Reign of the World

Chapter 9

The Doctor woke Rose up before dawn, jostling her gently from sleep.  She blinked up at him and nodded before standing and helping the Doctor put his coat on.  She didn't think he really needed it, but he regulated his temperature so he would.  She watched him for a moment, waiting for him to take the lead.  He nodded in the direction of the forest and reached for her hand.

She took it without thinking, in her muscle memory now, and they trucked off into the forest.  They waited until they were well away from the others before she looked over him and thought about speaking.

"How long do you think you could've handled being the leader?" She asked, only half joking.  "Almost a bit like a monarchy.  And you were the king."

He shuddered.  "Don't say that," he said, no hint of teasing in his voice.  "I'm not anybody's king."

She furrowed her brows and looked at him curiously, but decided not to push the issue.  She ran her thumb over his in reassurance and they lapsed back into a comfortable silence.  

Neither of them knew where they were going, or what they were looking for, but they were off, and that was all that mattered.  It scared Rose, how very little they knew, how blind and vulnerable they were in this situation. 

Not that they usually knew what was happening, but there were usually clues or at least something to go off of.  Rose watched the determination on the Doctor's face and matching it with her own.  She thought that she admired him most in those moments, when he remembered who exactly he was.  When he remembered he wasn't some homicidal maniac.

Every once in a while she'd bump her shoulder with his and he'd bump hers back in response.  No words passed between them, but by now both of them knew that words were hardly necessary all the time. 

It was nearly blissful, walking with him in this quiet moment, until there was rustling to the side.  She turned sharply, awaiting some wild animal to befall them, when Tiffany and Mr. Kelly burst through the trees and met up with them. 

Now, Rose had never been a jealous woman.  Had she been peeved when she found out that Mickey had been seeing Trish?  Yes, absolutely, but that was because they were still together at the time.  But the Doctor didn't belong to her, and yet she still found herself wanting to throttle Tiffany every time she came within ten feet of him.

And if she was close enough to touch, she was close enough to die.

Where had that thought come from?  Rose barely stifled an angry sigh and held onto the Doctor's hand just a little tighter. 

"What... What are you two doing here?" The Doctor asked, obviously trying to sound polite.  "I believe I said that Rose and I were going to do this on our own."

"Yes, well, we decided we wanted to help," Mr. Kelly replied nonchalantly.

"I don't think you know exactly who I am," The Doctor replied calmly.  "Rose and I get into a lot of trouble, and it is not safe, what we do.  I really suggest that you go back to the camp.  Now."

"I don't think so, Doctor Smith," Tiffany said, her voice dripping sweetness and making Rose's lip curl.  "We want to help.  We can't just sit around and do nothing, we're scientists!"

"As are you," Mr. Kelly added, as if reminding them.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at them.  "This is absurd.  No, you're not coming with us, frankly because I don't want you to come with us, alright?  Never mind that you'll probably be put in a lot of danger.  Go back."

"You can't make us," Tiffany replied.  "You really can't.  I say you just let us.  We'll be quiet as mice."

Rose looked up at him, pleading for him to keep pushing them to leave, but she knew as well as he did that they were bound and determined to come with them.  The Doctor gave her a frankly apologetic look. 

"Fine.  But don't talk.  I don't want to hear voices besides mine and Rose's; we're hypothesizing."

They hadn't been hypothesizing, of course, but there was no way for Mr. Kelly and Tiffany to know that, and Rose was willing to go with it.  He pulled her along in front of the other two, putting them about three paces behind them.

She could feel the Doctor's frustration radiating off of him, and since they lied about hypothesizing, she looked over and nudged him lightly.  "Do you have any ideas?  I know we're not exactly being given anything to work with here, but-"

"Could be anything," the Doctor replied, cutting her off only because he knew she didn't know where to go after that.  "Literally anything, and that's what's so terrifying."

"This scares you?" She murmured, hoping Mr. Kelly and Tiffany wouldn't pick up on her words.  She hated to admit it, but when the Doctor got scared, it was like she had no choice but to get scared in return.  Whenever the Doctor didn't know things was when said thing got truly frightening.

"I don't always tell you when things scare me, Rose," he said quietly.  "When we were on New Earth the first time, when Cassandra possessed you, I was terrified.  I was afraid you'd been taken from me, that you were gone.  I was horrified at the thought that maybe I couldn't protect you as well as I thought I could."

"I knew it was dangerous when I came with you," Rose protested.  "I knew, I asked you, even.  So you can't get scared when I'm in trouble, cause then we'll both be outright terrified all the time."

The Doctor snorted a little in laughter.  "I guess you're right.  But I'll always worry about you, Rose."

She leaned her cheek against his shoulder for a moment in acknowledgement, and they kept on as they had been.  Neither of them missed the crunch of leaves behind them, and both were irritated by it.  It was just supposed to be the Doctor and Rose, investigating a threat, but that was, unfortunately, not how it worked out. 

Tiffany had, if Rose thought it possible, a frankly annoying gait, bouncy and light and far too cheerful.  She resisted turning around to throttle her on several occasions, but she remembered it was her hand in the Doctor's, and his words directed towards her ear. 

But there was always a chance that the Doctor could go swanning off with her, wasn't there?  She wished she believed that he wouldn't. 

They walked through the woods for only about an hour before stumbling upon what appeared to be a clearing.  Upon further inspection-

"What the hell?" Rose breathed, gazing upwards.

It wasn't a clearing at all, but it had been cleared, and resting comfortably in the center of the area was a giant spaceship.