Reign of the World

Chapter 14

Rose couldn't say that she was surprised by the words.  She'd had a feeling it was headed that way once the Doctor announced who he was.  No matter what timeline, what incarnation, the Daleks always wanted the Doctor dead.

But he clutched her hand a little tighter at the words, and she held onto him just as tightly when she heard Tiffany and Mr. Kelly gasp in shock behind them. 

The Daleks cheered, and one of the ones who had been thwarting their escape moved forwards to push them out of the room, with Mr. Kelly and Tiffany right on their heels.  This time, they were put in cells divided by an oddly civilized looking door.  Much to the Doctor's relief, this time he was put in the same cell as Rose.  Keep all the important ones together, he guessed.

"You can't destroy the humans!" The Doctor said, grabbing one of the bars that held them back with the hand that wasn't firmly in Rose's.  "You know almost as well as I do that the humans survive, they prosper.  They have to be kept alive!"

"They will not," the Dalek replied, locking their door.  "It is time that the humans finished, Doctor, and your Rose Tyler with them!"  The other Dalek shrieked in return.

"Well, if you plan on killing us, what are we still doing alive?" the Doctor bit out.  Rose ran her thumb over his in reassurance and he gave her a look of thanks. 

"You will die tomorrow," the Dalek replied, and Rose could swear she heard nonchalance in the back of its ugly voice. 

Without another word, the two Daleks rounded away from them and left them there, in the suddenly too quiet cells.  The Doctor leaned forward, tipping his forehead against the bars, and Rose felt her heart lurch out to him.  She moved her other hand to his so her palms were cupping his hand.  She leaned her shoulder on the bars, facing him.

"What are you thinking?" she asked quietly.

He shifted his eyes to look at her, then lifted his shoulders.  "We can escape, but if we're seen we'll be shot on sight, and we can't dodge Dalek lasers.  We can't warn the others, and even if we could, they'd have no where to go once we warned them.  We can become martyrs, but then the entire population of New Earth dies anyways, and then they'll take out the rest of the human race, bit by bit," he sighed heavily.  "They want this planet, and we're at a loss to stop it."

Rose didn't know quite what to say to that, but she could see him struggling.  "On the bright side, we've got adjoining cells with a real door!  How posh," she smiled him and she saw his mouth twitch in response.

Seeing him not responding, her smile fell.  "We'll think of something," she promised.  "We'll get out of here, get of this bloody island, and go home."

His head snapped up and he looked at her with alarm written all over his face.  "You want to go home?"

She misunderstood and furrowed his brows.  "Of course.  Don't you?"

He blew out a sigh. "Oh, yes, home."

"You didn't think I meant- no, Doctor, I meant the TARDIS," she squeezed his hand.  "I'm not going anywhere, even if we die tomorrow, we're going together.  M'not leaving."

He pulled his hand from hers and at first she thought she'd gone and said the wrong thing, but then he turned and pulled her into a hug, his face buried in the crook of her neck.  She wrapped her arms around his neck, closing her eyes. 

It was reassuring, to be held by him even in times like this, to hear the steady beats of his heart faintly, almost in the distance.  She couldn't protect him, she knew that, she was just one woman, but she could at least keep up that façade and make him feel safe.  That was what he deserved, regardless of what he believed. 

He pulled away from her slowly at the sound of footsteps and saw Tiffany standing in the doorway, a completely unnecessary smug look on her face.  "Doctor Smith, I think we should talk."

The Doctor straightened and Rose turned her own surprised look on Tiffany, wondering about the intrusion and already resenting the other woman for it.  She tried to tell herself that Tiffany might want the Doctor to take a look at Mr. Kelly, who seemed to be panicking in the corner of their cell, but she wouldn't have her hip out like that if it was the case.

If there was one thing Rose knew, it was flirting, and she could immediately tell that Tiffany was up to exactly that.  Her heart lurched in dismay.  What had happened in the cell they shared before they were brought to the audience with Gek and the other Daleks?  She couldn't be sure, and she didn't really think that she wanted to think about it at all.

But apparently Tiffany wanted to talk about it, which was far, far worse.

"I think you've probably gathered by now that it's just the Doctor now," he said stiffly, and Rose wondered if anything he'd done he'd regretted, making him take on this tone with Tiffany. 

"So, Doctor, then," Tiffany shrugged, crossing her arms.  "I still think we should talk.  Do you want to tell Rose, or shall I?"

Rose's heart absolutely plummeted into her stomach.  She glanced between the anger written on the Doctor's face and the smugness on Tiffany's.  She felt like she was going to be sick, so she pushed past the Doctor and sat on the cot.  "I don't think I need you to tell me," she said harshly, hoping she didn't look as ill as the thought was making her.

"Rose, no," the Doctor shook his head vigorously.  "That's not-"

"Isn't it?" Tiffany cut in.  "You can't hide forever, Doctor, from this, from us."

"I lied about my name, I've told you 'no'," the Doctor gritted out, "And yet you still chase me?  Even when your friend is in the other room having a panic attack?"

Tiffany shrugged.  "He'll be okay.  Clinical anxiety, him.  Even if I were to get too close, he'd feel trapped.  You have to let him ride it out.  We don't have his medicine."  She took a step forwards and the Doctor took a step back.  "So yes."

Rose felt both utterly confused and utterly betrayed, which made no sense because she really didn't have the right to feel betrayed.  She ran a hand through her hair and tried to assess the pair before her, but she found that it hurt too much and just tried to focus on not throwing up right there.

"I've made it very clear that I-"

"You're afraid of your feelings," Tiffany said, a small smile crossing her face.  "And that's okay, that's why I want to be here."

"No, you see, I'm not afraid of how I feel at all," the Doctor reached for Rose's hand, and without thinking, she took it.  He pulled her to her feet and stared daggers at Tiffany.  "I'm not afraid of how I feel about someone, how someone makes me feel.   Got it?"

And with that he turned fully to Rose, cupped her cheeks with his hands, and pressed his mouth to hers.