Flying Kites, Part I of II
Ten II and Rose immediately following The Quiet Chamber. As such, spoilers through Journey's End.
--
Part One
"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."
Franz Kafka
Pete Tyler stood on the private airstrip and stared into the night sky filled with twinkling stars and the occasional drifting cloud. He wasn't the sort of man who made a habit of stargazing, but like everyone else in the world tonight, he couldn't help himself. With the light pollution from the city around him, he couldn’t make out more than a few dozen, he guessed, but he knew they were all out there, the cloudy band of the Milky Way and beyond.
When things were quieter, he thought, he would take Tony somewhere where they could see the full spectacle of the sky. A thought occurred to him and he flipped open his mobile to send a text to his broker to invest heavily in companies that manufactured telescopes. They'd be flying off the shelves now.
In the distance, he spotted the lights he wanted to see even more than the newly returned stars: the strobe lights of an approaching airplane. He watched as it landed on a nearby runway and taxied over to where he waited. A crew scurried out to flag the plane into position and pull down the stairs.
Pete broke into a jog and was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when Jackie emerged, looking dishevelled and exhausted but unharmed. She tottered down and flung herself into his arms. For a long moment, they clutched at one another, blocking anyone else's exit from the plane.
"You did it," he laughed into her hair. "Now don't you ever do anything that daft ever again."
"God, Pete, I'm knackered."
"Expect you are." He stepped back and allowed her to come completely off the stairs, and behind her, he caught sight of Rose, and then, the Doctor. They stood close together in the narrow doorway, looking as exhausted as Jackie did.
"Come on, you two," Jackie chided, turning away from Pete.
They let go of each other and descended the stairs single-file. When they reached level ground, the Doctor put his arm around Rose and she leaned heavily into him, although he hardly looked steady enough to support his own weight.
"Rose," Pete said, bending over to kiss her cheek. "Well done." He hadn't really expected to see her again, once she had found the Doctor, but he was glad to have her back.
"Thanks." Her face lit up in a bright smile, momentarily banishing the tiredness in her obvious pleasure at his praise.
"Doctor." He shook hands with the other man and regarded him seriously. Of all the outcomes, this was the one he had never considered: that the Doctor would return with Rose.
They would make it work, somehow. For the time being, it was his responsibility to get the three of them somewhere they could rest. "Come on," he said, turning Jackie in the direction of the car he had waiting for them. "Let's go home."
Behind him, Rose murmured something indistinct, and he heard the Doctor reply in kind.
…
Pete's car was luxuriously well-appointed. Every surface was leather, wood, or chrome, and the back seat where Rose and the Doctor sat was big enough for them to stretch out. Instead, the Doctor sat with his legs angling into the middle of the seat, with Rose curled into him and resting her head on his shoulder, his arm tucked around her waist.
Jackie, in the front seat, aimed the air vents at her face and turned them to cold, trying to wake herself up. "How's Tony?" she asked. Pete had given her a brief update on the phone, but they had been focused on the logistics of getting the three of them out of Norway at the time.
"He's fine. He's missed you." They had told Tony that Jackie would be going on a trip and would be back in a few days, although they had been vague about when. Pete had pivoted between fear, hope, and fury in the intervening days, knowing that he had been the one to stay behind for Tony's sake, and for logistical support, when he would rather have seen Jackie stay. There would undoubtedly be a serious row about that in the coming days, but for now, he was too relieved to have his wife and quasi-daughter back to snipe at either of them.
"Rose, you'll come and stay with us tonight," said Jackie, sounding like she expected a fight about it.
"Okay, Mum." Rose agreed so readily that Pete smiled; she'd obviously made that decision already. These two were cut from the same stubborn cloth, no doubt about it.
"Good," Jackie said. She would be pleased that Rose had seen good sense. Rose probably had her own reasons.
He looked at his two back seat passengers and considered. They would have room at the house for the Doctor to have his own room, but he couldn't imagine that he would need it, not with the way Rose was currently draped across him. He smiled at himself. He ought to feel more fatherly protectiveness of her virtue, but with the palpable exhaustion in the car, he thought her virtue would be quite safe for tonight, whether or not they shared a bed.
…
When they arrived at the Tyler house, all three of his passengers were asleep. Pete pulled the car into the driveway and parked in front of the closed garage doors. No one stirred and he quietly opened the door and exited the car. He unlatched the boot, where the airplane crew had deposited several shopping bags. Only Jackie could go on a mission to save the multiverse and return with souvenirs, he thought fondly, scooping up the bags onto his right arm. He walked over to the front passenger door and opened it for Jackie, who woke sluggishly.
"We're home," he said, bending down and helping her out of the car. "Rose, Doctor?"
The two occupants of the back seat were as slow to rouse as Jackie and struggled to unwind themselves from one another. In the end, they emerged from opposite doors and came back around the front of the car to cling together again.
"Everyone to bed," Pete ordered. "We’ll talk tomorrow. You lot look exhausted."
"Everyone keeps saying that," the Doctor said blearily, following Rose to the front door.
"Rose," Jackie said, ever the hostess despite her own condition, "take these things for the Doctor and put him in one of the guest rooms."
"Sure, Mum," Rose mumbled, sticking out her free hand to take the bags. The Doctor neatly stepped between them and let Pete load him down. They exchanged a conspiratorial glance. Guest room, indeed. There were several, the most convenient on the second floor next to the one Rose often used, and if Jackie thought the Doctor was going to stay there, that was just as well.
He opened the front door and let them all parade inside ahead of him before he closed it and activated the security system. Rose and the Doctor began trudging up the two flights of stairs ahead of Jackie, who instead of veering left to their bedroom turned right toward Tony's room. Pete smiled. She was a fierce mother, and he loved that about her.
She nudged Tony's door open and tiptoed over to where he slept, curled on his side with his favourite stuffed animal spooned in front of him. The enormous bunny was Tony's most precious possession, a gift from Rose that was nearly as large as he was. His white-blond hair was feathered over to one side and he had a look of intense concentration on his small face. Jackie leaned in and brushed his hair back from his face. The light touch was not enough to wake the sleeping boy and she withdrew, turning back to look at Pete with a smile.
He nodded, understanding, and drew her out of Tony's room. In their suite, she washed her face and changed into a long nightdress before collapsing onto their bed. There would be time to talk later, Pete thought. For now, they all needed some rest. He extinguished the light and settled down next to his wife.
…
Upstairs, Rose led the Doctor to the guest room she used when she stayed here and pointed to a chair in one corner for him to put the bags from the shop in Bergen. She disappeared into the en-suite and scrubbed the makeup from her face - it was a wonder she still had any left, she mused as she stared into the mirror. This company could get quite an endorsement deal from her. "Amazing Mascara: It's waterproof, even through dimensional transits!" She tried not to laugh.
When she returned to her room, her breath caught in her throat. The Doctor, looking terribly ill at ease, had changed into one of the red and white football shirts that Jackie had purchased for him as well as a matching pair of nylon jogging shorts. He was fidgeting with the collar when he caught sight of her in the doorway.
"I thought it might be more normal not to sleep in my suit," he said. His hair stuck up at odd angles from where he had slept on the airplane.
"It's fine," she said. "Whatever makes you comfortable."
He looked briefly amused at the impossibility of that particular statement and she crossed over to pick at a label that stuck out from his sleeve. It was attached with one of those stubborn plastic threads, and despite every warning that her mum had ever given to her, she bent over and bit into it with her teeth, nipping the thin plastic in half.
The Doctor, when she stood back up, looked utterly dumbfounded. "Excuse me?" he said. "Did you just … bite my shirt?"
"Oh." She offered him the label and remaining pieces of plastic. "It was a tag from the shop. I didn't have any scissors." He kept looking at her in confusion. "Okay, can you -" She made a whirling motion in the air with one hand. "I need to change."
"Oh. Of course." He turned and stared at his bare feet while she pulled off her clothes and slipped into a pair of short pyjamas.
"You can turn around now." He did, and she gave him a wavering smile. "Do you want to stay here, or, well, there's another room down the hall. Mum keeps it made up. If you want."
He swallowed. "Is it okay if I stay with you?"
Her smile came as a reflex and she saw identical relief spread across his face. "I'd like that."
"That's good," he said. "I really don't want to be away from you right now."
"Me neither," she confessed. He grinned, an honest, genuine Doctorish grin that lit up his face in a way that made her breath catch. In two steps, she was in his arms, and he held her tightly against him. His cheek rested against the top of her head and she could feel the stirring of his breath in her hair. Underneath the hand she had pressed against his back, she could feel the rhythm of his single heart. It was beating fast, like hers.
They had shared a bed before - or at least, Rose had slept while the Doctor lay next to her and did whatever he could to keep himself entertained. Usually it was when they had been on some grand adventure, pretending to be important visitors to a historical event, or a party, or locked in a cell. Periodically he had come to keep her company in her bed in the TARDIS, to allow her to snuggle up to him while he talked and helped her drift off to sleep.
She blinked, twice, hard, against his shoulder as she thought of the TARDIS, of the other Doctor on the other side of the Void. There was so much to deal with between the two (three?) of them. If she could be close to one of him, that was enough, at least until tomorrow.
"Bed," she said, and pulled away to turn back the blanket and soft sheets beneath. He automatically crossed to the far side of the bed and lay down on his back, folding his hands under his head and letting out a long, tired sigh.
She crawled under the covers and rolled over to turn off the single bedside lamp. In the darkness, before her eyes adjusted, she had only her other senses to find him. She burrowed close against his side and felt his arm come down to wrap around her. He smelled different, but it was mostly the yet-unlaundered chemical smell of the football shirt he was wearing. Underneath, he was warm and very male, still familiar. She cautiously slid a leg over his and bent her knee, trying to get comfortable and as close to him as she could manage. His hand tickled slightly where it roamed up and down her back.
Both of them were tense, and it took a moment to settle into being so close together. "I don't want to be away from you, either," she said softly into his chest.
"That's good. That's very, very good." He lifted up and kissed the top of her head before settling into the pillow and releasing a deep breath. With it, she felt the tension leave her own body, and together, holding on, they slept.
…
"Rose?" came a peremptory voice from beyond her closed door, which opened before she could make any effort at responding. Her mother, predictably, stood in the doorway with Tony at her side. Having spotted the Doctor next to Rose in the bed, Jackie made an affronted squeak and smacked her hand down over Tony's eyes. "Good Lord, are you both decent?"
"Yes, Mum," Rose said, trying not to laugh. She sat up and received an armful of little boy, who had burst loose from Jackie's grip and launched himself onto her bed.
"Rose!" Tony squealed. "Can we fly kites now?" He nuzzled into her chest.
"Oh hello, Tony," she said, hugging him back. "I'm so glad to see you too."
Beside her, the Doctor had also sat up and was shifting his attention back and forth from the boy on top of Rose to the sternly disapproving mother in the doorway.
"I thought," Jackie said, through clenched teeth, "that you were in the other room."
"Yes, about that," the Doctor said guilelessly. "It seemed like an awful hassle to mess up a nice, clean room, so we thought -"
Rose giggled and pushed Tony up. "Tony, this is the Doctor."
"Hello," Tony said, with some caution. He didn't usually warm up to strangers quickly, so Rose wasn't surprised to feel him continue to clutch at her.
"Give us a few minutes? We're going to get dressed and come down for breakfast," she told her brother.
"Breakfast!" Jackie huffed. "You're a sight too late for that now."
The Doctor's lips pursed together in a pained expression and Rose realized he was trying very hard not to laugh. This was going to come back to haunt her, she knew. Her mum looked thunderous.
"Then we'll get dressed and come down for - erm -"
"Lunch," the Doctor said helpfully. "It's twelve-fifteen." She glanced at him, eyebrows raised. "There's a clock," he pointed out.
"Hurry up," Tony urged. He vaulted off the bed and ran to Jackie. Her mother shot them a daggered look and followed the little boy down the steps. His gleeful stomping descent rang all the way back into Rose's room.
"So," the Doctor said conversationally, "do you think she'll poison me, or will she go for the direct approach? Maybe throttling, or stabbing? Ooh. She could run me over with Pete's very nice car and claim it was an accident."
"She loves you." Rose smacked him with a pillow. "You know that."
"I do not know any such thing. My life is clearly in danger and you're taking it very casually."
Rose tried to get out of bed. The Doctor's arm held her down for a struggling, laughing moment until she wriggled underneath and slid onto the floor. "It would be a good idea to hurry up and get downstairs for lunch, or she really will kill us both."
She pulled some clean clothes out of the dresser and shut herself in the en-suite to change. When she emerged, the Doctor was still wearing the red and white football shirt he had slept in, but he replaced the jogging shorts with his blue trousers and put his trainers back on. She eyed the ensemble curiously and he shrugged. "She bought me the shirt," he explained. "I thought it might be polite to wear it and show my appreciation. It might also distract her from the fact that she caught me in bed with her daughter."
"Tact?" she said. "That is new."
"Oi!" His mouth made a perfect circle and the whites of his eyes showed on top and bottom. He was the perfect image of Donna Noble in outrage. It took Rose's breath away and she was suddenly achingly aware all over again of this new, new, new Doctor and that this wasn't quite her fairy tale ending.
He saw the change in her and subsided from his playfulness, and she hated that she had caused him to become serious and withdrawn again. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"It's okay," he said. "It's different, for both of us. I didn't expect - well, why don't we go downstairs? Lunch, remember?"
Part Two
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Part One
"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."
Franz Kafka
Pete Tyler stood on the private airstrip and stared into the night sky filled with twinkling stars and the occasional drifting cloud. He wasn't the sort of man who made a habit of stargazing, but like everyone else in the world tonight, he couldn't help himself. With the light pollution from the city around him, he couldn’t make out more than a few dozen, he guessed, but he knew they were all out there, the cloudy band of the Milky Way and beyond.
When things were quieter, he thought, he would take Tony somewhere where they could see the full spectacle of the sky. A thought occurred to him and he flipped open his mobile to send a text to his broker to invest heavily in companies that manufactured telescopes. They'd be flying off the shelves now.
In the distance, he spotted the lights he wanted to see even more than the newly returned stars: the strobe lights of an approaching airplane. He watched as it landed on a nearby runway and taxied over to where he waited. A crew scurried out to flag the plane into position and pull down the stairs.
Pete broke into a jog and was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when Jackie emerged, looking dishevelled and exhausted but unharmed. She tottered down and flung herself into his arms. For a long moment, they clutched at one another, blocking anyone else's exit from the plane.
"You did it," he laughed into her hair. "Now don't you ever do anything that daft ever again."
"God, Pete, I'm knackered."
"Expect you are." He stepped back and allowed her to come completely off the stairs, and behind her, he caught sight of Rose, and then, the Doctor. They stood close together in the narrow doorway, looking as exhausted as Jackie did.
"Come on, you two," Jackie chided, turning away from Pete.
They let go of each other and descended the stairs single-file. When they reached level ground, the Doctor put his arm around Rose and she leaned heavily into him, although he hardly looked steady enough to support his own weight.
"Rose," Pete said, bending over to kiss her cheek. "Well done." He hadn't really expected to see her again, once she had found the Doctor, but he was glad to have her back.
"Thanks." Her face lit up in a bright smile, momentarily banishing the tiredness in her obvious pleasure at his praise.
"Doctor." He shook hands with the other man and regarded him seriously. Of all the outcomes, this was the one he had never considered: that the Doctor would return with Rose.
They would make it work, somehow. For the time being, it was his responsibility to get the three of them somewhere they could rest. "Come on," he said, turning Jackie in the direction of the car he had waiting for them. "Let's go home."
Behind him, Rose murmured something indistinct, and he heard the Doctor reply in kind.
…
Pete's car was luxuriously well-appointed. Every surface was leather, wood, or chrome, and the back seat where Rose and the Doctor sat was big enough for them to stretch out. Instead, the Doctor sat with his legs angling into the middle of the seat, with Rose curled into him and resting her head on his shoulder, his arm tucked around her waist.
Jackie, in the front seat, aimed the air vents at her face and turned them to cold, trying to wake herself up. "How's Tony?" she asked. Pete had given her a brief update on the phone, but they had been focused on the logistics of getting the three of them out of Norway at the time.
"He's fine. He's missed you." They had told Tony that Jackie would be going on a trip and would be back in a few days, although they had been vague about when. Pete had pivoted between fear, hope, and fury in the intervening days, knowing that he had been the one to stay behind for Tony's sake, and for logistical support, when he would rather have seen Jackie stay. There would undoubtedly be a serious row about that in the coming days, but for now, he was too relieved to have his wife and quasi-daughter back to snipe at either of them.
"Rose, you'll come and stay with us tonight," said Jackie, sounding like she expected a fight about it.
"Okay, Mum." Rose agreed so readily that Pete smiled; she'd obviously made that decision already. These two were cut from the same stubborn cloth, no doubt about it.
"Good," Jackie said. She would be pleased that Rose had seen good sense. Rose probably had her own reasons.
He looked at his two back seat passengers and considered. They would have room at the house for the Doctor to have his own room, but he couldn't imagine that he would need it, not with the way Rose was currently draped across him. He smiled at himself. He ought to feel more fatherly protectiveness of her virtue, but with the palpable exhaustion in the car, he thought her virtue would be quite safe for tonight, whether or not they shared a bed.
…
When they arrived at the Tyler house, all three of his passengers were asleep. Pete pulled the car into the driveway and parked in front of the closed garage doors. No one stirred and he quietly opened the door and exited the car. He unlatched the boot, where the airplane crew had deposited several shopping bags. Only Jackie could go on a mission to save the multiverse and return with souvenirs, he thought fondly, scooping up the bags onto his right arm. He walked over to the front passenger door and opened it for Jackie, who woke sluggishly.
"We're home," he said, bending down and helping her out of the car. "Rose, Doctor?"
The two occupants of the back seat were as slow to rouse as Jackie and struggled to unwind themselves from one another. In the end, they emerged from opposite doors and came back around the front of the car to cling together again.
"Everyone to bed," Pete ordered. "We’ll talk tomorrow. You lot look exhausted."
"Everyone keeps saying that," the Doctor said blearily, following Rose to the front door.
"Rose," Jackie said, ever the hostess despite her own condition, "take these things for the Doctor and put him in one of the guest rooms."
"Sure, Mum," Rose mumbled, sticking out her free hand to take the bags. The Doctor neatly stepped between them and let Pete load him down. They exchanged a conspiratorial glance. Guest room, indeed. There were several, the most convenient on the second floor next to the one Rose often used, and if Jackie thought the Doctor was going to stay there, that was just as well.
He opened the front door and let them all parade inside ahead of him before he closed it and activated the security system. Rose and the Doctor began trudging up the two flights of stairs ahead of Jackie, who instead of veering left to their bedroom turned right toward Tony's room. Pete smiled. She was a fierce mother, and he loved that about her.
She nudged Tony's door open and tiptoed over to where he slept, curled on his side with his favourite stuffed animal spooned in front of him. The enormous bunny was Tony's most precious possession, a gift from Rose that was nearly as large as he was. His white-blond hair was feathered over to one side and he had a look of intense concentration on his small face. Jackie leaned in and brushed his hair back from his face. The light touch was not enough to wake the sleeping boy and she withdrew, turning back to look at Pete with a smile.
He nodded, understanding, and drew her out of Tony's room. In their suite, she washed her face and changed into a long nightdress before collapsing onto their bed. There would be time to talk later, Pete thought. For now, they all needed some rest. He extinguished the light and settled down next to his wife.
…
Upstairs, Rose led the Doctor to the guest room she used when she stayed here and pointed to a chair in one corner for him to put the bags from the shop in Bergen. She disappeared into the en-suite and scrubbed the makeup from her face - it was a wonder she still had any left, she mused as she stared into the mirror. This company could get quite an endorsement deal from her. "Amazing Mascara: It's waterproof, even through dimensional transits!" She tried not to laugh.
When she returned to her room, her breath caught in her throat. The Doctor, looking terribly ill at ease, had changed into one of the red and white football shirts that Jackie had purchased for him as well as a matching pair of nylon jogging shorts. He was fidgeting with the collar when he caught sight of her in the doorway.
"I thought it might be more normal not to sleep in my suit," he said. His hair stuck up at odd angles from where he had slept on the airplane.
"It's fine," she said. "Whatever makes you comfortable."
He looked briefly amused at the impossibility of that particular statement and she crossed over to pick at a label that stuck out from his sleeve. It was attached with one of those stubborn plastic threads, and despite every warning that her mum had ever given to her, she bent over and bit into it with her teeth, nipping the thin plastic in half.
The Doctor, when she stood back up, looked utterly dumbfounded. "Excuse me?" he said. "Did you just … bite my shirt?"
"Oh." She offered him the label and remaining pieces of plastic. "It was a tag from the shop. I didn't have any scissors." He kept looking at her in confusion. "Okay, can you -" She made a whirling motion in the air with one hand. "I need to change."
"Oh. Of course." He turned and stared at his bare feet while she pulled off her clothes and slipped into a pair of short pyjamas.
"You can turn around now." He did, and she gave him a wavering smile. "Do you want to stay here, or, well, there's another room down the hall. Mum keeps it made up. If you want."
He swallowed. "Is it okay if I stay with you?"
Her smile came as a reflex and she saw identical relief spread across his face. "I'd like that."
"That's good," he said. "I really don't want to be away from you right now."
"Me neither," she confessed. He grinned, an honest, genuine Doctorish grin that lit up his face in a way that made her breath catch. In two steps, she was in his arms, and he held her tightly against him. His cheek rested against the top of her head and she could feel the stirring of his breath in her hair. Underneath the hand she had pressed against his back, she could feel the rhythm of his single heart. It was beating fast, like hers.
They had shared a bed before - or at least, Rose had slept while the Doctor lay next to her and did whatever he could to keep himself entertained. Usually it was when they had been on some grand adventure, pretending to be important visitors to a historical event, or a party, or locked in a cell. Periodically he had come to keep her company in her bed in the TARDIS, to allow her to snuggle up to him while he talked and helped her drift off to sleep.
She blinked, twice, hard, against his shoulder as she thought of the TARDIS, of the other Doctor on the other side of the Void. There was so much to deal with between the two (three?) of them. If she could be close to one of him, that was enough, at least until tomorrow.
"Bed," she said, and pulled away to turn back the blanket and soft sheets beneath. He automatically crossed to the far side of the bed and lay down on his back, folding his hands under his head and letting out a long, tired sigh.
She crawled under the covers and rolled over to turn off the single bedside lamp. In the darkness, before her eyes adjusted, she had only her other senses to find him. She burrowed close against his side and felt his arm come down to wrap around her. He smelled different, but it was mostly the yet-unlaundered chemical smell of the football shirt he was wearing. Underneath, he was warm and very male, still familiar. She cautiously slid a leg over his and bent her knee, trying to get comfortable and as close to him as she could manage. His hand tickled slightly where it roamed up and down her back.
Both of them were tense, and it took a moment to settle into being so close together. "I don't want to be away from you, either," she said softly into his chest.
"That's good. That's very, very good." He lifted up and kissed the top of her head before settling into the pillow and releasing a deep breath. With it, she felt the tension leave her own body, and together, holding on, they slept.
…
"Rose?" came a peremptory voice from beyond her closed door, which opened before she could make any effort at responding. Her mother, predictably, stood in the doorway with Tony at her side. Having spotted the Doctor next to Rose in the bed, Jackie made an affronted squeak and smacked her hand down over Tony's eyes. "Good Lord, are you both decent?"
"Yes, Mum," Rose said, trying not to laugh. She sat up and received an armful of little boy, who had burst loose from Jackie's grip and launched himself onto her bed.
"Rose!" Tony squealed. "Can we fly kites now?" He nuzzled into her chest.
"Oh hello, Tony," she said, hugging him back. "I'm so glad to see you too."
Beside her, the Doctor had also sat up and was shifting his attention back and forth from the boy on top of Rose to the sternly disapproving mother in the doorway.
"I thought," Jackie said, through clenched teeth, "that you were in the other room."
"Yes, about that," the Doctor said guilelessly. "It seemed like an awful hassle to mess up a nice, clean room, so we thought -"
Rose giggled and pushed Tony up. "Tony, this is the Doctor."
"Hello," Tony said, with some caution. He didn't usually warm up to strangers quickly, so Rose wasn't surprised to feel him continue to clutch at her.
"Give us a few minutes? We're going to get dressed and come down for breakfast," she told her brother.
"Breakfast!" Jackie huffed. "You're a sight too late for that now."
The Doctor's lips pursed together in a pained expression and Rose realized he was trying very hard not to laugh. This was going to come back to haunt her, she knew. Her mum looked thunderous.
"Then we'll get dressed and come down for - erm -"
"Lunch," the Doctor said helpfully. "It's twelve-fifteen." She glanced at him, eyebrows raised. "There's a clock," he pointed out.
"Hurry up," Tony urged. He vaulted off the bed and ran to Jackie. Her mother shot them a daggered look and followed the little boy down the steps. His gleeful stomping descent rang all the way back into Rose's room.
"So," the Doctor said conversationally, "do you think she'll poison me, or will she go for the direct approach? Maybe throttling, or stabbing? Ooh. She could run me over with Pete's very nice car and claim it was an accident."
"She loves you." Rose smacked him with a pillow. "You know that."
"I do not know any such thing. My life is clearly in danger and you're taking it very casually."
Rose tried to get out of bed. The Doctor's arm held her down for a struggling, laughing moment until she wriggled underneath and slid onto the floor. "It would be a good idea to hurry up and get downstairs for lunch, or she really will kill us both."
She pulled some clean clothes out of the dresser and shut herself in the en-suite to change. When she emerged, the Doctor was still wearing the red and white football shirt he had slept in, but he replaced the jogging shorts with his blue trousers and put his trainers back on. She eyed the ensemble curiously and he shrugged. "She bought me the shirt," he explained. "I thought it might be polite to wear it and show my appreciation. It might also distract her from the fact that she caught me in bed with her daughter."
"Tact?" she said. "That is new."
"Oi!" His mouth made a perfect circle and the whites of his eyes showed on top and bottom. He was the perfect image of Donna Noble in outrage. It took Rose's breath away and she was suddenly achingly aware all over again of this new, new, new Doctor and that this wasn't quite her fairy tale ending.
He saw the change in her and subsided from his playfulness, and she hated that she had caused him to become serious and withdrawn again. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"It's okay," he said. "It's different, for both of us. I didn't expect - well, why don't we go downstairs? Lunch, remember?"
Part Two