Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, or any other crazy wonderful Timelords invented by the BBC.
A/N: This story takes place just after the Unquiet dead…when Rose finally decided she was going to stay with the Doctor.
It was the TARDIS that woke him, caressing the edge of his consciousness gently. He sighed and rolled over, the pillow beneath his head was far too deep and comfortable to leave just yet. The sheets were cool and firm against his skin and the covers a comfortable, reassuring weight on his chest. His mind was muzzy with sleep.
The touch came again, a little firmer now…prodding. He relented and opened his eyes. He scanned the room in the dim light. His room, large, with wood-paneled walls and a bed that wasn't quite four-poster. Book cases lined the walls and just about every other surface was littered with a miscellaneous bunch of objects collected by his numerous regenerations. His room…puzzlement tickled the edge of his muddled brain, somewhat deflating the contented atmosphere of his mind.
How had he gotten here?
He sat up, pushing back the covers, and was further surprised to find himself stretching muscles that were comfortably, cramped from a long period of rest. He pulled himself from the bed, still somewhat groggy, and leaned on an old cracked leather armchair.
He hadn't slept properly for months…nor had he been to his room, instead catching short cat-naps in the control room between planets and timeperiods. He rubbed his eyes trying to refocus them…he must have slept like a blooming ape for it to affect him like this. Perhaps his stamina was not what it used to be.
But no…he knew that wasn't it. This strange emotion, this giddy contentedness was not normal…not for him. Something had changed
He found his discarded trousers and a fresh jumper (heaven only knew where the TARDIS kept getting them from) and made his way through the clutter to the door.
He entered the corridor a little warily…not quite certain what he himself had been expecting…and stalked off in the direction of the control room.
He froze as he passed a another door…one about eight down from his own.
Rose.
For a brief moment he felt an uncommon fear flood his insides, slowly, with a fumbling hand, he turned the knob of the door, opened it quietly and peered in. There…a small lump among the bed clothes… blond hair spilling haphazardly about her. Rose.
He sighed in relief and the swelling of joy…along with a flood of memories from the previous night returned. He'd brought her straight to this room after a last cup of tea…she'd been exhausted after the autons, and the end of the earth and the trouble with the gelth. She handled it well though…and a lot of sticky questions about traveling had been resolved in only a day…well more like 28 hours or so….he should make that a pattern…one trip through time and another to an alien world just to see how his companions handled it.
Companions…he smiled to himself at the new, familiar word…he'd never had companions in this regeneration…he hadn't had companions for a long time. He felt rather like a boy who'd been given a wriggling puppy.
Exactly, he reminded himself, and new puppies have a habit of leekin' on the carpet. Havin' a companion means trouble.
He couldn't stop grinning though, despite his sober thoughts, his heart was too light, he was too excited, there was a new person on board the TARDIS now. One who had never seen beyond her own tiny little planet…had never experienced the wonders of the universe. And he got to show it to her.
A murmur and a rumpling of the bedclothes reminded him of something and his enthusiasm calmed a bit. Apes needed their sleep…and time to adjust, silly little things…he would have to wait.
He closed the door, frowning. He would have to occupy himself someway…something he was not used to, he hadn't had to wait on anything for a long while.
There was the library…the gardens…the pool…and the TARDIS always needed tinkering with…but he wasn't in the proper mood for settling down into the concentrated, trancelike calm that settled over him when he worked on his ship. He was too nervous…too bubbly…he wanted to try something new.
There was the kitchen…breakfast. The last thing Rose had eaten was chips and human's were always hungry. He was rather pekish himself.
He strode off toward the kitchen, the TARDIS humming in his mind. She seemed to be in as good a mood as he was, and made it easy for him to find the small, tidy room (not that it was usually tidy, he just hadn't been there in a while).
The Doctor scowled for a moment at the array of domesticity before him; a stove, a fridge, worn counters hugging a sink and a rickety table with three mismatched chairs. He brushed aside the thought with a shrug, if it wasn't too domestic for the TARDIS then he could live with it.
He bent and rummaged in the cupboards pulling out a couple of pans…
A familiar scent wafted through the air, teasing her out of sleep. Eggs…and toast…and tea.Ahh. Her mother makin' breakfast. Must be a Saturday, which meant she wouldn't have to go to Henrick's.
Good, she was still tired…still clinging to the last dregs of sleep and half remembered dreams.
She felt happy, and contented which was unusual. The dream must have been good. She snuggled deeper under the heavy quilt and into the pillow, trying to recall the images that hovered just beyond her mind.
There had been a man…an alien…with sharp blue eyes and large ears…wearing a coat…leather. Funny that her mind would create such a vivid image from nowhere.
She'd been running with this man…he'd showed up at her work and her house…disrupting her monotonous life. He'd had a ship that was bigger on the inside…and he'd taken her to see quite a few crazy things…what had she drank before she'd gone to bed?
Other images filtered through the foggy membrane of sleep. A spacestation…the earth dissolving in the earth…a woman made only out of skin…Charles Dickens. She giggled at the last thought…her imagination had been on a rampage last night.
Remembering the dream had sent a rush of adrenaline through her, ruining her chance of sleeping in. She'd liked the first man…the alien…he was her friend and she'd felt safe with him. He'd been the best part.
Still. She sat up with a sigh stretching. It was only a dream.
She opened her eyes, puzzled as to why she was still fully clothed. The she noticed the strangeness of the room.
A second rush of adrenaline, stronger than the first, sent her scurrying out of the strange bed and into the hall. She didn't stop but turned to her left, seemingly knowing the way, though she couldn't tell how.
The door at the end of the corridor opened into the muted room filled with coral columns and a grating floor. There in the middle was a large control panel…the console...that washed the room in a peaceful turquoise color.
"Doctor!" she circled the console calling the name that flooded into her mind along with the memories of the previous day. "Doctor."
Surely he would be in the console room if anywhere.
But he wasn't and suddenly Rose remembered the smells that had aroused her. The TARDIS hummed around her and she felt a gentle nudge towards another door, opposite the one she had come in through. She entered it and followed the scent of cooking.
Although it didn't smell quite so appetizing now. It smelt burnt.
She turned into what appeared to be a small kitchen, and peered through the smoke that curled from the dishes that had been hastily doused in the sink.
The Doctor was seated at the table. Cup in hand, obviously brooding.
"Hello." Rose said, unable to think of anything else.
The Doctor continued to frown at his cup and mumbled something.
"What?"
He straightened a bit, but still didn't look at her.
"I said we're out of eggs."
Rose glanced over at the splattered stove and the 3 dozen empty eggshells that lay scattered beside it.
"Did you burn all of those?"
He glared at her briefly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'll have you know I used to be very good at that sort of thing…the last time…a long time ago…'s just been a while thas all. "
Rose raised her eyebrows, poured herself a cuppa and sat down across from him. Her chair wobbled ominously.
He looked a bit odd sans leather jacket, but then he couldn't really keep it on all the time. Not when he slept surely. Did he sleep? He was wearing a different jumper.
"Well" said Rose practically. "What are we gonna do now that we're out of eggs?"
The Doctor shrugged, arms akimbo.
Rose sipped her tea, than a thought struck her. "Does everyone have eggs for breakfast?"
The Doctor looked at her.
"I mean…surely every planet in the universe can't have chickens. So what do they do for breakfast?"
She watched as the frown disappeared, and the bright grin lit his face, his eyes afire.
"Rose Tyler…"
She grinned back.
"Come on."
He leapt up and grabbed her hand, ignoring the fact that the table wobbled and both cups spilled over.
He pulled her to the console room and began flying about the controls, twisting switches and pulling knobs with a furious energy.
The TARDIS began to shake and whine as it came to life.
"Were are we going?"
"Hold that one down will you?...its a surprise…You'll like it…they have the most fantastic…oh you'll see."
Rose looked at him, bent over the controls his maniacal face lit by the blue light. He sensed her gaze and looked over at her matching her grin.
"You ready Rose Tyler?"
"Right behind you Doctor."
He pulled a last lever and the ship lurched to a halt throwing them both off balance.
The Doctor was on his feet again at once, headed towards the doors. Rose scrambled up to follow…then stopped as she noticed something.
"Doctor."
He paused and looked back over his shoulder at her.
Rose gestured at his feet.
The Doctor looked down. "What?"
Rose sighed and folded her own arms, leaning back against the nearest pillar.
The Doctor glanced down again and realization struck. "Oh…right."
He grinned and headed back towards his room to get his beloved, leather jacket…and his shoes.