He kicked the door open, wincing as the entire shack shuddered. Hopefully it would withstand the storm raging outside, long enough to get out of there.

His eyes fell, scanning Rose's face in concern. She was completely limp in his arms, except for the occasional shiver.

Damn those Praxians. This was supposed to be a routine check-in on the Gorgoloth community in the backwoods of Austria. But when he had decided it would be morefun to hike out to the area rather than take the rover—hiking, that was something they had never done before—and when they had run into some trouble with the green puss-spewing Praxians infesting the area…

Sure, they'd handled the semi-invasion like they always had. But Rose had been coated in the process. The problem with Praxian pus was that it was highly acidic to human skin. He hadn't even thought about the fact that Rose's only spare clothes were in the pack on her back before he'd shoved her into a lake, praying they could scrub the residue off before it started melting her skin.

Well, he'd succeeded in that, but not before the system depressant had taken hold. He'd barely got her out of the water before she collapsed unconcious.

Another shiver from her brought him back to the present. Right, she was in soaking wet clothes in the middle of an Austrian winter. He scanned the cabin, grateful to see a pile of rags in the corner and a layer of dust thick enough on the only table to indicate that no one had been here for a while.

Focus on the medical details, Doctor.

He bent down, whipping the top layer of rags aside as he cradled her against his chest. Putting her in the softest pile he could find, he set to work peeling the frozen shirt and trousers away from her. Remove the moisture.

He tossed her clothing into one corner of the cabin, followed by his and the wet spot that had dominated his shirt from where he had carried her.

He slipped in next to her, pulling her hard against him as he buried the both of them in the rags. Warm the center of the body with his own heat.

For once since coming here, he was grateful for his human body that could warm hers.

"Please be alright," he murmured against her hair as his eyes started to droop.

There were a few things he noticed as he slowly woke.

One, Rose was still shivering, albeit much more lightly than she had been when there was still light outside.

Two, now that he knew she would live he had no more technical aspects to focus on in the bare cabin.

Three, in his haste to get them both warmed up he had stripped them both down to nothing but their underclothes.

Four, he was in a rather unfortunate predicament for being in nothing but his shorts cuddled up close to a woman that he undoubtedly loved but had done nothing more with than kiss once on a windswept beach.

Fire flooded his face and he tried to pull away, but in her unconscious state Rose grabbed his arm, arching back more firmly against him. Her bum pressed into the bulge at the front of his shorts and the noise that came out of his mouth could only be classified as a whimper. He bit down on his lip to try to keep silent.

She woke slowly; he could feel it in the tensing of her shoulders and the change in her breath. She blinked, looking around them. Her head turned, peering at him beneath the haze of blonde hair. "Doctor..?"

He counted to three, making sure he had as much control over himself as he possibly could in this human body, before responding. "Hello. How're you feeling?"

She shuddered, and he had to bite harder on his lip. "'m cold," she responded. She flipped over, pushing herself against his chest, nestling as far into his hold as she could.

"Ah, that'll…" he swallowed hard to try to cover the shakiness of his voice. "That'll be the hypothermia leaving your system. Sorry I couldn't get us somewhere warmer."

She hummed against his chest, eyes drooping shut again. But then they snapped open and her head swiveled up to meet his. "What about the Praxians?"

His arms tightened around her at the memories of how he'd almost lost her thanks to them. "They're gone. The world is safe again. Don't you worry."

He could tell she didn't buy his light tone for a second. But he was grateful when she let it go, snuggling back into him. She tangled her legs with his in an attempt to get closer, and the upper part of her thigh brushed against him.

He couldn't swallow the groan fast enough for her not to notice. She blinked up at him with wide eyes before her eyes slowly trailed down his lean form to where their bodies were almost touching. "Oh," was all she said.

His face burned brightly. "I… I… I'm sorry, Rose, I… I'll just." He tried to pull away again, but her arms slipped around his back clamping him to her.

"No!" She took a deep breath, then wiggled to turn her face up to his. "Don't think I can be without your extra warmth right now, sorry. No need to be embarrassed, Doctor. Guy's got needs. I didn't tell you about the time I woke up pressed against Jake in a similar situation and he doesn't even play for my team."

"Rose," he groaned, pinching his eyes shut.

"Sorry, I'm just… trying to make you feel less uncomfortable is all."

He was still tense against her, staring steadily at the wall they were lying against and aiming all of his focus into getting himself under control.

"I could…" He looked down when her voice interrupted the silence. "I could help you out with that real quick, if you needed. Just to ease some of the tension."

"Rose!" His voice was caught somewhere between scandalization and embarrassment.

"I'm not offering too much here," and now her face was burning as brightly as his. "We agreed to take this at our own pace. 's just, well, you saved my life and now you're keeping me warm and I just felt like doing something in return, if I could."

He stared down at her in awe, his eyes widening. When she finally looked back up at his face, he let a gentle smile play over his lips. "I'm honored, I am, and grateful that you'd even offer something like this. But I don't want us to start like that, alright? I want it to be when you want it, not when you think you owe something to me."

He placed a quick kiss on the tip of her nose and pulled her against him, grateful at the space she kept between them in certain areas. Still, he couldn't help be grateful for the amazing pink and yellow girl in his arms, who would offer him so much when she still wasn't sure about him. Maybe they would be alright after all.