Fic. New Boots And Panties (12/13)
Title: New Boots And Panties (12/13)
Author: tardismate
Character/Pairing: Nine/Rose/Ten
Rating: Adult. (VERY!) Defintely not work-safe or child-friendly. Unless you like your workmates/family see you crying.
Summary: She had turned the Daleks into dust, and brought life where life had been extinguished, all for the love of an old weary battle-scarred alien. It brought tears to his eyes, that she had been willing to burn forever to save him, and as he took the Vortex from her in a simple, heartsfelt kiss, he felt peace finally reach his soul, remembered the words of his future self, and accepted the beginning of his end
Author's Notes: This chapter is the penultimate one, and as such contains a hellish amount of angst, so I suggest you have tissues to hand. I'm sorry, really, but it had to be done. Made me cry, and I was writing the damn thing. *sniffles*
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Disclaimer: All belongs to Auntie Beeb and RTD, worse luck! I'll play nicely and put 'em back when I'm done, promise. Although they may be just a little the worse for wear *grins*
Previous Chapters Here at my Teaspoon http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=26824&warning=Adult
He stood facing the recorder for the sixth time, hoping that this time he could say what he had to without his emotions coming to the fore. Swallowing down his traitorous feelings, he pasted a smile onto his face and began to explain why he had to do this.
He had kissed her tenderly on the forehead before placing the mental block inside her mind, preventing her from remembering everything that had occurred with his future self. He knew that there would be traces bleeding through from time to time, but they would just be fleeting images, dream-like, nothing substantial; at least not until he had changed and then only enough to make her accept him almost without question. It would be up to his next self to unlock them - if he decided he wanted to, and if he thought she could take it. As he slipped from the warmth of her bed and the closeness of her embrace, he paused and looked down at the woman he would love throughout time. Tousled, sleep-flushed, sated and totally relaxed, she was completely captivating, and his hearts hammered against his chest almost painfully. A small smile graced his features, swiftly followed by an expression of anguish. Time was indeed a hard mistress. Swallowing the tears that burned his eyes, he made his way to the console room.
Rose woke up suddenly, aware that she was now alone in her bed. Turning her head to the left, she could see the indentation of his head on the pillow, and caught the fragrance that she could only describe as him. Pushing back the covers, she slipped on her robe and pushed her feet into the fluffy pink slippers he loved to tease her about, and on shaky legs, followed the sounds of tinkering.
She stopped at the entrance to the console room, the sight of his arse in the air making her smile. He was on his knees, his top half buried under the grating at the base of the console, his jeans riding low and his jumper riding up, baring a large amount of flesh to her gaze. A thud and a muffled curse reached her ears and she chuckled.
“Oi. Stop ogling me. Can feel your eyes on my arse.”
He pulled himself up and turned to grin at her...but the grin didn’t quite match the look in his eyes. The smile slipped from her face. The look in his eyes would haunt her for weeks - desolate, wanting, and so full of sadness that she felt she could weep.
“What is it? What’s wrong, Doctor?” she whispered, almost afraid of the answer. Before she could blink, she was being held tightly against his chest, and could feel him trembling.
“Tell me, please, tell me. Are you sick? Is that it? Am I sick? Is there something wrong with me?” Her voice wavered a little, but she managed to quash the feeling of panic which was threatening to engulf her at the thought of him being sick. She didn’t care if it was her, she would cope with it, whatever it was, but she couldn’t bear the thought that she might have to leave him one way or the other. She didn’t want him to hurt over her. He had done quite enough hurting in his long, long life, and she was determined he would have no more of it.
“No, Rose. You’re fine, I’m fine, we’re fine. Honestly. Just a bit melancholy today, that’s all. Didn’t mean to scare you. Sorry.” His arms squeezed her for a second before loosening and his face came into her vision. He was smiling, and this time it reached his eyes. She felt her tension dissipate.
“Sure? This isn’t one of your ‘I’m-a-Time-Lord-and-you-wouldn’t-understand-it-with-your-tiny-ape-brain’ things, is it?”
He shook his head at her in mock exasperation, bent and swiftly kissed her hard before he turned her out of his arms, pushing her towards the corridor, swatting her arse as he did.
“You might wanna put some clothes on - bit distracting you wandering about half-naked. And we’re about thirty minutes away from our next port of call.” He leered at her and grinned, before chuckling at her pout. “Go on, you need some fresh air, and Darilis is just the place for it. Totally uninhabited - at least for the next thousand years until your lot come stumbling in - and fantastic at this time of year. The banana groves are stupendous, Rose. Wait till you see ‘em”
She grinned at him, her tongue perched in it’s usual spot between her teeth, and just couldn’t resist baiting him, as she moved into the corridor.
“Oh, I get it. So many bananas, so little time, Doctor?” she chuckled.
“Damn apes!” he mock bristled, trying to hide his amusement.
“Hey, I’m not the one with a banana fetish!” she yelled behind her, as she took off for her bedroom, with him in hot pursuit.
Thirty minutes later, they were chasing a mauve alert that was jumping timelines, and ended up in 1940’s London, during the Blitz.
Twenty four hours later (relative time), they had an additional person on board. Jack was a conman, a Captain, and not a little bit pretty. For some reason she now had a real thing for pretty boys, even if she loved her unconventionally gorgeous Time Lord to distraction. It seemed however that Jack wasn’t picky, and voiced his feeling that he wouldn’t say no to either, or both, of them. Gave her a little tingle, that did, even though it had never been one of her fantasies before. But Jack wasn’t the right pretty boy, she knew. She didn’t know how she knew, she just did. Still he was fun, and nice to look at, and the Doctor didn’t seem to mind having him around, even if he did give him a hard time.
The Doctor had brought Jack on board, because he had seen that his timeline was tangled with both his and Rose’s - something he could not normally see. His own timeline was always unavailable to his inner sight, and Rose’s was clouded normally...which maybe should have alerted him. Now he could see that Jack’s broke off and just stopped, then changed immeasurably into something that was impossible. A fixed point in time and space was impossible. Not even the Time Lords had been able to create a living one. And at almost the same point, Rose’s timeline became so sharp and glowing that it hurt his inner sight. Somehow, he knew that his time was now running out.
Three weeks later, his worst nightmare came true. Rose, Jack, and himself had been transmatted out of the Tardis (which shouldn’t have been possible...but nevertheless had happened) and into the Game Station. Both he and Jack had fought to free themselves and find Rose, only to watch in horror and anguish as she was disintegrated into a pile of dust in front of him. The Controller had a message for him - a message that made his blood run cold. As he looked at his fingers, coated in the ashes of the missing piece of his hearts, he knew that she was not dead, that she had been transported somewhere, he vowed revenge, his guts telling him that it was now. That his time was over. And when he saw just who had taken her, he knew he would fight them to the bitter end. They had taken everything else he had ever loved - but not this time. He would rescue her, and save her by sending her home, even though it would break both his hearts. And he did. And it did. Except she wouldn’t stay saved. He had prepared himself for sacrifice, and then she had returned. Rose, but not Rose. The only human in the whole of Time and Creation who had taken the Heart of the Tardis into herself, and had become an avenging angel. A Golden Goddess with all the power of Time, with all the majesty of a god, and had used it to save him, and resurrect Jack. She had turned the Daleks into dust, and brought life where life had been extinguished, all for the love of an old weary battle-scarred alien. It brought tears to his eyes, that she had been willing to burn forever to save him, and as he took the Vortex from her in a simple, heartsfelt kiss, he felt peace finally reach his soul, remembered the words of his future self, and accepted the beginning of his end. The last thing to sear his retinas as he began to burn was the look of agony on her face, and he mentally tried to leave a message for the new man who would take his place.
Love her. Please, love her. For me. You owe her that much.