done, when…when…he’s my husband?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Rose caught the dumbfounded expression on the Doctor’s face, but she didn’t dare spare him a glance. She needed to focus all of her attention on the soldiers, willing them to believe her.
The Praetor stopped and turned on her, frustrated. “What kind of game are you playing at woman?”
“Excuse me?”
“This man can not be your husband. By his odd attire, it is obvious that he is a slave. No self-respecting Roman citizen would be seen dressed like that. And look at you. It is equally obvious that you come from a very wealthy house.”
Rose closed her eyes, her hands balling into fists as everything began to make sense. She was going to kill him. When they got themselves out of this, when they were safe back on the TARDIS, she was going to kill him. Very, very slowly. If he’d worn the bloody toga, they could have avoided all this. Yep, his death was imminent.
She opened her eyes and looked at the large man in his fine military regalia, attempting her most demure attitude. “Please sir. He really is my husband. We aren’t from around here. Where we come from, all the men wear clothes like that. Please, he’s my husband. I need my husband.” Maybe if she said it enough, he’d start to believe her.
“I’ve had enough of your blathering, woman,” he said, turning from her once more and leading his men and the Doctor away. “Do not interfere anymore.”
“Doctor!” Rose cried, powerless to do anything else.
Before they got more than a dozen paces away, the Doctor caught his captors unaware and wrenched his arms free. He dashed to her and grabbed her in a fierce hug. “Don’t worry Rose, I’ll be fine. Trust me, like I trust you. I need you safe. Don’t follow me.”
Rose clung to him as he whispered into her ear, but before she could say anything the soldiers were on him, pulling him away. One of the soldiers drew back and smashed his fist solidly into the Doctor’s jaw, causing him to crumble in an unconscious heap at her feet.
“Doctor! No! Please, don’t hurt him,” she begged, but they ignored her. She was forced to watch as her Doctor was dragged away. She stood there helpless, and watched until they were out of sight.
Quickly looking around, she noticed that several pairs of eyes were looking at her, and some appeared to not be very friendly. She decided to retreat back to the safety of the TARDIS until she could figure out some kind of plan. He had said ‘don’t follow,’ so she wouldn’t follow. Yet. But she refused to just sit back and do nothing.
“Excuse me, miss.” A young blonde girl approached her, eyes downcast and head bowed in a gesture of supplication. She wore clothing much like her own, except everything was an off white colour and the fabric looked much coarser. She had her hair piled in a messy bun on the top of her head and she wore no jewellery or makeup.
“Can I help you?” Rose asked gently.
The girls head shot up, shock clearly written on her delicate features. She wasn’t accustomed to being spoken to so kindly, especially by a woman of such obvious high class. Suddenly remembering herself she bowed and bowing her head once again and gave Rose a little curtsy.
“Oh no Miss. I was hoping I could help you.” Her voice was soft and hesitant, but when Rose didn’t interrupt her, she continued more confidently. “I overheard you say that you weren’t from around here. If it pleases you, my family has a very comfortable room that you are welcome to.”
“You’re offerin’ me a room?” Rose asked, surprised.
“Yes miss. If it pleases you.”
Rose looked off in the direction the Doctor had been taken, then looked back at the girl in front of her, a smile on her face and hope sparking in her eye. This girl and her family would know where the Doctor had been taken.
“What is your name?”
“Lucia, miss.”
“Well Lucia, a room for the night would be lovely. Thank you.”
The girl looked up at Rose, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
“You really aren’t from around here are you?”
“Not even close,” Rose answered with a wide grin.
“Well come on then, miss.”
As Rose went to follow the girl through the crowded market, something fell with a soft thud at her feet. Looking around quickly to make sure no one was still watching, Rose casually stooped down and picked up the sonic screwdriver, tucking it into the folds of her tunic.
Part 3