The Queen and the Rose

Chapter 16

So the reviews were mixed on the last chapter, so... I've got an AU queued up to do, so I'll be doing two stories at once, one AU and one non-AU.

The Doctor spread the large piece of cloth as a blanket out below them.  He gestured for Rose to sit down, only taking a seat after she did.  He rubbed his hands together, watching her carefully.  "I have an idea," he said softly, "But you're going to have to trust me."

"I do," she said softly, "I trust you a lot.  I'm not sure why, though."

He smiled, unable to resist doing so.  "Because we save each other quite a lot," he said to her, "It's natural to trust someone when you'd protect them with your life."

She watched him carefully as he brushed off his hands, not meeting her eyes.  "Are we talking about you or me here?"

The Doctor coughed, as though he wasn't expecting the question.  He finally met her gaze.  "Both of us.  We...  We take care of each other."

He took her hand in his, palm up, and ran his pointer and middle fingers from the heel of her hand to her fingertips.  A warm, tingling feeling spread through her palm.  Her eyes fluttered closed and the feeling of gold pulsed through her again, running down her arm to her hand and right into the Doctor. 

She heard him gasp and her eyes flew open.  "What is it?" She asked, "Did I hurt you?"

"No, Rose, that was brilliant, that was very good!" He stroked her palm again and the same feeling rushed through her, stronger.  The Doctor bounced up and down, excitement showing through the happy grin on his face.  

"What is that?" She asked, feeling a bit more urgent.  "What does that mean?  I can feel it, I can feel something."

"The gold," he whispered, "You said you felt gold rushing through you, and oh, Rose, I didn't have my memory, I didn't understand the significance of it.  Your brain, even if it doesn't realize it's your brain, is brilliant."  

Rose laughed a little uncomfortably at the compliment.  "I don't think I understand."

"No, but you will in a moment..." He paused, holding her hand in his.  "You said you trust me."

"Yes," Rose replied with conviction.  "I trust you."

The Doctor brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and settled his fingers against her temple.  He lifted his other hand from hers and set his other hand on the opposite side of her head.  He was very close now, and Rose felt her breath hitch at his closeness.  "Close your eyes," he whispered.  "Let me in."

"What are you going to do?" She asked shakily.

"It's called telepathy," he told her slowly, trying to ease her into it.  "I'm going to try to unlock your memories, so you can come back to me and we can get rid of the tyrants that captured us."

Rose reached out and lay her hands on his knees, needing to touch him somehow.  She closed her eyes, as he asked, and tried not to show how her hands were shaking.

"This is intimate," he said, "It might feel a bit odd.  Let me in."

She scrunched her eyebrows up without opening her eyes to look at him.  "Let you in? Into my head?" 

He couldn't resist a light chuckle at her confusion.  He had forgotten she hadn't done this before, not in her own mind.  "Yes," he said softly, "You've got to let me into your mind."

"I don't know how to do that."

"Yes you do," he replied.  "You don't remember, but you do."  He pressed the pads of his fingers a little harder into her temples.  "Just relax, think of letting me in."

Rose didn't know quite what she was doing, or how she was doing it, but she relaxed, her shoulders slumping with the movement.  She felt a gentle probing at the back of her mind, mixing with the gold and looking (or feeling, she wasn't really sure) blue.  "Is that you?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes," the Doctor replied, trying to keep his excitement to a minimum.  "You're very telepathic, Rose."

"Is that uncommon?" 

"Well, yes, it is."

"Are you uncommon?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to tell her of course he was uncommon, he was a bloody Time Lord, the most uncommon thing in the universe, but that might not be the best thing to say to someone who didn't understand.  She knew nothing of their living situation, or who she was and where she came from.  She'd even said she'd thought them travelling together was scandalous, so of course she believed they were from here.  She had no reason not to.

So instead of what he wanted to say, he told her, "Yes, I suppose I'm rather uncommon too."  He closed his eyes, trying to put himself in the same state as her.  "I'm going to speak in your mind now, is that alright?"

"Yes."

He settled into his position, everything but his fingers against her temples relaxed.  He prodded his way into her mind.

Just imagine a door closing if you don't want me to see anything.

Okay, Doctor.

Obviously, nothing in her mind closed, but he felt as though he should give her the option.  He wanted her to feel safe with him, and she would remember this when she got her memory back, regardless of if he had asked her or not.

He was rooting around in her brain for what felt like hours.  All he'd found was the love she had for him, and how it flowed through her so completely.  It was all she had, he realized, since she didn't have her memories.  However, the impact of it shocked him, waves upon waves of love and affection crashing from her and into him.  He gasped and pressed his fingers tighter against him.  

Is everything alright?  She sounded afraid, he noticed.  

Yes, Rose, everything is fine.

He didn't want to say anything to her about what he was seeing, even though she'd told him what she thought of him and how she felt.  As he sifted through her brain, he looked for an anomaly, something so painfully different it would make him roll his eyes with how obvious it was.  

It wasn't that different, however, a shade darker, something he knew he would not find in Rose's mind.  He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs, her thoughts flaring and suddenly bursting with color.  Ah.  All except the one thought that was a bit darker.  He had it.  

He pressed closer to it, and he found that he had to break it.  He could do that with the strength of his own mind, he knew that, but he was afraid about how it would affect Rose.  Something might hurt her, but he knew he had to risk it.  

Rose, I've found the block on your memories, but it might hurt you.

Her fingers tightened into the fabric at his knees.  Okay, I'm ready.

You're very brave, Rose.

He pressed the block as gently as he could, trying to be careful with her mind.  He eventually just had to hit it with the full force of his mind.  He heard her cry out as the lock burst, her memories flooding back all at once.  He drew himself back, trying not to read her memories.

Doctor.

The thought flowed from her mind and into his.  He felt himself smiling at the thought that it was now her talking to him.  He could tell by the way her voice sounded in his head, how she said his name.  

Yes, Rose?

I was right.

About what?

I do.  I really do love you.