Oneshot: The Last Stop (Rose) 3/3

[tasogareban]

Disclaimers: Doctor Who does not belong to me, nor do any of the characters in this oneshot. Doctor Who is property of the BBC and Russell T. Davies. The plot of this oneshot does belong to me though. Enjoy, Ten/Rose shippers. Thank my beta for this one and for the sister piece, Stopping Time (The Doctor).

Synopsis: He came to her, a dark shadow stepping into the gold and blue light of the TARDIS core and every part of her was suddenly on fire, confused by his expression but wanting more of it. She was his last stop, always.

Rating: M

Pairing: Ten/Rose

Author: Cassandra/Tasogareban

Beta: bratflorida

Spoilers: All of the first four series of New Who,  including the year four specials.

A/N: I'm aware it says Oneshot and is then split into three chapters. The fic itself is too large to go in one post so it will be split into three. Everywhere else I end up posting, it will be one complete fic.

Part 1: The Last Stop (Rose) - Part 1/3

Part 2: The Last Stop (Rose) - Part 2/3

The Last Stop (Rose)



He came fairly frequently after that time. Always when I least expected it but, I realized later, when I needed him most. He was there when Mickey stayed behind in that alternate world, making love to me even as I had cried. Holding me after until I’d had to go back to the other Doctor.

The day we encountered the black hole in the sanctuary base with the Ood, he came to me that night. I knew that days when I needed my Doctor, when I needed more from him that he was willing to give, that I could always find him outside and he would be there in the way my Doctor couldn’t. Being a future version of my Doctor, I know he remembered all the times I excused myself to leave for a few hours, for a night if I was visiting with my mum. And he came very close to catching me that night, my Doctor, something I didn’t forgive him for, not for a long time after. But it wouldn’t have stopped me from traveling with him. Although I had wondered sometimes if it was tricks like those which had made me leave him one day.

She moved down the street, her head down, her arms wrapped around her frame, clothed in a loose, strappy shirt and a jean skirt. It wasn’t cold out anymore but she felt icy inside, alone. The creature’s words to her, about the Valiant Child. It wasn’t her. It would never be her. Because she didn’t die. She just left him one day, it was what he’d said. That’s all it was. Though she couldn’t figure out why she would ever leave him. After Madame De Pompadour, after that awkward moment in the TARDIS, everything had gone back to normal. Mickey had remained in that other world and they had moved on. But tonight, it was just not enough, her Doctor’s words and consolation. And she was finding it harder and harder to keep those lives separate, the days and the nights. There were moments she found herself acting more as a lover than a companion to him, times when she would fight the urge to undo his tie or pull his suit from his frame. Even moments when she leaned in to kiss her own Doctor only to have him turn his face unknowingly, a smile on his lips and in his eyes.

Slowing, passing by a small alleyway, she paused in front of a department store window, seeing herself reflected there in the glass. She looked tired. Shaking her head, she lifted her hands to her eyes to rub away the weariness and when next she looked at herself, he was beside her, hands in his pockets. With a grateful sigh, she merely turned to him and held out her arms, waiting. He enveloped her in his embrace wordlessly, burying his face against her neck with a slight exhalation.

“You always find me,” she murmured against his ear, her hands curling around his shoulders, a hand tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck. A tiny shiver coursed through him as she did so, his frame stiffening faintly but she ignored it, turning her head to press a kiss to the small spot beneath his ear. The spot he enjoyed so much.

He pulled away from her, staring at her intently, his hands trailing to hold hers lightly.

With a small smile, she asked impishly, “And how was your day?”

He returned the smile slightly, cocking his head at her. “Saved the day again. But you should know that. You were there with me.”

She blinked at him, at his words, the small smile slipping a bit. And then, in understanding, she felt the blood leave her face, her eyes dropping downward. Brown suit. Dark tie. White Converse. “Right! No, right, I was!” she said to him quickly, realizing the Doctor before her was her very own Doctor. She turned from him, looking back at the department store window but she felt his eyes on her and she couldn’t help but feel that he could read her mind with a mere look. Struggling to focus on the clothes on display, she swallowed thickly. “W-what are you doing here anyway?”

It took him a  moment to respond. “You looked like you needed a friend,” he replied.

She almost looked at him. Actually, what she needed was a good screw, she thought inwardly. And she grimaced faintly.

He continued on, winding around her to look up the street blindly. “I stopped by your mother’s flat after dropping you off there but she said you went out. Thought I’d come look for you, see if you were all right-“

“I’m fine,” she nodded quickly, glancing toward him but only seeing his back. Brown suit. She turned away to face the display once more, her arms crossing over her chest. “I’m fine. Really.”

He nodded, still turned from her. “I also wanted to meet the person you go off to see whenever I bring you home to your mother.” And this time there was something in his tone that she positively did not like.

Her lips parting, teeth grinding slightly, she turned now to glare at his back. “You…came to spy on me,” she whispered quietly. Coldly.

He turned to her, meeting her glare. “That’s a bit harsh, wouldn’t you say?” he asked her with an arch to his brow, taking in her suddenly tight frame and dark expression. “I just wanted to meet-“

She cut him off. “You have no right to do this, to try to trick me like this.”

He frowned at her. “Trick you? Rose, I wanted to make sure you were ok. If you have someone you see, I’m not going to drop you back at home and leave you. I want you to stay with me, to keep traveling with me. I just want to know if this will be the one who will convince you to…leave, one day. To stay on Earth.” And he lifted his hand to scratch at his neck awkwardly, the same spot she had touched and caressed only moments ago.

She stared at him, her anger draining slightly at his uncomfortable expression. He was questioning already, this version of him. Was it possible she left him soon, any day now? “There’s…there’s never going to be anyone…to get me to stop traveling with you,” she said to him quietly. As he lifted his head to her response, she sent him a tired shadow of a smile. “I’m never going to leave you.”

And she knew what he wanted to say. That there was someone she was leaving him for already, some nights. Even though he would never be with her the way she needed him to be, the way she wanted him to be, he was still her friend. And he still cared for her.

She shook her head at him, reaching out and taking his hand when he lifted it to her. “Go on back to the TARDIS, Doctor. I just want a few minutes to myself. Get that…thing’s words out of my head.”

His fingers tightened on hers, his face suddenly adamant. “It lied, you know,” her said to her softly, his tone firm. “You’re not going to die. I won’t allow it.”

A small smile curling her lips, she shook her head once more, wryly. “And you do know that I am going to die one day, right?” she shot back at him. She motioned to herself, from her chest down to her feet. “One day, this body’s not going to be around. Then what are you going to do?”

He came to her, his eyes narrowing as he returned a smile. “Rose Tyler, you’re going to live forever. I’m going to try my damndest to make sure of it.” And this time, when he embraced her, she remembered to keep her lips to herself and her thoughts clean.

It wasn’t until after he had left, after she had composed herself, that the other one showed himself. Stepping from the alleyway, a knowing expression on his face, he lifted a hand to her face and gently trailed his fingers down her cheek and neck, following the movement with his eyes. She shivered as he did so, turning to look at him, her arms crossed over her chest. “And which one are you?” she demanded quietly, already knowing by the weariness on his face and the shade of his suit.

“He’s a quick one,” he replied softly, his fingers hovering over the nape of her neck. “I am, rather. Have you thinking I really only came here to make sure you were fine.”

She frowned at him slightly. “Didn’t he? You? Didn’t you?” she asked him faintly.

The smile was there now but there was no humor to it. “I wanted to see who your lover was,” he answered her truthfully, almost mockingly. And as she allowed his words to sink in, she saw the set to his jaw, the hardness in his eyes. And her own anger, while rising once more, was pushed aside as worry rose as well.

“It was a bad day,” she stated knowingly, her eyes widening, gazing at him.

“For both of us,” he murmured with a nod.

Of course he would know. He would know all about those words about her, about her death. He would know it all because he had been there before, had stood exactly where his previous self had just been. She stared at him, anger mixing with sorrow inside her. With a shake of her head, knowing then only that she needed him like a drug, the same way he needed her, she went to him. And straight into his kiss, his hands lifting to her face, his thumb trailing across her bottom lip before his mouth came down across hers desperately. The kiss was hard, heated, her heart instantly racing at his mere caress. She would never get over his touch, would never be able to give him up. Whatever happened between them, his kiss and his touch would not be the ones to end their affair. Never. She would have her eternity with him, no matter what.

Taking her hand in his, he broke the kiss, his lips trailing to her cheek as her eyes closed, as she lifted her arms for him to embrace her. And he did so, bringing her captive hand to his hearts, his other hand winding around her waist and pulling her close. “Come with me,” he whispered against her ear, his lips brushing her skin delicately.

She nodded, her heart skipping. “Yes. Always.”

His head bowing to hers, seeming to breathe her in, he pulled away from her and took her with him, leading the way into the alley. Following him silently, she saw the TARDIS in a shaft of moonlight, resting against the far back wall and she slowed, her lips parting.

“You were here the entire time?” she asked him, motioning back the way they had come, back to the department store display.

“Oh, yes.”

She stared at him, still allowing him to lead her. “Have you gone completely mad?” she demanded of him. “What if he had seen you? What if he saw your TARDIS? Then what would you have done, you great big-“

“Idiot?” he supplied for her, dropping her hand as they reached the TARDIS doors, as he fished for his key. “Trust me, Rose. I was so hellbent on finding out who your mystery caller was, I wouldn’t have recognized myself had I been two feet away. Which I wasn’t.” He unlocked the door, slowing, a hard smile curling his lips. “I was fifteen feet away.”

She shook her head at him, her arms crossing over her chest.

“And you’re not mad,” he said to her, his voice dipping as he leaned toward her. Opening the door dismissively, he drew close to her, dropping a slight kiss to her lips. “If you were really mad, you wouldn’t stay,” he breathed against her mouth, his caress sending shivers through her.

She lifted her arms to him, wrapping them around his neck. “I would stay,” she murmured against his lips, sighing as he kissed her, as he dragged her into the TARDIS and closed the door behind her. “I would stay forever. But I would still be mad.”

He nodded slightly. “Yeah.”

“Yeah,” she replied. And she looked around the empty console room. “No one around?”

His expression shut down at her question, swallowing roughly. “She went home,” he said to her stiffly. As she glanced up at him, he merely shook his head. “Too much happened. Too many things remembered. One too many years lost.”

“You’re not making sense,” she said to him quietly.

“No,” he agreed. But he didn’t say anything more as he took her hand in his and led her past the console, to the door in the back. They passed through into the hallways and she recognized the way to her bedroom. To her old bedroom, here. Looking up at him, she didn’t feel anything when he didn’t acknowledge the stare. It had been a bad day after all, for the both of them. They would just have to make it better the only way they knew how.

Coming to her room, he pushed the door open, allowing her to go in ahead of him. She did so, entering the room and finding everything exactly as she had always had it. She frowned slightly, looking around in puzzlement. With words tangling in her throat, she turned to look at him as he entered behind her and closed the door. “It’s like I never left,” she said to him in confusion. “W-why wouldn’t I take my things when I leave you?”

He gazed at her. “Does it matter?” he asked her softly.

Yes, it mattered. It mattered very much. It made the situation different, made her question her reasons for leaving and for not taking anything with her. But the expression on his darkened face mattered more at the moment. She shook her head then, allowing it to bow. “No, I suppose not,” she answered. She was not to know her future as it was. She could only live her life in the present with any gift afforded her. And he was the rare one. She turned to face him fully, her arms hanging at her sides limply. Waiting.

He did not leave her to wait long. Silently, his face almost mournful, he removed his coat, tossing it aside. She watched him, seeing his reflection in the small dresser mirror against the wall, out of the corner of her eye. Watched as he took a step in her direction, his hands lifting to his tie to loosen it, his expression mysterious. He seemed uncaring tonight, almost black. This day had been worse than she had expected.

Wordlessly, he floated toward her, his hand lifting to her face. And for a long moment he merely stared at her, a muscle clenching in his jaw as he studied her silently. She allowed him, her face slightly pinched as well, wishing she could read his thoughts, discover what had made the day such a bad one for him. But with the one look, she also knew that night’s session would not be gentle.

Pressing himself to her, his hand trailed from her face to the strap of her sleeveless shirt, dipping under it and dragging it down carelessly. She tilted her head away from it, away from his fingers, waiting for him as he merely watched his hand slide across her shoulder. She didn’t know what she read there in his expression, only that he seemed to be shutting down slightly. And she understood the feeling, knew what it was to need the comfort of someone’s body more than words. His hand looped under her bra strap as well, also dragging it down her shoulder, and she closed her eyes, wanting him then more than she wanted to breathe, to think. His other hand rose to cradle her jaw, both hands lifting now to her face, to raise it to his. And his kiss was gentle in the first few moments, his breathing hitched.

A moment later, the kiss turned hard, a frown creasing his brow. She didn’t understand why but she allowed him to open her mouth to his, allowed him to taste her deeply. The soft sigh that escaped her was returned to her, his shoulders falling as he exhaled as well. This was what he needed, she knew. The same way she needed it. The way she would always need it.

What would she give to stay like this forever in his embrace? Quite a lot. Which was why she was always stumped when she questioned why she would leave him. But not then. At that moment, she questioned nothing, merely allowing his lips to take her away, wishing with all her might for the ability to stop time for him, to keep them both locked away where no one could ever reach them again.

The kiss suddenly turning forceful, she tilted her head back, surrendering completely to him. He took that sacrifice almost urgently, his hand falling to her shoulder once more, to her breast. And he broke the kiss, both of his hands moving to rid her of the shirt, lifting it up and over her head. She lifted her arms to allow him, reaching for him, but he merely shook his head at her, taking hold of her and turning her to face the wall. She did so, staring in confusion but instantly going numb when she felt his hands on her shoulder, his lips at her neck. Inhaling deeply, she sighed, her head falling back slightly as his mouth brushed across her shoulder, his fingers dragging her bra straps down to kiss her there, to drag his lips across the soft skin.

No. There was no way she would allow this to ever end. She would never allow him to go nor would she ever leave him. Not when he made her feel this way.

His hands slipping down to her breast, she felt a small sound escape her as he cupped her from behind, as his fingers shifted across her torso, lifting to her neck and lowering to her waist. She wanted his touch all over her, always. Lifting a hand, she curled it into his neck, tilting her head back to kiss him but he nudged her forward, his mouth passing across the back of her neck, his hand sliding to the zipper of her skirt. She wasn’t going to need that, she understood. As he undid it, she let him slip it down her hips to her feet, and she hadn’t even bothered with panties. She had stopped with those the moment she had known what to expect when he visited her. Now, the less clothes, the better. Arching, she felt his hand move lower, to pass across her thighs as his other hand lifted to the clip of her bra. She smiled slightly, wondering if he was one of those men who could undo a bra with one hand and yes, he was. She felt a breeze trail across her naked skin as he loosened the bra straps from her arms, tossing it aside absentmindedly. And then he lifted both hands to her once more, one brushing across a full breast and holding her, the other dipping into her, reaching. She felt a low moan leave her lips as his fingers reached for more of her, as he pressed against her back. She felt him clear through his trousers, wondering momentarily at the back of her head why he was even still dressed.

A moment later it didn’t matter as he pushed her slightly, ushering her toward her dresser. She reached for it blindly, her hands coming down on its surface, pushing aside the small items she’d stacked on it. Nail polishes, perfumes, lotions and creams. She didn’t need any of it as she gasped, as his teeth nipped at the skin of her shoulder, his hand tightening across her breast. Sliding her eyes open, she caught a glimpse of herself reflected, naked and flushed. And he was behind her, the curve of his jaw, his lean arms as they wrapped around her, reaching for more. Closing her eyes, she brought her hand down on the dresser surface almost violently, her lips parted around a groan. “Hurry,” she ordered him, a soft sound slipping out as he trailed his fingers across her hip and then back down, into her. “Doctor, hurry.”

He wasn’t the type to be rushed, it seemed, and though she asked him to, she was fine with his pace still. So long as it always felt like this. He stood her straight, pushing her hair forward for him to brush a kiss across her back and she felt his hand shifting at her back, against her rear. Dropping her head back, she felt him do away with his pants, feeling his hardness against her. She waited for him, feeling his hand as it lifted to cup her face, his other hand slipping into her, into her folds and brushing against her roughly. The motion forced her to bend forward, a sound tangling in her throat as he urged her legs apart, as he buried his mouth against her neck.

And then, breathing against her ear, he was inside of her in one sweet thrust, her body reflexively arching into him. The cry that broke from her also caused her to stiffen, supporting herself across the dresser. She didn’t know what to feel, couldn’t focus on anything. From his mouth, to his fingers against her core, to his head inside of her, she could only allow him to take her over, her heart instantly racing. Could she stay like this forever, in this exact place? Yes, yes she could stay here always. For all eternity.

From behind, his lean frame against her back, he spread his fingers around her, rubbing almost frantically. She cried out, urging him to move, wanting him to consume her entirely. She never wanted to feel anything except this for the rest of her life. He moved behind her, pulling away and then shoving into her and she recognized the strength in his gestures, recognizing the darkness she had glimpsed earlier in his face. She bent forward, arching into him and his hands left her, his mouth lifting away as he turned his attention to her back, to her reflection. She knew what he saw there, what she looked like. And she knew she was the most beautiful thing in the world to him then. In the midst of lovemaking, her lips parted and his darkness behind her light, she understood that the picture of them together was mesmerizing to him.

She met his eyes through the reflection but only for a moment as he shifted, as one of his hands took hold of her hip, the other tangling in her hair and pulling slightly. A cry rang out from her and she bowed her head, her shoulders stiffening as he began to thrust in earnest. In and out, sliding into her heat and pulling out, slipping across sensitive skin. He was used to her by then, she knew, aware of what she liked, what drove her to make certain sounds. And he knew the sound of his skin against hers seemed to stimulate her, as did the very image of it. Which was why he had come to her room, to use that mirror. She lifted her head, exhaling shakily, and his face was dark, his gestures forceful. Almost angry. She bit back a cry as he pounded into her, as he rammed against her violently. He was mad, his hands angry as he pulled on her, but it didn’t matter to her because it only aroused her all the more. She wanted his anger, his punishment, splaying herself for him to take. She flipped her hair from her face, pushing against the dresser as he thrust into her, seeming to want to split her. And she wanted it, all of it, anything he had. The forcefulness sent the rest of the items on her dresser tipping off to the floor, falling silently. All she heard were her own cries and his own breath against her ear, against her neck.

“Faster,” she whispered then, causing him to bend into her to hear her. “Faster,” she repeated around a soft plea, her hands tightening against the dresser.

He wrapped his arms around her, heeding her words and obeying, crushing her to him. And she knew then, as she had known before, that he loved her. After everything, he was still in love with her. The mere thought caused her to forget everything else, to forget why she would leave everything when she left him, why his face would be black as night. All that mattered then was that he loved her and that he was seeking solace in her body, in her very self. And she gave it to him through hitched cries, allowing him to ride her against the dresser angrily, painfully. She was going to bruise, she realized. She was going to hurt in the morning but they would only be battle scars. This was a war she was quite willing to lose to him.

His hands took hold of her, her mind instantly going white, and he pulled free of her, yanking her to face him. She turned, half stumbling against him and against her own dresser. But she had no time to even reason with what was going on behind her haze. All she understood was his mouth on hers, his lean arms taking hold of her tightly. Her figure stiffened against the dresser, unwilling to break the kiss, reaching for him still. And he did not move away from her, reaching to lift her up onto the surface of the dresser roughly. She leaned back along the top of the dresser, opening for him. He returned to her, thrusting into her as if he had never left, his hands lifting to her face and bringing her to return his kiss. She groaned against his mouth, feeling herself shift across the top of the dresser from the force of him, her legs lifting to wind around his waist. He filled her completely, his hips ramming against hers as he growled into her mouth, as he took hold of her thighs to pull her closer to him, to merge them together.

Throwing her head back, she lowered her hands to the dresser top, allowing herself to lean backward, to let him take a look at her. He always desired her, always wanted to watch her, to see the expressions flit across her face as he made love to her. It took everything away, he had said to her once, when they had lain in bed together, limbs tangled. And now, as he watched her, she felt beautiful, untouchable. Even by him. As if nothing could ever bring her back down to Earth. She felt as if she was in the sky all by herself, reaching for stars and he was pushing her on ahead of him. But this was purely physical, she understood a moment later, her head bowing so she could meet his dark eyes. This was exactly what they both needed. To no longer be tethered to a planet, to a world so cold it was painful. They needed each other and they needed to be free.

Rocking against him, she lifted a hand from the surface of the dresser and took hold of him by the jaw, closing her eyes as waves of heat rode through her entire body. Her lips parting, she meant to ask him to hurry, to go faster, to help her, to finish her, all of it. But all that came out was an exhalation, a soft sigh as his own hand lifted to her neck, clutching her as he thrust into her desperately. He was beautiful, always, slim and lean. Perfect shoulders, slender waist and the mere thought of him brought her heat to the brim. She was going to peak at this rate, faster than she wanted but it was fine by her. She was going to stay with him for the night, now that she knew there was no one to interfere, to interrupt. His companion was gone which left only him for her. For as long as she wanted him.

Pressing against her, holding her as if he would break without her, he murmured that he was close against her mouth. That he was so very close but that he didn’t want to stop. She whispered that she didn’t ever want him to stop, that she wanted to stay with him forever. If she could only stay with him forever. And when the words left her lips, tears rising in her eyes, she felt him shudder against her, inside her, his kiss frantic and pained all at once. She took his sorrowful cry into her mouth, shifting her hips and urging him to ride out his orgasm inside her. He did so, his lean arms holding her slender frame to him as if he would never allow her to leave, his mouth slanted across hers rigidly. She felt his heat within her, felt as his hips pressed against hers desperately, emptying himself inside of her. The feeling of completing him pushed her on as well, her cries drowned out in his mouth, behind his kiss. Her legs tightened around his figure, around his waist, and even in the midst of their kiss, he was shivering, pulling out and thrusting in one last time to fill her, to lose himself in her. And she clutched him to her, refusing to ever let him go, needing him to stay inside her, if not forever then at least until she had to return home. Which wouldn’t be any time soon, she decided, blinking back her tears and breathing him in deeply.

Breaking the kiss, bowing his head to her shoulder, he nodded silently, heaving. Yes. He would keep her for as long as possible. And her old bedroom would be their sanctuary. For the night. For as long as she would have him. Always.

He came a few more times, appearing when I needed him. When the world seemed about to end, he would come for me. And I would go, oftentimes with flimsy excuses to my own Doctor. After a while he no longer made any attempts to figure out the identity of my mystery caller and it was because he was beginning to suspect the truth. And if that was what it was, then he had no business snooping into his future affairs. He would let things be and see what would become of everything.

But every time his future self came to me, it always seemed as if it would last forever. Until the one day I needed him and he didn’t return. He didn’t come for me again after our last night together. I waited for him, making myself scarce around my own Doctor, but at the end of the night I was still waiting alone, under a mournful moon. He just never returned.

And the next day, I lost my Doctor. In the blink of an eye, I was torn from my own Earth, my own universe, and stranded far away from either Doctor. Weeping in the gray sunlight, standing on a cold beach, I cried for the man I had lost and the lover I would never have again. Both of them, taken away in one day. The world ended and I was left broken and alone. And only then did I understand why I had left the Doctor, why my room would remain untouched for years to come.

It hadn’t been my choice to make.

He told me, years later when I was left with a half human Time Lord on that same beach, that he hadn’t returned because the world had been coming to an end. The stars had been going out, the walls between world crumbling, and all he had wanted was to taste me once more. However, the world mattered more than what he’d wanted, had depended on him. And he hadn’t returned for me again. But once I had found my way across the universes, years later, my own Doctor had already made his own trips back to see me, had been with me countless nights, when the world had been gray and silent. He’d held the younger version of me and had cursed the world that would take me away from him. Because all he had wanted in his time of misery was someone to hold, someone to comfort him. I had been that person, first when I’d been traveling with him and then as my younger self. And in the end, standing on the beach, I was still the one he would come back to. Still the one he would end up with.

That was our story, after all. It was that story, the story of us, that allowed me to accept him in the end, the half human Time Lord. Because even though he was not the man I had spent countless nights with, not the same man, he was still the one that had needed me and had returned for me until he hadn’t been able to anymore. I was still his last stop. His only stop. And with that man, I was going to have my eternity.