The Wolf, the Conqueror and the Thief

Chapter Four

About an hour later she heard her door open. “You know, it’s a waste of time, sleeping is. I want to talk to you.” Rose rolled onto her side facing Harry and patted the space next to her. “Well come on over then. I’m still a bit tired and don’t want to get up.” He strode over and lay down next to her, mirroring her position. She reached out and ran a thumb over his cheek then pulled her hand back. “I find you intriguing. I don’t say that often.” He told her. Rose smiled. He reached out a hand and cupped her cheek, pointer and middle fingers resting lightly against her temple. She mirrored the movement. “Is that a yes, Ms. Tyler?”
“If you want to see what’s in my mind, yes. But are you ready for me to be in yours? My mind is protected so make sure that you behave.”
“Yes dear,” he retorted sarcastically. She laughed and closed her eyes, stepping into his mind. It was red, dotted with black and she could see and feel booby traps hidden in there. “So what’s the deal with the booby traps?”
“Protection against uninvited guests. You’ll be safe.”
“If I close something behind a door can you leave it alone? There are things that I don’t want to remember.”
“For now I will. Unlike the Doctor I will get answers from you. I don’t like secrets.”
“I don’t think you’re him. I know I should be afraid of you but I’m not.” She took several more steps inside his mind. As she did golden light followed her, bringing light and warmth to his mind. The traps melted away and she walked towards the darkest corner of his mind. “May I?” She gestured towards the corner right in front of her. He looked at her in surprise. He knew most people would have just entered his mind and tried to tear it apart. He’d done horrible things throughout his lives. But this tiny human, who also appeared to be one of the more powerful beings he’d come across, didn’t. He had to know why she wasn’t. “You’re asking me as if I have a choice where you go. Why?”
She looked at him as though he was an idiot. Then her eyes widened slightly in realization. “I’m not the first one in here, am I?”
“No. You’re not. The others weren’t gentle when finding the information they wanted.” She looked at him, sadness and understanding in her beautiful eyes. “Whiskey colored,” he thought.
“Am I the first one you’ve invited inside your mind Harry?”
He snorted. He didn’t like that she refused to call him by his chosen name. And the name ‘Harry' was ridiculous.
“Well then, what do you want me to call you?”
“Koschei. But only if we’re…” He trailed off gesturing around his mind.
“Koschei… I like it. Harry,” her eyes sparkled with amusement at the irritated sound he made at that, “for when we’re among company, yeah?”
“Fine.  Go ahead. Look wherever you want. Just don’t go near any doors.”
“Alright. Same for you.” She surprised them both when she leaned up and kissed his cheek. Then she shooed him off. “Call me if you need me.”
She felt him enter her mind, the red like fire and black like ice. She gasped at the sensation. She heard him chuckle. “Sorry I’m not like the Doctor.”
“Oh please. That wasn’t what I was thinking about. You’re like fire and ice. I just wasn’t expecting that. It startled me.”
“You weren’t thinking about him? But you love him.”  She heard the jealousy in his voice but chose to ignore it.
“However I feel about him has nothing to do with you and me. Just go find whatever it is you want to find Koschei.” She returned to carefully wading through the memories she had asked to see. She watched as he killed countless people using something that appeared to compress them to death. She felt the madness from the constant drumming, as well as his anger. By the time she made it through his memories she was in tears. Both for the people he had harmed and also for him, the boy the Time Lords had turned into a weapon and caused to go mad. It was true that he had a callous side and a cruel streak but now, without the drums, he did feel remorse.
He had walked through her mind enjoying her warmth and light. He ended up in the back of her mind, finding traces of himself as well as the Doctor. He looked closer and growled. “How is that possible? It shouldn’t be possible.” She had the start of bonds with both him and the Doctor.
“Rose. What are you playing at?” He growled. She appeared at his side, face tear streaked. He fought the urge to wipe the tears away. “What are you talking about Koschei?” She sounded exhausted, as though she had been dragged through the wringer. It was just then that he remembered which memories she had walked through. For the first time he could remember he felt remorse. He gentled his tone. “Rose, look here.” He pointed at where the bonds were.
“Isn’t that normal? You’ve been in my mind; I thought it was normal for a trace to stay behind. Isn’t there a bit of me in your mind?” She wasn’t lying, he could feel it. He found her in the back of his mind. It was definitely a bond but he didn’t understand how it had started.
“No Rose.  It’s not normal. Those are bonds. You are in my mind as well.”
“Bond? What do ya mean?”
“Hasn’t the Doctor ever brought it up?” At her look of confusion he gave her a smirk. “A bond is what Time Lords used to do to tie themselves to their spouse. After awhile they stopped doing the marriage bonds. The Time Lords tried to get rid of anything that could be messy and keep them from furthering their own selfish interests. You see, a bond is unbreakable. If one of the people who have the bond were to die then their partner would either go mad from the emptiness in their mind or die from the pain.” Her eyes widened as he spoke.
“So essentially what you’re telling me is that I’m sort of married to both of you.”
“That’s a very simplified way to put it. But not the bonds are not complete yet.”
“So what does that mean? Can they be broken or do they have to be completed for your sakes? I don’t want either of you hurt because of me.”
“The bonds could be broken…” Rose heard the ‘but' coming. “However it could kill one or more of us. And I won’t put your life at stake just because I don’t want to share. I would like to know how it happened. A bond doesn’t just form itself.” She groaned. “What is it?”

“Bad Wolf.  You have to be kidding me. Were you the one who did this?”

Koschei blinked as a bright golden light appeared and slowly dimmed until he saw a beautiful golden wolf. Rose looked at it and raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms across her chest.
“Yes. I did create the bonds. We need them to survive Rose Tyler. You already know this and agreed.”
“Yeah but I didn’t know that you would do this.” She gestured towards the bonds. “I didn’t want them to be forced into being tied to me. It’s not fair to them. They deserved a choice in the matter.” Koschei was surprised that she put him and the Doctor above her own safety . “And what about you Rose? Shouldn’t you have been given a choice?”

“I had already agreed to do whatever I had to in order to keep you both safe. I’m not really important here.” Bad Wolf spoke, addressing them both. Rose reached for Koschei’s hand instinctively and he allowed her to hold his. “It was necessary. It’s the only way to keep you three together until the next big storm.” She went back into her temporary hibernation.
“Bloody hell. Sometimes I hate her. She can be so damn difficult at times. I’m sorry Koschei. I really didn’t know that she was going to do this.”
“We should talk to the Doctor about this. And eventually we’ll have to complete our bond.”
“How do we do that?” Rose asked as she finished in her mind, “and what the hell am I going to do with two Time Lords that I can’t do with one?”
“We, well I, would have to tie our timelines together. We'd also have to completely merge our minds together. It’s very intimate; definitely best done privately because it tends to lead to physical intimacy.” He watched her reaction. She processed the information and then rolled her eyes. She just looked slightly exasperated. “Alright then. Best to at least start the process. I’m getting tired. So if you’re ready we can at least get the show started. But I’m not in the mood for ‘physical intimacy’ right now.”
Koschei pulled her into his mind and began the process of merging their minds. He wanted to take it further but she had already told him not to. Rose watched as he tied them together feeling the pull to finish it by sleeping with him. Bloody hell. He was right about that. “Alright. It’s done. I can tie our timelines together tomorrow. Get some rest and then we can talk about the situation with the Doctor.” They separated their minds, as much as they could and opened their eyes. “How long has it been since you came in here?” Rose asked, voice slightly husky. Koschei looked into her eyes as he calculated. “About half an hour. It’ll be a couple more hours before he comes looking for you. Are you sure I can’t convince you to pursue more… intimate pleasures?” He winked at her and she laughed. Her eyes dropped to his mouth then back up when he smiled at her. He slid the hand cupping her face into her hair, pulling her to him. He kissed her thoroughly, causing her to make a pleased sound in the back of her throat. She pulled back, breathing hard. “That’s one good way to end the night. I like getting a goodnight kiss.” She gave him her tongue in tooth smile and cuddled up to him, closed her eyes and started to fall asleep. “Rose…” Koschei sighed and started to try to slip out of her bed. She protested and tightened her grip on him. “Stay. Please.” She gripped his jacket and threw a leg over his. He was trying to avoid thinking about her soft curves and warmth. “Alright, I’ll stay but let me get comfortable.” He pulled away from her and she let him this time. He shrugged off his jacket, folded it and placed it on a chair. He pulled off his tie, tossed it on top of his jacket and kicked off his shoes. He then unbuttoned the top couple of buttons on his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. He laid back on the bed and pulled her to him. She wrapped herself around him and fell asleep, sighing contentedly.