The Assassin of Madness

Chapter 2

"Rose, honestly, we could've been there and back by now, you've been in there for ages," the Doctor whined from outside the wardrobe room.  He sounded awfully like a man who was nagging his girlfriend to get a move on.  She rolled her eyes and put a stop to that train of thought right that instant.  

Rose giggled and double checked her makeup. "Well, you'll have to tell me if this'll get us arrested," she said.

"Arrested?" The Doctor said, his voice alarmed, "What could you possibly be wearing that would get us arrested?"

"Well, I mean, there's the time I was arrested for wearing pink on Ander 5, do you remember that?"

"Oh, Rose, I said I was sorry."

"I know you are, I'm just trying to prevent it from happening again," she said, "So what's the dress code?"

The Doctor paused, as though trying to recall.  "Nice things, anything close to black tie.  What've-" he cleared his throat, "What have you got on?"

"This red thing with a slit to the knee," she said, "Top's kinda low, too.  S'that alright, do you think?" 

If Rose had been out in the corridor with the Doctor she would've seen his mouth drop open and his eyes dilate quicker than anything.  He closed his eyes and focused for a few seconds, trying to control himself.  He was a Time Lord, for goodness' sake, hormones really shouldn't have applied to him.  He cleared his throat so his voice wouldn't squeak when he spoke. 

"That should be fine, the 34th Century is very... Accepting."

"Good!" Rose called from inside, straightening her necklace before walking to the door and stepping out into the corridor.

She was no stranger to how men looked at her.  Rose knew she was an attractive woman, and that was often why she dressed down and wore baggy clothes.  A lot of that had changed when she'd met the Doctor.  She let herself where racier things, nicer things, clothes that made her feel confident.  Though the Doctor wouldn't say it, she could tell that, on some level, he appreciated it.

His eyes traveled slowly over her figure, his hands shoved in his pockets as though he were picking up a date for a night on the town.  Realizing that his gaze had probably lingered on her body for too long, he looked back to her face and smiled tightly.  "You look lovely," he said, and held out his arm.  "Let's go."

Rose took his arm and he led her to the console room, and he kept looking down at her ankles as they walked.  The Doctor had never thought ankles could be sexy, but it would appear that even a genius could be wrong about some things.  He furrowed his brows at her heeled shoes.

"Aren't you afraid you're going to trip?" He asked her.

She looked down and shook her head.  "No, I've walked in my fair share of high heels, Doctor.  Used to go clubbing."

The Doctor tried not to think about the fact that Rose had gone clubbing, especially without him.  He tired not to tighten his grip on her at the thought.  He nodded slightly.  "Yeah, well, if we have to run for our lives, make sure you can kick them off."

"I'll see if I have time to unstrap them," Rose said sarcastically as they walked into the console room.  "You're not taking us to the middle of a revolution, are you?"

The Doctor walked to the console and started flipping levers and spinning dials.  "Absolutely not, I don't know why you would think that I would take you somewhere dangerous."

For a moment she thought he was kidding until he looked in her direction and his lip twitched.  She snorted out a laugh and shook her head.  "Well, I guess I shouldn't expect safe at this point, should I?"