The Wolf, the Conqueror and the Thief

Chapter Five

The Doctor was both frustrated and worried. He’d noticed that he could still feel Rose in the back of his mind and he shouldn’t be able to.  He didn’t know where the Master had gone but the TARDIS assured him that he was behaving.  "What about Rose? I want to talk to her.” He got the impression of her sleeping. “Alright. But let me know when she’s awake.” He climbed under the console and started to work on it.
A couple hours later Rose dropped down to pass him a cup of tea. “We need to talk Doctor. I’ll meet you in the library, alright? I’m going  to get myself some tea. Harry is already there.” She turned and headed towards the kitchen and the Doctor scrambled to follow her. “Rose. I need to talk to you. It’s important.” They entered the kitchen. “Alright Doctor. Tell me while I make the tea.”
“I don’t want to worry you but I think something went a bit wrong when we linked telepathically.” He was surprised when she waved her hand at him.
“Yes. It was Bad Wolf. Apparently she decided to form a bond between you and I, well at least start one, and also between Harry and I. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Rose’s tone was matter of fact. She kept her back to him, keeping her eyes on what she was doing. He had no outward sign of her inner struggle with her emotions. “And I’m sorry Doctor. It should have been your choice. I know that you didn’t want to be tied to me like that.” She finally turned towards him, tray with three cups of tea on it in her hands. She glanced up at him through her lashes. His hearts had twisted slightly when she apologized. He took the tray from her, set it aside on the counter and took her hands in his. “Did she really think that he didn’t want her?” He wondered. “Rose,  just to be clear. Are your only objections to our situation that we, the Master and I, didn’t choose to bond with you yet?” He asked, stressing the word ‘yet’. She nodded. “Then let me at least set your mind at ease on one account at least. I have thought about doing this and probably would have asked you about it eventually. You’re all I want Rose. The only person I’ve ever fallen in love with. Losing you nearly destroyed me. I couldn’t live through it again.” She had stopped looking at her feet and lifted her eyes to meet his, searching. “And while I don’t particularly like that I will have to share you with him I’m willing to figure it out if it means that I can keep you. I love you, Rose Tyler. I hope you heard that because I don’t plan on telling you in front of the Master.” He smiled at her, amused at the look of shock on her face. He leaned down, kissed her then dropped her hands to grab the tea. She followed him to the library, biting her lip to keep from laughing when the Doctor set the tea down and sat in the couch across from Harry. They sat glaring at each other. As she looked from one Time Lord to the other she lost her fight to keep from laughing. They reminded her of children scowling when they don’t get their way. She got twin looks of exasperation and annoyance which just made her laugh harder. Slowly a smile spread across their faces as they watched her laugh. Once she finally stopped laughing she made her way to the chair between them. She took her cup of tea and took a sip, settling back in her chair drawing her legs up underneath her. She relaxed and waited. She knew that Harry was a little bit frustrated with how long she’d taken getting the Doctor and their tea.
“What took you so long?” He demanded. She raised an eyebrow at him. “I had to give him a short explanation of our situation. Did you miss me?” He frowned at her and shook his head. She grinned at him with her tongue in tooth smile. The Doctor watched their interaction and frowned at them. “So, Rose, you said that we needed to talk. Let’s get started.” She bit her lip as she looked at him. “Doctor,  are you jealous? There’s no need to be. Oh, by the way, I love you too. Just thought you should know.” He smiled and nodded. She glanced over at Harry and raised her eyebrow at him. “You’re the one who wanted to sit down and talk about this.”
“Yes, because we need to talk about the ground rules. You were right earlier about Time Lords being possessive, although they tried to breed that out as well. I’m not thrilled about having to share, especially with him and  I’m sure he feels the same, whether or not he’ll admit it.” Rose sighed. “Fine, Harry, you wanted to start this conversation so you’re up first.” Rose bit her lip trying not to smile at his muttered, “Certainly isn’t the first time I’ve been up first,” and motioned for him to start. “I want us to set up ground rules for this… relationship we all have. We,” he waved his hand indicating himself and the Doctor, “ aren’t exactly good at sharing anything really, and especially not our mate. If this is going to work we need to figure it out now.” Rose caught a stray thought from him and she frowned. “I don’t want to be forgotten.” She glanced over at Harry. “You do know that I’m not going to forget about you, don’t you? I couldn’t if I wanted to.” She received a glare for her trouble which she grinned at. The Doctor frowned and nodded slowly. “As much as I hate to agree with him,” he pointed at Harry, “he’s right. We need rules.  Do you know why Bad Wolf insists that he’s needed?” Rose looked at the Doctor sharply. “Doctor.” She glared at him. “You’re being rude. You don’t need to know everything right now.” She stood up. “You guys can have your chat. I’m going elsewhere.” She left the library with two set of bemused faces staring after her. “She left.” The Doctor was shocked. Harry chuckled and growled out, “Well what did you expect? She’s given up her life, essentially, to save both of us and all you want to do is throw it in her face. Do you really think that I wanted to be in this position? I never even wanted a mate and now I have one that I have to share. It’s done and now we have to learn to cope.” Harry stood up and walked out of the library with the intention of looking for Rose. He silently asked the TARDIS where she was but he didn’t get an answer from her. He sighed. “I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have turned you into a paradox machine. I promise to help with repairs if you want. Can you please help me find Rose? I want to check on her.” He sent the thoughts towards the TARDIS and finally heard a hum. A door appeared in front of him and as he walked into the room he sent a “thanks” back at the TARDIS.