Wandering Rose

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Previously, In Chapter Nine...

The Time Lord eased himself down beside her on the sofa, carefully allowing some space between them. "Things weren't always that pretty, Rose," he commented.

"Yeah, I get that. And this was just a movie, nothin' more than a story. But I still thought -"

"Thought what? That just because we went to another planet that had similarities with the movin' pictures you liked would mean that all was just fine and dandy with that world?"

Rose flinched slightly from his harshness. "I'm not naive, Doctor," she said flatly, her eyes moving back to the screen.

"Didn't say you were. Thing is," he began, purposely calming his tone, "everywhere we go, nothin's really going to be what we expect. More times than not, -"

"Things are not what they seem," she finished for him, whispering as she looked at the wall above the screen, staring at nothing.

"Things are usually never what the seem," he corrected.

Rose looked at him then, staring for a few moments. "That go for you as well?" she asked, her tone tinged slightly with anger.

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Chapter Ten:

Wandering To Normal

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The Doctor snatched up the remote from beside her hip and suddenly the movie stopped. As the lights automatically came up, Rose squinted, trying to hide the fear that had initially crossed her features.

The Time Lord missed nothing. "We need to talk," he spoke evenly as he stood, trying to control his temper.

"Yeah, all right," she answered strongly.

He'd seen her defiant front before, though never directed toward him. "All right," he responded, mimicking her tone.

Rose looked at him, tempted to cross her arms. Instead she placed her hands in her lap, fidgeting fingers moving aimlessly atop her robe-covered thighs. Finally she couldn't deal with his silence any longer. "Well?"

"Well what, Rose? I'm not the one insinuating things around here. Just what did you mean exactly, askin' what you did? Are you questioning if I'm not what I seem? Because I think I've been pretty up-front with you so far. If you don't believe that, then we've got ourselves a problem." The Doctor crossed his arms over his chest.

Her shoulders slumped a bit defeatedly. "No. I mean ... It's just ..." her words faded off, and she was looking all around, everywhere but at him.

The Time Lord was running out of what little patience he had a hold on. Hadn't he done everything in his power to treat and heal her injuries? To take care of her and protect her? "Just what?"

She looked at her lap. "You'd kill for me - almost did - yeah? I mean, if it came down to it -"

"If there was no alternative - if it meant savin' you - you're damned right I would."

"Well, I don't know how I feel about that, exactly."

"The word 'grateful' comes to mind," he answered smartly.

"I am! But I've never seen you like that before," she said quietly, ignoring his gruff reply. "I think it scared me more than those men did."

The Doctor sat down beside her then, her words bringing a look of confusion to his softening features. "Rose?" he prompted.

"It's just, well, I expected those men to act the way they did." Her eyes met his, pleading for him to understand. "I just never thought I'd see you so, so violent. It threw me, and I suppose that's the reason I keep havin' nightmares about you instead of them."

"I'd never harm you, Rose," he told her, his tone sincere.

"I know that, I really do. But all of a sudden, there's this other side of you that I've never seen before, and that made me realize that there's so much I don't know about you. And maybe," her voice grew fainter, "you're not who I think you are."

"Rose, look at me." He sat there, waiting for her eyes to meet his before he continued. "When you first came on board, you knew nothing about me, and I mean nothing. Yet you still took that step - still walked inside the TARDIS and into the unknown - because your instincts told you to trust me. Am I right?"

She nodded, still looking at him.

"Are you doubting those instincts now?"

"No," she answered immediately. "I do trust you, Doctor."

"Then trust me when I tell you that before I ran into you that fateful night at Henrik's, before you came on board and started rubbin' off on me a bit, I'd've had no second thoughts about killin' a man for hurtin' any innocent like those men intended to do to you. But now apparently it seems you've had a bit of influence on me. I didn't kill 'em, Rose."

"But you could've."

"Yeah, I could've. What you need to realize is that if someone out there's a threat - to you or anyone else that doesn't deserve it, then I'm gonna defend you. Or anyone else. If it's a choice between their lives or yours, then it's no choice for me at all. I can't change that. In fact, I wouldn't if I could."

"Well, I s'pose there's nothin' to discuss then."

"Rose Tyler. Where the hell did you get that notion? We already have been discussin' it. Best thing we could've done. You'll see. All this talkin's gonna settle in that brain of yours and your thoughts'll get on the right track. Everything's a little confusing at the moment, and rightfully so, after the trauma you've been subject to. But that brilliant little human brain of yours is figurin' this all out, even as we speak."

"What? Just like that?"

He held his hand out to her, grinning when she placed her own within it. "Just like that. So just let what we've talked about sink in a little."

The Doctor leaned back into the cushions of the sofa, watching Rose inconspicuously. When she did the same and then began leaning slowly toward him, he grinned slightly. When she snuggled into his awaiting hold, he sighed with relief, his arm hugging her to him.

"You're gonna be just fine, Rose Tyler," he whispered into her crown before placing a simple kiss on her hair.

She nodded. "Thanks to you."

The End.