Fic: Kissing Rose Tyler (3/11)
Title: Kissing Rose Tyler
Characters: Doctor 10.5, Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler, Pete Tyler
Summary: Back on Pete's World Rose and the Doctor try to figure out where they've been in order to discover where they're going.
Rating: Teen for sexual situations.
Spoilers: Nothing's sacred. Watch the series (starting with the first Doctor in 1963) if you don't like surprises.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wouldn't own 'em if I could. Too high maintenance.
Author's notes: This is a post-Journey's End AU. Canon junkies beware, I'm with Steven Moffat. This part of the series is complete and I'll be posting all 11 chapters over the next few days. Also, this is my first posted fic in about 10 years. So please review as I'm feeling a little anxious as to whether I've still got it. Thanks!
Previous posts: Chapter 1 Chapter 2
Chapter 3
The moon had just past its zenith when Rose silently made her way along the path to the conservatory. No, the Doctor's house, she thought, still trying to come to terms with the idea that the Doctor was truly earthbound. Sure, they'd all thought he'd lost the TARDIS back on the Dalek crucible - even believed they'd seen it destroyed. And that moment had, without doubt, been painful. But there hadn't been time to mourn the loss or consider a possible TARDIS-less future for the Doctor. Not when events were moving so rapidly. Yet it was that loss for him, the deprivation of a way of life he loved, Rose realized, that bothered her the most.
She approached the darkened house, wondering nervously if coming here in the middle of the night was such a good idea. Maybe the Doctor was sleeping? She'd certainly passed out on her bed after a nice hot bath - and Jackie hadn't even made it that far. She'd fallen asleep fully clothed in the nursery while Tony entertained himself with his toys at her feet.
The sound of someone playing the piano drifted to her ears with the night breeze. Rose quietly opened the front door and peeked around the edge. There wasn't much furniture - the decorator Jackie had hired had been something of a minimalist - and what there was had been haphazardly unveiled; dust covers lay on the floor or hung off the exposed furniture like unmade bed clothes.
"Rose!" The Doctor's voice softly calling her name sounded like both a benediction and a caress.
She looked around the edge of the door. He was sitting at the black baby grand - the decorator had insisted the space required one even if no one knew how to play the piano - his jacket tossed on a nearby chair, trainers lying where he'd simply kicked them off.
"Can I come in?" Even in the dim moonlight she could see his surprised expression. "I should have knocked, but I didn't want to disturb."
"Rose, you're always welcome to come and go as you please."
"Thanks," she grinned, stepping inside. "But it's still your house," she pointed out. "People don't just walk into other people's houses without knocking first - unless they've got permission. And yeah," she added. "You can barge into my house any time you feel like it too. Just not my bedroom first thing in the morning, yeah?"
"Bedroom barging only in the afternoon and evening hours. Got it!" he teased, shifting a little to make room for her on the bench.
She sat quietly, just listening as he played. She wanted to ask how he was doing. Instead, she took a lighter approach. "That's really good. Money in it too. Bistros, piano bars, posh hotel lobbies..."
The Doctor inclined his head slightly. "Might do," he said, suddenly picking up the tempo and segueing into Blue Suede Shoes. "I was thinking more along the lines of Vegas lounge lizard. What do you think?"
She laughed as he launched into the song. They sang the chorus together then laughed a bit more until he abruptly stopped.
He reached out to gently touch her cheek. "Have I mentioned you've grown more beautiful over the years?"
"For a Human."
"For any species." The Doctor frowned, resting his hands in his lap. "You do know I had to say that, right? Cardinal rule of the traveling Time Lord. Never show that sort of interest in your companions or they'll start showing that sort of interest in you. Everybody gets hurt in the end. Best to just pretend it's never there and never happens."
"I know." Rose took his hand in her own. "I kind of figured that out for myself. Had loads of time to think about stuff. Nothing much else to do around here - outside of work."
"What? No boyfriend du jour? No parties? No nipping down the pub with your mates when there's a match on?"
Rose snorted indelicately. "Tried that. Didn't work."
"Why not?" the Doctor asked curiously.
She shrugged, attempting to put the failed circumstances of her life into words. "It's like you and me just now, yeah? You played an Elvis tune and we sang it. I say Elvis or Madonna or Sex Pistols and you just know who I mean. More often than not that doesn't happen here. And I couldn't really tell anyone about my Earth and how it was different, could I? Hard to hang with your mates when you don't share the same language."
"Oh, Rose. I'm so sorry. I never thought..."
"But that's how it is for you, isn't it?" She squeezed his hand gently. "Nobody to speak Time Lord with. Stuff you know that no one else remembers. Missing all the little things you took for granted before."
"A common frame of reference usually makes things easier," he agreed.
"Harder on Mum though," she remarked. "The Jackie here left most of her old friends back on the estate when Dad made his money. They didn't really know her anymore and don't want to know her now. The ones she didn't ignore died when the Cybermen attacked. Even the family's hard to talk to," Rose admitted. "Mum's got to pretend she's got retrograde amnesia half the time. There's relatives that never existed in our universe or marriages that never happened - so no cousins where there should be and some where there ain't. And me," she rolled her eyes. "I was 'secretly given up for adoption as a baby and returned to the bosom of my family' through a series of bizarre coincidences. Mum's idea," she added at the Doctor's disbelieving look. "It's a real mess. We just sorta keep to ourselves, mostly."
"I'd no idea." The Doctor looked pained and wrapped his arms around her, offering comfort. "I just thought..."
"Yeah," she nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. "Me too. Mum and Dad back together and everything's perfect. Still, she's better since Tony was born. Got him all signed up for early education classes, play dates and stuff. She's met loads of new people. Even had a couple of dinner parties. But I see it, even if Dad doesn't. There's always something a little wrong with the picture. And now Mickey's gone..." she sighed. "Could be worse."
"Worse?" the Doctor asked, clearly appalled.
"She can still talk to Dad. He likes to hear all about our Earth. Made a mint recreating Starbucks," she laughed. "Gave most of it to Mickey though so's he could look after his gran. And there's Jake. He was always at the house with Mickey. She's sort of adopted him too."
"And you?"
"They listen, but no one really understands about you. Mickey sort of got it, but he wasn't around much when I was home. And then the stars were goin' out and I got so involved in building the dimension cannon and trying to find you that I never had time for him."
"So you noticed the stars first," the Doctor said, sounding relieved.
Rose looked up at him. "Yeah. What'd you think? I'd collapse two universes 'cause I was hard up for a bloke? Even if he is the best bloke in two universes."
"Just the two?"
"Oh, shut up!" She laughed and pulled away just enough to sit straight. "Doctor, we were desperate. No one knew it wasn't just this universe. And there was no handy Time Lord to be found here saving the day. So I suggested we look for you."
"You took a very big risk, Rose."
"It worked though, didn't it?"
The Doctor relented. "It worked. And it's just as well you did risk everything. You saved us all by saving Donna, and for that I am entirely grateful."
"You'd better be," she threatened, suddenly looking around. "Now, let's see this new kitchen of yours. Or aren't you going to be a good host and offer me a cup of tea?"
***
"So? You like it, yeah?" Rose spun on her heel, arms spread out as if to encompass the entire building.
They were walking down one of the wide, glass enclosed corridors and the Doctor paused to watch her twirl in the moonlight.
"I love it! Thank you."
She grinned, taking his hand and walking backwards. "Look here," she pointed to the hinges around one of the oversized windows. "You can replace most of these with screens when you want to. And here," she moved ahead and fiddled with a panel that looked like a cross between a light switch, environmental controls and a comm system. It turned out to be all three. "Now which one is it?" she muttered, flicking switches, pressing buttons and turning knobs. The overhead lights set in the struts between the panels suddenly grew brighter. "Right. This is it. See?" She pointed to the ceiling. "All the windows have this gas inside them and you can change the colors. The glass reflects the light so you can have it Earth normal, or..." She pressed a button and the light shifted to burnt orange. Then another and it shifted to turquoise. With a twist of a dial it deepened into a jewel toned blue. "Just like in the-" She swallowed the word. "Just like Gallifrey, right?"
"Right," the Doctor said so softly she barely heard him. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall facing her. There was no way these specially treated windows had been installed between the time he'd appeared in this universe and arrived here. "This was meant to be your home, wasn't it?"
She shrugged and glanced away. "Yeah. So? I did try," she insisted. "It's just... It was...too big, you know. Empty."
The Doctor nodded. "I do know."
"So it's okay?" she asked, hopeful. "You can stay here, right?"
"Better with two." He took her hand. "After all, your home is now my home and my home can be your home. If you want."
"You're asking me to move in with you?"
"Just pick a room."
"Ooh! Thank you!" Rose threw her arms around his shoulders and he hugged her tight. "Oh my god!" She drew back. "What'll Mum say?"
"Your mother can-"
"Hear you two loud and clear! Bloody hell! Travels through space and time, but spend five thousand quid for an intercom system and she's hopeless!"
"Sorry, Mum!" Rose covered her face with her hands.
"Hopeless?" The Doctor interjected. "I'll tell you what's hopeless, Jackie. 'Secretly given away for adoption'? 'Returned to the bosom of her family'?"
"You leave my bosom out of this!"
"I wouldn't touch your-!" The Doctor's mouth gaped as he realized what he'd been about to say.
Rose was screaming with laughter, holding her stomach while over the intercom they could hear Pete howling.
"Oh, for the love of- Pete! It's not funny!" There was a loud thump followed by a cry of pain and Pete's laughter ceased abruptly.
The Doctor glared at Rose until she quieted down to giggles and snorts. "Sorry," she gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth when a new round of laughter threatened to erupt at the Doctor's expression.
He hit the off button. "Leaving aside the distinct possibility you may have inherited your mother's violent tendencies-" A tinny shriek came from the wall.
"That would be the video on, not the audio off switch, Doctor."
He looked over at the comm panel screen to see a bemused and shirtless Pete leaning over Jackie who'd ducked under the covers.
"Right. Sorry." He hit the correct switch and, just in case, pulled Rose down the corridor ignoring her hysterical laughter.