The Doctor's Choice

Competition

And then she ran. She got up and ran and practically crashed into his chest, wrapping her arms around his back, and squeezing him tight. She felt his intake of breath at her touch, and then she felt him relax and melt into her, stroking her hair, and murmuring,
"I missed you, I missed you, oh God I really missed you..."
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see River's dissatisfied expression. She was obviously thinking that this hug was a sort of challenge. She waited a few more seconds before clearing her throat quite loudly and shooting a pointed glance at Rose, who winked at her and gave the Doctor one last squeeze before disentangling herself. She grinned up at him, elated at the fact he was smiling back. He still cared, after however many years, this man still cared. She had known he would.
They had said forever.

River, on the other hand, was trying to ward of jealously and envy and all the other emotions that come with seeing your boyfriend with his ex. Of course, the pair never truly broke up, but still... The Doctor hadn't hugged her when they blew up the wall. And she did all the work, Rose just sat there and played the damsel in distress! She could feel herself heating up a little inside and tried to calm down. The Doctor was thousands of years old. It was unreasonable to expect him to have had no former flames... But still, the way that he looked at her...
River sighed. Today, overall, was not going to be a good day.

She cleared her throat again and stared at the Doctor, who looked almost embarrassed. She noticed he was still holding Rose's hand, like it was the most natural thing in the world. She bit her lip slightly and decided to make a move. She walked up and kissed the Doctor on the cheek, reviling in the quiet gasp from Rose, who let go of his hand immediately.
"Come on sweetie, we need to go. We can drop Rose back to her home and then go find out why and how we were kidnapped, ok?"
The Doctor blinked several times and started glancing between River and Rose. He rubbed the back of his neck ruefully and said,

"Actually, I think one last adventure with Rose couldn't screw up time too much sweetie. And besides, she has had experience. Did she tell you about the time she-"

"Oh yes she did, she was amazing, incredible, fantastic. No need to explain to me the wonders of Rose Tyler. Now come on, we'll get captured again at this rate."

River took off down the corridor and he sighed and ran after her, Rose in his wake. She watched him catch up to her and try to calm her down, looking at her in the way that they used to look at each other. She felt jealousy rearing its head, but she also felt ashamed. She had had her time with the Doctor, and although she wished it could have been longer, she should realise when it's someone else's turn. And she liked Professor Song! She was quite funny, and charming, and a very good listener. She should just leave them be. She sighed and ran to catch up with them, half delighted and half dismayed at the Doctor's face when he saw her again. She couldn't stop herself grinning back at him, or refuse to take his hand again, because despite it all, she still loved him.

So she took his hand, and held her other one out to River, who looked shocked at the gesture. She hesitated for a moment and then took Rose's hand, giving it a small squeeze and her a small smile. The women both let out a breath they didn't know they were holding in. Maybe this could work. Maybe they could get along... Maybe.

The Doctor tried to stop himself from smiling, but he couldn't. As the three of them raced down the corridoor, skidding along the polished floors, hand in hand, he realised that this was probably one of the best moments of his life. Rose was back, and he got to see River again, even though the night on Darillym was meant to be their last... Distant alarm bells were going off in his head; how on earth had they not ran into security yet, how did nobody hear that explosion, why the hell was this so easy?! But he ignored the usual warning signs and ran on, Rose's hand in his, and he kept on smiling. That was, at least, until they turned a corner and reached the dead end.

"B-but... this makes no sense! This was the way back to the TARDIS; I mapped it out on my way to get you both!"
Rose and River shared a look.
"Are you sure?", they said in unison.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows and replied,
"Of course I am! This isn't the first time I've had to rescue kidnapped companions you know! Well, Rose, you don't, it's a long sto-"
"Oh no, River told me. Timey-wimey, right Doctor?"
He smiled softly at her and said,
"Yeah... timey-wimey, haha."
His eyes glistened over for a moment but he blinked them clear.
He let go of Rose's hand, a little regretfully, and got out his sonic screwdriver to scan the doorway. The two women stood there for a moment, and then remembered that they were still holding hands. They both let go and focused on the Doctor, trying to think of an intelligent thing to say to start a conversation. Rose thought of something first, and said,
"Doctor, what if this place is like a- a maze? Like an interchangeable maze that moves its corridors and doors around... like the staircases in Harry Potter!"
The Doctor paused and turned to look at her. Her face was lit up with delight at thinking of the maze idea, and although she was probably wrong and they had just gotten lost, he would never tell her that. He smiled down at her, and kissed her forehead softly.
"Rose Tyler, you're a genius."
She blushed slightly and grinned up at him, the spitting image of herself from all those years ago when he had said that before. Oh, god he loved her...
River stared at the pair, who seemed to be lost in their own world and thought again how much of a bad day this was going to be.
She was about to open her mouth and say something along those lines, but then then wall opened.