Birthday Fic: Back Soon 1/1
Story: Back Soon
Author: wmr
wendymr
Characters: Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler
Rated: G
Summary: “You said no. What was I s’posed to do? Think no meant yes an’ come back for you?”
Birthday fic for
dark_aegis - and I'm so sorry that it's so late! Hope you enjoy. And with many thanks to
un_sedentary for speedy beta-reading.
Back Soon
Don’t wander off, he says. First rule of travelling with him: never, ever wander off.
Okay, so she’s supposed to follow the rule, but it doesn’t apply to him? They’ve been on this planet five minutes and already he’s disappeared. Didn’t even give her a proper explanation. Just Wait here, I’ll be back soon.
How soon is soon? It’s been ten minutes and there’s still no sign of him. But she knows damn well what would happen if she decided to explore the oddly-shaped buildings over on the other side of this courtyard while she’s waiting for him. One thing the Doctor’s really good at - well, one of the many things - is tearing a strip off someone with that sharp tongue of his. Every bit as good as her mum. Not that she’s worried about that; she’s survived living with her mum for nineteen years, after all. But she won’t risk him deciding to take her home.
Perched on the wall at the edge of the courtyard, she scans the surrounding area again, looking for any sign of a tall, short-haired man in a black leather jacket. Not that he’d be hard to spot. The inhabitants of this planet are insectoids, with green skin and purple tentacles. They’re also all unfailingly polite and hospitable, another way the Doctor’d never pass as one of them.
“Does the young lady desire assistance?” There. Another one of the locals stopping to see if she needs anything. One of them, a couple of minutes ago. even brought her a cold drink - not anything the Doctor would’ve thought of.
“I’m waiting for a friend,” she explains for about the tenth time. “Thanks, though.”
The insectoid bows and wishes her a good day before walking off. And there he is, at last, striding across the cobblestones in that loping manner of his, hands stuffed deep in his pockets, looking around him as if he’s searching for something. Or someone. Though why he needs to do that is beyond her. She’s exactly where he told her to wait.
“Doctor!” She waves. “Over here!”
Instantly, his gaze pivots to her, and he looks startled. “Rose?” For a moment, he pauses, then he speeds up, hurrying over to her.
“What kept you? I’ve been waiting ages!”
He stares at her, and then reaches out a hand, laying the back against her forehead. “Hmm. Bit warmer than it should be. Sun must’ve got to you.”
“What are you on about? Oh, never mind that. You jus’ left me here! You call this being back soon?”
He looks directly at her, and she’s fixed with the full force of those amazing eyes of his. And it’s weird, because he looks wary. Uncertain. He shifts his stance, leaning heavily on one hip, his shoulders sloped.
“You said no. What was I s’posed to do? Think no meant yes an’ come back for you?”
“What? When did I say no?”
What’s going on? Has he been hit over the head or something? Because he’s acting really weirdly - weird even for him.
“You shouldn’t even be here. How can you be here? Human, twenty-first century, you can’t travel in time an’ space.” He’s got his screwdriver out now and he’s starting to scan her.
Okay, there’s definitely something wrong. “You brought me here! Don’t you remember?”
“I did not!” He’s stopped scanning, and his arms are folded in front of his chest. He always looks so defensive when he does that, she thinks, and wonders if he realises it.
“Doctor, what’s happened to you? Did you hit your head? Did someone attack you?”
He takes a step back, and his expression’s guarded. “There’s nothin’ wrong wi’ me. You’re the one who’s not where she should be.”
She forces herself to think before answering. Humour him, her mum would say. That’s how they always dealt with old Mr Lucas from downstairs when his Alzheimer’s was getting worse.
“So where do you think I should be, then?”
“Where d’you think? Where I left you. Back in London in that alley, with that useless lump you call a boyfriend.”
“What?” That was weeks ago. Months. What’s going on?
“What, forgotten him already? Not that I blame you, mind.” Suddenly, his expression changes, darkens - just as well she’s used to these mercurial moods of his. “You’re covered in Artron energy, Rose Tyler. Someone’s been takin’ you time-travelling. Who is it?”
Silently, she points. At him.
“What?” He blinks, then slowly turns his head and looks behind him. There’s nothing there. He turns back and looks at her.
She’s still pointing at him. He hesitates. She takes a step forward and stabs him in the chest with her finger. “You.”
“Me what?”
“You took me time-travelling.” At his bemused, disbelieving look, she says, “Doctor, don’t you remember? It’s been weeks since that day! Yeah, you left, but you came back. You said By the way. Did I mention? It also travels in time. An’ I left Mickey an’ came with you. Been with you ever since.”
“I went back?” There’s confusion and disbelief in his eyes. “I don’t go back. You get one chance an’ that’s it, Rose Tyler.”
Shaking her head, hands on her hips, she says, “You did come back! Look at me, Doctor! How else could I be here?”
“Humour me,” he says, and there’s still an edge to his voice. “Pretend I’m an idiot.”
“Won’t be hard,” she mutters under her breath.
“Oi! I heard that!”
“Good!”
There’s something really, badly wrong here. He’s not smiling at all. He’s barely meeting her gaze, apart from when he’s trying to intimidate her, and he looks as if he badly wants to run away - not just from her, but from everything. It feels as if the only reason he’s not is because he’s got a mystery to deal with - what she’s doing here. And not because it’s a puzzle he enjoys solving, but because he thinks it’s wrong.
“Tell me, Doctor. How else could I be here?”
He doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he hugs himself around his middle, staring at the ground, and he swallows.
Abruptly, he looks up. “Prove it, then. Prove that you’ve been travelling with me, Rose Tyler.”
“What? How’m I supposed to do that?”
“You’re clever. You’ll think of something.” Still that clipped, mistrustful voice.
She thinks for a moment. There’s things he told her that she could mention, but she won’t mention his planet, or being the last of his kind. It hurts him too much, and she won’t do that to him. “I dunno... All right. You got a wardrobe. In the TARDIS, I mean. First left, second on the right, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left.”
Suddenly, his entire expression changes, to something that almost seems like hope. “I did go back. Why did I go back?”
“I dunno.” She frowns; this still isn’t making a lot of sense. “Doctor, you sayin’ you don’t remember any of it? Anything we did together?”
“Course not!” And abruptly, amazingly, he’s smiling. Not the broad grin she’s used to from him; it’s tentative, as if he’s afraid that he’ll have his hopes dashed again any second. “Haven’t done it yet, have I?”
“Wha-” And then the penny drops. Of course! Time-travel. She should have realised. “You’ve just left me, haven’t you? Back in that alley? You haven’t been travelling with me yet. Cause you haven’t been back to ask me again yet.”
And that’s why he looks so different, too. So wary, keeping his distance, not smiling the way she’s used to with him now. That’s exactly the way he was in that alley, just after they defeated the Nestene Consciousness. So hesitant, awkward, looking as if he might run away at any second. Asking her to come as if he didn’t care about her answer, yet looking like she’d taken away everything that mattered to him when she said no.
“No. I haven’t.” He steps closer, narrowing the gap between them. “But I did. An’ you came.” He stares at her, those intense eyes almost making her shiver. “You came.”
“Yeah.” She grins, thinking of everything that’s happened since. “An’ we haven’t stopped since. Travellin’ and exploring and all - you’ve shown me all sorts of things I never could’ve even dreamed of.”
“Yeah?” Again, a tentative smile. “You like it?”
“I love it!”
He nods, as if it’s confirmed something for him. “An’ has it been dangerous? Have I ever almost got you killed?”
She can’t lie to him. “It’s sometimes dangerous. Nearly died a few times, yeah. But you know what, Doctor?”
“What?”
She pauses, waiting until he’s looking straight at her, meeting her gaze, and then she smiles. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Not any of it.”
Abruptly, finally, he smiles too, the smile she’s come to love. “Good.”
“You’re going back, then?”
“Have to, don’t I? Can’t cause a paradox.” He shrugs, but he’s still smiling.
“That’d be bad, yeah.”
“Yep.” He shoves his hands back into his pockets. “So. By the way. Did I mention? It also travels in time. That’s what I said, right?”
“Yeah.” Her smile widens again. “An’ don’t let me say no this time, ‘kay?”
He grins. “You didn’t.”
“Nah.”
They stand there for a few seconds, just smiling at each other, until she starts to feel a little awkward, wondering what she’s supposed to say now, what she’s supposed to do. He gives her a jerky nod. “Best be off, then.”
“Yeah, s’pose.”
“Nice to meet you again, Rose Tyler.”
“You too, Doctor.” She considers holding out her hand, then changes her mind; it’s too formal. Before he can walk away, she reaches out and wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him.
For a long moment, he just stands there, not moving, not returning the hug but not trying to get away either. And then, finally, his arms come around her in return, tightly, holding her to him.
Then he breaks away. “When you see me again - the me you’re with - thank him for me.”
Before she can ask what for, he’s striding away and in a few seconds he’s disappeared behind one of the pointy buildings over the other side of the courtyard.
Gone. Back to February 2005 and a dingy alley in South London, and a girl who thought she’d just thrown away the chance of a lifetime.
So that’s why he came back. She’s wondered, of course, and even asked him once, but he just shrugged and said something about deciding to give her a second chance. But this is why. Because he met her.
What an incredible, unbelievable, lucky coincidence. Of all the planets in all the galaxies, and all the possible times, he came here. Now. Right when she was here with the Doctor.
And her breath catches.
Coincidence? No. Not a chance.
When you see me again - the me you’re with - thank him for me.
He knew. That’s why they’re here. That’s why he disappeared, and that’s why he’s not back yet.
And, if she’s right, he’ll be back any second -
There he is. Black jacket, short hair, hurrying across towards her in that loping stride of his, a big, I know something you don’t grin on his face.
She breaks into a run, reaching him and then throwing herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.
“You all right?” he asks, hugging her back.
“Yeah.” She leans back, smiling up at him. “Thanks for coming back for me, Doctor.”
He grins. “Any time.”
- end
Author: wmr
wendymr
Characters: Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler
Rated: G
Summary: “You said no. What was I s’posed to do? Think no meant yes an’ come back for you?”
Birthday fic for
dark_aegis - and I'm so sorry that it's so late! Hope you enjoy. And with many thanks to
un_sedentary for speedy beta-reading.
Back Soon
Don’t wander off, he says. First rule of travelling with him: never, ever wander off.
Okay, so she’s supposed to follow the rule, but it doesn’t apply to him? They’ve been on this planet five minutes and already he’s disappeared. Didn’t even give her a proper explanation. Just Wait here, I’ll be back soon.
How soon is soon? It’s been ten minutes and there’s still no sign of him. But she knows damn well what would happen if she decided to explore the oddly-shaped buildings over on the other side of this courtyard while she’s waiting for him. One thing the Doctor’s really good at - well, one of the many things - is tearing a strip off someone with that sharp tongue of his. Every bit as good as her mum. Not that she’s worried about that; she’s survived living with her mum for nineteen years, after all. But she won’t risk him deciding to take her home.
Perched on the wall at the edge of the courtyard, she scans the surrounding area again, looking for any sign of a tall, short-haired man in a black leather jacket. Not that he’d be hard to spot. The inhabitants of this planet are insectoids, with green skin and purple tentacles. They’re also all unfailingly polite and hospitable, another way the Doctor’d never pass as one of them.
“Does the young lady desire assistance?” There. Another one of the locals stopping to see if she needs anything. One of them, a couple of minutes ago. even brought her a cold drink - not anything the Doctor would’ve thought of.
“I’m waiting for a friend,” she explains for about the tenth time. “Thanks, though.”
The insectoid bows and wishes her a good day before walking off. And there he is, at last, striding across the cobblestones in that loping manner of his, hands stuffed deep in his pockets, looking around him as if he’s searching for something. Or someone. Though why he needs to do that is beyond her. She’s exactly where he told her to wait.
“Doctor!” She waves. “Over here!”
Instantly, his gaze pivots to her, and he looks startled. “Rose?” For a moment, he pauses, then he speeds up, hurrying over to her.
“What kept you? I’ve been waiting ages!”
He stares at her, and then reaches out a hand, laying the back against her forehead. “Hmm. Bit warmer than it should be. Sun must’ve got to you.”
“What are you on about? Oh, never mind that. You jus’ left me here! You call this being back soon?”
He looks directly at her, and she’s fixed with the full force of those amazing eyes of his. And it’s weird, because he looks wary. Uncertain. He shifts his stance, leaning heavily on one hip, his shoulders sloped.
“You said no. What was I s’posed to do? Think no meant yes an’ come back for you?”
“What? When did I say no?”
What’s going on? Has he been hit over the head or something? Because he’s acting really weirdly - weird even for him.
“You shouldn’t even be here. How can you be here? Human, twenty-first century, you can’t travel in time an’ space.” He’s got his screwdriver out now and he’s starting to scan her.
Okay, there’s definitely something wrong. “You brought me here! Don’t you remember?”
“I did not!” He’s stopped scanning, and his arms are folded in front of his chest. He always looks so defensive when he does that, she thinks, and wonders if he realises it.
“Doctor, what’s happened to you? Did you hit your head? Did someone attack you?”
He takes a step back, and his expression’s guarded. “There’s nothin’ wrong wi’ me. You’re the one who’s not where she should be.”
She forces herself to think before answering. Humour him, her mum would say. That’s how they always dealt with old Mr Lucas from downstairs when his Alzheimer’s was getting worse.
“So where do you think I should be, then?”
“Where d’you think? Where I left you. Back in London in that alley, with that useless lump you call a boyfriend.”
“What?” That was weeks ago. Months. What’s going on?
“What, forgotten him already? Not that I blame you, mind.” Suddenly, his expression changes, darkens - just as well she’s used to these mercurial moods of his. “You’re covered in Artron energy, Rose Tyler. Someone’s been takin’ you time-travelling. Who is it?”
Silently, she points. At him.
“What?” He blinks, then slowly turns his head and looks behind him. There’s nothing there. He turns back and looks at her.
She’s still pointing at him. He hesitates. She takes a step forward and stabs him in the chest with her finger. “You.”
“Me what?”
“You took me time-travelling.” At his bemused, disbelieving look, she says, “Doctor, don’t you remember? It’s been weeks since that day! Yeah, you left, but you came back. You said By the way. Did I mention? It also travels in time. An’ I left Mickey an’ came with you. Been with you ever since.”
“I went back?” There’s confusion and disbelief in his eyes. “I don’t go back. You get one chance an’ that’s it, Rose Tyler.”
Shaking her head, hands on her hips, she says, “You did come back! Look at me, Doctor! How else could I be here?”
“Humour me,” he says, and there’s still an edge to his voice. “Pretend I’m an idiot.”
“Won’t be hard,” she mutters under her breath.
“Oi! I heard that!”
“Good!”
There’s something really, badly wrong here. He’s not smiling at all. He’s barely meeting her gaze, apart from when he’s trying to intimidate her, and he looks as if he badly wants to run away - not just from her, but from everything. It feels as if the only reason he’s not is because he’s got a mystery to deal with - what she’s doing here. And not because it’s a puzzle he enjoys solving, but because he thinks it’s wrong.
“Tell me, Doctor. How else could I be here?”
He doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he hugs himself around his middle, staring at the ground, and he swallows.
Abruptly, he looks up. “Prove it, then. Prove that you’ve been travelling with me, Rose Tyler.”
“What? How’m I supposed to do that?”
“You’re clever. You’ll think of something.” Still that clipped, mistrustful voice.
She thinks for a moment. There’s things he told her that she could mention, but she won’t mention his planet, or being the last of his kind. It hurts him too much, and she won’t do that to him. “I dunno... All right. You got a wardrobe. In the TARDIS, I mean. First left, second on the right, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left.”
Suddenly, his entire expression changes, to something that almost seems like hope. “I did go back. Why did I go back?”
“I dunno.” She frowns; this still isn’t making a lot of sense. “Doctor, you sayin’ you don’t remember any of it? Anything we did together?”
“Course not!” And abruptly, amazingly, he’s smiling. Not the broad grin she’s used to from him; it’s tentative, as if he’s afraid that he’ll have his hopes dashed again any second. “Haven’t done it yet, have I?”
“Wha-” And then the penny drops. Of course! Time-travel. She should have realised. “You’ve just left me, haven’t you? Back in that alley? You haven’t been travelling with me yet. Cause you haven’t been back to ask me again yet.”
And that’s why he looks so different, too. So wary, keeping his distance, not smiling the way she’s used to with him now. That’s exactly the way he was in that alley, just after they defeated the Nestene Consciousness. So hesitant, awkward, looking as if he might run away at any second. Asking her to come as if he didn’t care about her answer, yet looking like she’d taken away everything that mattered to him when she said no.
“No. I haven’t.” He steps closer, narrowing the gap between them. “But I did. An’ you came.” He stares at her, those intense eyes almost making her shiver. “You came.”
“Yeah.” She grins, thinking of everything that’s happened since. “An’ we haven’t stopped since. Travellin’ and exploring and all - you’ve shown me all sorts of things I never could’ve even dreamed of.”
“Yeah?” Again, a tentative smile. “You like it?”
“I love it!”
He nods, as if it’s confirmed something for him. “An’ has it been dangerous? Have I ever almost got you killed?”
She can’t lie to him. “It’s sometimes dangerous. Nearly died a few times, yeah. But you know what, Doctor?”
“What?”
She pauses, waiting until he’s looking straight at her, meeting her gaze, and then she smiles. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Not any of it.”
Abruptly, finally, he smiles too, the smile she’s come to love. “Good.”
“You’re going back, then?”
“Have to, don’t I? Can’t cause a paradox.” He shrugs, but he’s still smiling.
“That’d be bad, yeah.”
“Yep.” He shoves his hands back into his pockets. “So. By the way. Did I mention? It also travels in time. That’s what I said, right?”
“Yeah.” Her smile widens again. “An’ don’t let me say no this time, ‘kay?”
He grins. “You didn’t.”
“Nah.”
They stand there for a few seconds, just smiling at each other, until she starts to feel a little awkward, wondering what she’s supposed to say now, what she’s supposed to do. He gives her a jerky nod. “Best be off, then.”
“Yeah, s’pose.”
“Nice to meet you again, Rose Tyler.”
“You too, Doctor.” She considers holding out her hand, then changes her mind; it’s too formal. Before he can walk away, she reaches out and wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him.
For a long moment, he just stands there, not moving, not returning the hug but not trying to get away either. And then, finally, his arms come around her in return, tightly, holding her to him.
Then he breaks away. “When you see me again - the me you’re with - thank him for me.”
Before she can ask what for, he’s striding away and in a few seconds he’s disappeared behind one of the pointy buildings over the other side of the courtyard.
Gone. Back to February 2005 and a dingy alley in South London, and a girl who thought she’d just thrown away the chance of a lifetime.
So that’s why he came back. She’s wondered, of course, and even asked him once, but he just shrugged and said something about deciding to give her a second chance. But this is why. Because he met her.
What an incredible, unbelievable, lucky coincidence. Of all the planets in all the galaxies, and all the possible times, he came here. Now. Right when she was here with the Doctor.
And her breath catches.
Coincidence? No. Not a chance.
When you see me again - the me you’re with - thank him for me.
He knew. That’s why they’re here. That’s why he disappeared, and that’s why he’s not back yet.
And, if she’s right, he’ll be back any second -
There he is. Black jacket, short hair, hurrying across towards her in that loping stride of his, a big, I know something you don’t grin on his face.
She breaks into a run, reaching him and then throwing herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.
“You all right?” he asks, hugging her back.
“Yeah.” She leans back, smiling up at him. “Thanks for coming back for me, Doctor.”
He grins. “Any time.”
- end