Scotland's Mist

Chapter 22

He held her while she slept. It was going to be much like a regeneration, these first few days. She was adjusting to a sudden new heart and probably a thousand new thoughts that seemed to come from nowhere.

Oh, she'd always been clever. But she'd be nearly unstoppable now, like him, and he found that he quite liked that idea. He was also quite fond of the fact that their forever would be much, much longer than originally intended.

A voice came on a monitor, clear and concise. The voice of the Master cutting through the blissful silence, aside from Rose's gentle breaths.

"Are you two going to get up to anything?" The Master asked impatiently. "I've got a new race to create, here!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "You of all people would understand that she needs rest," he said quietly, so as to not disturb Rose.

"I'm on this monitor so I won't disturb her. You're welcome."

The Doctor huffed to himself. "Besides, who said we would 'get up to anything'?"

"Don't tell me you don't already," the Master said mockingly. There was a pause as neither man spoke. "Oh, my God!" The Master cackled. "You don't! Oh, that is too sad, far too sad. Guess today's your lucky day!"

"What will you do if we refuse?" The Doctor asked, not noticing Rose starting to rouse.

"Lock you in here forever, of course," the Master said nonchalantly. "Really no other way, is there?"

"I don't want it to happen like that," the Doctor snapped.

"Me either," Rose murmured against his chest.

The Doctor sent a regretful glance down at her. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"I'll leave you to it!" The Master said cheerily. "Don't worry, I'll stop watching before things get interesting."

The Doctor rolled his eyes in response. "Thanks for that."

The monitor clicked off. Rose sat up and scrubbed her hands down her cheeks. "I don't know why I'm so tired," she said apologetically.

"I did the same thing when I regenerated," the Doctor said, sitting up and wrapping an arm loosely around her waist. "I was adjusting to the new body and the filtering of the inside of the TARDIS, you're adjusting to a new heart and a bunch of new information. What do you see in your head?"

Rose closed her eyes, focusing. What she saw was unlike anything else. Gold paths crossed and weaved through her mind, turning and twisting together, than spreading apart. "I see these gold things," Rose said lamely, her voice full of awe.

The Doctor beamed at her. "You're seeing timelines, Rose. Don't try to look to close just yet, though."

"Okay," Rose agreed, opening her eyes and turning to face him. She gave him a small smile and then looked at her hands, which were resting in her lap. "I'm sorry."

The Doctor furrowed his brows and scooted closer to her, throwing one of his legs over hers. "For what?"

She rested her hands on his calf, fiddling with the edge of the pinstriped trousers. "For not holding on, for getting pulled down here."

"You think that's your fault? Rose," he rested two fingers on her cheek and pulled so that she was forced to look at him. "Whatever that mist is, whatever the Master made it out of, it attacked you. It was stronger than you, stronger than me. Besides, to solve any of our mysteries, we've got to get all up close and personal, haven't we?"

Rose smiled at him, and shifted so she could hold him. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her back.

"I'm usually the one comforting you," she said, the humor in her voice muffled by the fabric of his jacket.

"Can't have them all," the Doctor replied, "About time I paid you back, though."

She giggled and burrowed closer to him. "How are we gonna get out of here?"

"Well, Time Lady Rose Tyler, let's see!" He sprung off of the bed and then threw her a disarming smile. "I really, really do like the sound of that. My new four favorite words, all in one charming title. Don't you like it?"

Rose beamed and slid off of the bed. "Love it."

"Good! So, we've got a door," the Doctor fished around in his pockets. "And they have taken my sonic. Rose, I need my sonic. We can't-" He reached to jar the door, but just as his hand reached the doorknob it was sucked in to the metal of the door, leaving nothing but air between the Doctor's fingers.

"No windows," Rose said ruefully. She walked into the en suite bathroom they had been given, but there was no luck in there either. She heaved a sigh. "Are we even still in Scotland?"

The Doctor froze. That was not something he had even remotely considered. Not in Scotland? Very possible, especially when the Master was involved and especially since he had set all those people free. And of course, he wasn't going to destroy the Earth while he was on Earth, and he wouldn't destroy them because he needed them.

The Doctor leaned forward, knocking his forehead against the door. He groaned, "Rose, he's literally trying to breed us, like we're animals, in a... A zoo!" He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration.

"Doctor?" Rose's voice sounded slightly afraid.

The Doctor righted himself and faced the en suite, where she had headed again. He furrowed his brows in confusion and went after her. "Rose?" He asked, his foot about to cross over the threshold from the bedroom to the bathroom.

"Don't come in!" Rose said, holding a hand up. "There's something in the air. I feel really funny."

The Doctor arched a brow. "What sort of funny?" He asked.

Rose pointed at the wall as her cheeks colored pink. "I sort of want to shove you up against that wall and snog the pants off of you."

The Doctor's jaw went slack, but he quickly sorted himself and cleared his throat. "Well, there could be a couple reasons for that, really, and I-"

"No, I'm not talking normal urges," Rose balled her hands into fists. "I feel like I'll die if I don't."

The Doctor groaned. "Aphoristic."