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Author's Note: So this started out as an excuse to get the Doctor in a tux...and took a radical left turn before totally spinning itself out and jumping the tracks. I have no idea how to really explain it otherwise. No Jack in this - could just say he's off somewhere else at the moment. The jacket bit and some of the dialogue is from and for taraljc . Thanks to lm_jillybean and cedara for the betas.

Off Guard
by Lara

Rose had finally got the hang of landings.

The TARDIS always shuddered just so when it was about to reappear in normal space and time, so she had learned to brace herself, usually against one of the support struts, when that happened. She ended up on her arse a lot less now.

At least usually. She still sometimes had problems when they were out and about.

"Oof!" she grunted as she hit the gravelled ground, her lower back protesting at the abuse.

"Rose!" the Doctor called out from somewhere nearby, in a tone that made it clear he was trying not to attract attention.

Picking herself up, she peered into the darkness, trying to see where he was. "Here! Where are you?"

Out of nowhere, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a recess in the stone wall they had just climbed over, out of the enclosed yard she had fallen into upon losing her footing and out of view, just in case anyone happened to be around. The space was small, which meant they had to press up against one another, almost to the point of her snuggling inside his jacket. As it was, her free arm ended up wrapped around his hips with her hand resting against his bum. He looked down at her with a grin at this, still holding her other hand.

"Comfy?"

"Oh, definitely," she answered, giving his backside a quick poke, causing him to squirm a bit.

"Sorry you didn't sit this one out?"

"Like I was gonna let you have all the fun alone."

He suddenly raised the hand he was holding to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "Knew I chose the right girl."

Rose stared up at him in amazement, but only for a brief moment before he stepped out of the alcove, staying up against the wall. She followed, her hand still in his, as they circled around to the edge of the courtyard to a door on the other side. Though it appeared as if the place was actually deserted, both of them knew it best to be careful. While she kept look-out, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver and switched it on, aiming the glowing tip at large lock. The metal superheated then cracked apart, and the door swung open. Beyond lay a dark corridor leading down below ground, dark and...well, dark.

"I hope that screwdriver doubles as a torch," Rose whispered.

"Actually..." Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out an electric torch and switched it on.

"Where'd you nick that from?"

"Didn't. I use it when I'm working on the TARDIS."

A quick scan down the passageway told them they were still alone and no one was likely to appear, given all the cobwebs. Rose just hoped they were regular cobwebs. Those spider people they had run across a few months before still gave her the shivers, even occasional nightmares. Not a fair few times recently, she had woken up screaming just as the Doctor came running in to comfort her until she settled. Sometimes, she wondered how he knew to be there at just the right time, but she was always glad that he was.

Their hands still clasped together, they made their way down the passage. A few feet in, the Doctor handed her the torch and began using the screwdriver to get rid of the webs in their path, the beam from the top causing them to simply disappear though a few strands continued to float in the dim light Rose directed down the tunnel.

They moved fairly quickly, wanting to get to their destination as soon as possible. At one point, the tunnel became damp and mouldy. The Doctor looked up and held their hands at shoulder height between them, his index finger pointing up.

"We're underneath the lake. Shouldn't be too much further."

Rose directed the torch up, the light reflecting off rivulets of water dripping down from the ceiling. "Sure hope you know what we're doing."

"Don't I always?"

"You really want me to answer that?"

His lips curving into a smile, he shook his head and pulled on her hand to get her moving again. "Oi, you. C'mon."

The tunnel soon began sloping back up until they reached another door. This one was a bit trickier as it was a rather large stone slab with no lock mechanism that they could see, explaining why the passageway wasn't guarded. Obviously, no one expected trespassers to get through that. Dropping the screwdriver back in his pocket, the Doctor examined the stone wall surrounding the door.

"Know you're here som—ah ha!" About three feet down on the left side, he found was he was looking for and poked a smoother darker-coloured section of the stone.

Nothing happened.

"Rose, look on the other side, same place. Is there a darker patch as well?"

Trying to keep the torch directed so that both of them could see, she took a few steps back until she was the same distance away from the door on the right. "Yeah."

"When I say ‘now', press it." He gave her a moment to switch the torch to her other hand. "Now."

The two sections depressed slightly when they hit them at the same time, and a moment later, the door rumbled and began to open.

"Hidden lever system," he said, taking her hand again as she joined him in front of the now-open exit.

"Fantastic," she responded without evening thinking. When she realised what she had just said, she glanced over at him to find him giving her that grin of his again. "I've been around you too long."

They exited the passage into yet another tunnel, which ended at a small dark circular room that didn't seem remarkable by any standards. But as Rose panned the torch around, they could see it was lined with large wooden doors that had barred window slots. She felt her mouth go dry at the sight of them.

"Dungeons," she breathed. She and dungeons were not friends, definitely not after their little detour in 18th century Spain. That had been her least favourite of their stops so far, especially since they had been aiming for 22nd century Ibiza at the time.

"No worries. Just passing through." Walking around the edge of the room past the doors to the far side, the Doctor stopped and put his hands out before seeming to push straight into the stone. "Over here."

She hurried over to find he had discovered a staircase, cleverly disguised in a way that made it seem as though the wall did not break. Looking back across to where they had emerged, she could see that the same had been done with that tunnel as well. No doubt to confuse any prisoners who might've escaped and slow them down enough that they could be recaptured. At least it looked like this particular part of the castle hadn't been used in a long time either. Less chance of getting tossed down here if they were caught.

"Nowhere to go but up," the Doctor said cheerfully when she turned back to him.

Carefully, they picked their way up the winding staircase, over the uneven stone, keeping an eye out for hidden alcoves that could conceal attackers and other traps. They reached the top landing without incident, however, and Rose found herself starting to worry – this had been way too easy so far, and if she had learned anything in her time with the Doctor, it was that nothing was ever simple. Something was bound to jump out at them and try to eat them sooner or later. Usually more sooner than later.

The Doctor, though, seemed nonplussed at the fact that they hadn't run into any trouble yet. He didn't even pause at the door to check for anyone beyond it, just pushed it open and walked onto the castle's ground level. Only then did he stop and glance back.

"You coming?" he asked.

"Stupid arse," she muttered as they hurried down the corridor they had found themselves in. "Someone could've been there."

"Nah."

"Nah? Whaddya mean, ‘Nah'?"

"Look ‘round. I think this place is deserted." He indicated to the dusty and faded tapestry that decorated the wall. It seemed like no one had taken care of this place in a long time. "We would've run into trouble by now otherwise."

"Deserted? So we came all this way for that Jewel of...Whatever for nothing?"

He shook his head. "Just because no one is here doesn't mean the Jewel of Creshis isn't. From what I could find out, it was brought here, and it was never mentioned anywhere else, so it's possibly still here. We just need to find it. Then we return it to its people, and then we go see that comet I told you about."

"Of course. Easy Peasy," she replied, rolling her eyes. "You did notice this is a castle, yeah? Rather big, these things are."

"Then we'll start with the most obvious. Somewhere it could've been displayed."

They soon reached another set of stairs, which led into another wing of the castle. Once they opened the large set of double doors at the top, Rose stopped, swinging the torch around in a wide arc. This part looked like it had just been cleaned. In fact, it also looked like it had just been renovated. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling, sparkling in the torchlight, while hundreds of books lined shelves inset into the wall. She could also feel carpeting underfoot instead of stone.

"Doctor..." she started to say just as the sound of music drifted to them from somewhere nearby. Quickly, she fumbled off the torch's switch. "Deserted, you said?"

She saw his shadow shrug in the sliver of moonlight coming in through the windows. "So it's not. Just means we have a better lot in finding the Jewel." He reached for her hand without trouble in the dimness, and they followed the music to an archway on the other side of the library.

There, they found themselves looking down into a grand hall ablaze with light from a chandelier even bigger and more brilliant than the one behind them in the library. But that wasn't what captured her attention. Instead, she found herself staring in wonder at the huge group of people gathered below, women dressed in some of the most gorgeous – and sexy – gowns she had ever seen while the men wore tuxedos with multi-coloured sashes. All of them had masks covering their faces, and most danced in a close and seductive way to the music that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere. Others had goblets in their hands, filled to the brim with what looked to be wine. Servants, the only ones not masked, moved along the edges of the hall, offering refills and food. Rich smells floated up and made Rose's stomach rumble.

Suddenly, she felt the Doctor's mouth pressed against her ear as he stood behind her, both of them careful to stay in the shadows of the archway through they probably wouldn't have been noticed by the revellers. "A Bacchanalia. They're celebrating in honour of Bacchus."

"How do you know?" she asked. She had never seen anything like this before, and the feel of his warm breath against her hair while watching what was going on below was enough to make her shudder a bit.

He pointed to the Great Hall's staircase where there was a statue of a partially nude young man holding a wine goblet and a bunch of grapes. Rose had a hazy recollection of the name Bacchus from her Year 10 GCSE coursework when they had studied Greek and Roman gods as part of their ancient civilisations module in history.

"And look there in the goblet," he told her.

In the bowl of the god's wineglass, something glittered, bright and clear, and she thought about what he told her regarding their trip here, to Earth in the 23rd century. The Jewel, an important holy relic to the people of Creshis, had been stolen by a human spaceship pilot and brought back here, where she had sold it to a Eurasian lord, one who obviously worshipped the lifestyle of wine, women, song and beautiful things but who had no idea the significance of the bauble now on display for all to see. They needed to get the Jewel back to its rightful home as soon as possible, before their next holy day, or it was quite possible there would be a civil war amongst the Creshis people.

"They're gonna notice us if we just go in there the way we're dressed to try to get it back," she said. "But we'll have to go all the way back to the TARDIS if we want to change."

"No, we don't," he replied. "I have an idea."

Behind them was a smaller archway that they ducked through into a corridor that ran perpendicular to the Great Hall. As they ran along, the Doctor began opening doors and sticking his head briefly inside each room before moving on to the next. Rose was just about to ask what he was doing when he suddenly disappeared into one without a word. As she approached the door, he reached out and pulled her in with him, shutting the door behind them.

"What're you doing?" she asked, trying to make out where they were. She could see the outline of a four-poster bed. "Why are we in a bedroom?"

"Ah, not just any bedroom," he said and led her over to a set of doors, which he threw open to reveal a walk-in wardrobe practically bursting with gowns and other clothing. "A lady's bedroom."

Rose immediately knew where he was going with this now and used the torch to search through the gowns until she found one that would be suitable for the party going on in the Great Hall. The dress shimmered red and silver and, while it would cover everything, was definitely cut to leave little to the imagination. In the meantime, the Doctor had disappeared further into the wardrobe for a few moments before emerging with a silver mask that would cover the top half of her face.

"Put that on and do your hair up. I'll meet you downstairs," he said as he handed it to her.

Rose looked at the gown and knew there was no way she'd be able to get it on without help – a long row of tiny buttons ran up the back. "Doctor..."

"What?"

"I...erm...need you to do this up for me."

He looked at the dress then at her, and even though it was rather dark in the room, she somehow got the feeling he was blushing. "Ah. Yes. I imagine you do. Right then."

The Doctor was so definitely blushing.

Rose moved to the other side of the room where she was certain he wouldn't be able to see much as she kicked off her trainers and stripped out of her jeans and t-shirt, which she folded up and placed on the bed next to the mask. Once she slipped the gown on over her head, she returned to where he was waiting and stood in front of him. Immediately, he set to work doing up the line of buttons.

Every time he finished one, his fingertips brushed the bare skin of her back as they moved up to the next one. Rose wasn't certain whether he was doing that on purpose or not, but each touch sent a little jolt through her, causing her to bite her bottom lip to keep from moaning. When he reached the buttons nearer the top, he swept her hair over her shoulder, so it wouldn't get caught, and she suddenly found herself wishing he would kiss her neck. The very idea of it sent a shiver down her spine.

"There you are," he murmured softly. She didn't think she had ever heard his voice so low. "Hair. Shoes. I'll find you downstairs. Go back through the library. No one should notice you that way. Oh, and hide your clothes before you leave."

His hand ran down her back one last time before he left the room. Rose stood where she was for a few moments, the sensation of his touch still lingering on her skin.

"Shit, Rose, you'd think you'd never been touched before," she scolded herself while shaking herself out of her daze.

A quick search through the wardrobe turned up a pair of flats she could wear. She didn't want to be caught in heels if they had to make a run for it. After slipping them on, she crossed over to the vanity she had seen on the other side of the room when she had been changing. Using the clips she found, she quickly twisted up her hair, using a technique Shireen had taught her once.

When she was finished, she glanced at herself in the mirror, barely able to make out her reflection. No one would believe she was Rose Tyler, former shop assistant. She never wore anything like this. She had grown up on a council estate, after all, not a manor house. Reaching back, she grabbed the mask off the bed, and once she had it on, she didn't think she even recognised herself.

Picking up her clothes and the torch, she silently opened the door to the corridor and peeked out to make sure no one was around before dashing back to the library. Once she caught her breath, she stashed her bundle where she could grab it on the way out and then walked over to archways leading to the Great Hall, hesitating for a moment. When she stepped out onto the Hall's first floor landing, she half-expected everyone to turn her way and scream that she was a fraud and didn't belong there. No one did, of course, so she forced herself to relax and crossed to the stairs opposite the ones where the statue stood.

In the time she had been with the Doctor, she had already seen more than she had ever dreamed – the end of the earth, her own parents' wedding, ships and people from other worlds. Nothing, however, had prepared her for this, for the utter intoxication of the atmosphere around her. As she descended the steps into the crowd of people, she felt like she was being swallowed up into a fantasy. The people around her seemed to move in time to the music, brushing against her while they laughed and ate and drank. Someone tried to press a goblet of wine into her hand; just as she refused, another gent seized her hand and drew her in amongst the dancers.

She was about to pull away when she suddenly realised that the hand holding hers felt familiar. Turning toward him, the first things she saw were his intense blue eyes staring back at her from behind a black mask faintly resembling a wolf.

"Doctor?" she mouthed, scarcely believing it. He had actually changed out of his leather jacket, jumper and trousers and was instead wearing a black tuxedo with a silver sash trimmed with red.

He nodded, and she felt her heart begin thumping quite loudly in her chest when he pulled her to him. "Just go along," he whispered into her ear before leading her into a turn.

His gaze continuously flicked over to the statue, making sure that they kept track of its relative location as they moved around the Hall with the other dancers. She wondered how they would manage to nick the Jewel without anyone noticing but figured that they would worry about that when the time came. Their attention at the moment was on trying to manoeuvre themselves through the crowd to the steps without raising suspicions. However, every time it seemed they were making progress, there would be a shift in all the dancers' movement, and they were carried back across the floor away from the steps.

As they danced, Rose felt herself becoming quite warm, almost feverish. She was highly aware, as she had been in the bedroom, of the Doctor's hands on her body. He had held her before, but it had never been like this – like all her nerves were concentrated in the spots where his hands grasped her waist. When he unexpectedly slid them around to rest on her lower back, she let out a low moan, unable to help herself. They were pressed up against each other now, and Rose could feel how very male the Doctor was. Of course, she had always known he was, had even wondered about what it would be like with him, especially when he held her after one of her recent nightmares, but this was the first time she experienced anything like this.

She wanted to say something to him, ask him what was going on. Nothing would come out of her mouth when she opened it, though. Just another moan as his leg slid between hers. She suddenly realised that he was no longer glancing over to check on the Jewel every few seconds but was now focused solely on her. With his face covered, she couldn't help staring directly into his eyes, her breath catching in her chest. She was barely conscious of the fact that around them, people were now kissing and groping and touching each other.

One of his hands slowly trailed from her back up her arm to cup her neck. Normally, his skin was cool, but now he was also warm, almost burning. His thumb stroked along her jaw and over her lips, and Rose began to feel giddy. Everything was spinning around them, it seemed. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and her fingers grazed across the silk of his tux before running through his course, short hair.

It all became like a dream. Him kissing her. Her kissing him. People melting away. Him lifting her up. The Hall disappearing. Her reclining on something soft. Fabric rustling. Her hands running over smooth skin. His hands cupping her breasts. A zipper opening. Her skirt being pushed up. Fingers running over her thighs.

Him entering her. Her pulling him closer. Them moving against each other.

Her crying out to him. Him releasing within her.

Then the dream faded into nothingness.

*****

"Rose," the Doctor's voice, sounding rough and knackered, whispered in her ear. "Rose, wake up."

Groaning, she raised her head to find herself staring right into his eyes. "What happened?"

Then in the dim light, she saw his open shirt and undone trousers and felt a chill through the thin gown she was still wearing. They were in what appeared to be a private alcove on a settee, her lying half on top of him, their arms and legs tangled together. How they had got there in the first place, Rose couldn't recall, but the rest of it came back to her in a dizzying rush.

"Oh, God. We sha—?"

"Yeah," he interrupted softly, helping her to sit up. His tuxedo jacket and their masks lay discarded on the floor beside the settee.

"But we—I—we were supposed to—," she stumbled over her words, not sure what to say. Embarrassed, she practically jumped to her feet, almost tripping over the dress' skirt as she did.

After closing his trousers, the Doctor got up as well, and she felt his hand – once more cool and dry – cautiously touch her shoulder. She forced herself not to shiver at the memory that his touch sent racing through her nerves. "I know. I don't know what happened. Well, I know what happened. Just don't know why it happened."

They were both silent, neither knowing what to say to the other after that. Rose couldn't bring herself to look over at him, to meet his eyes.

"We can talk about this once we get back to the TARDIS," he finally said. "We'd better see if we can get the Jewel and get out of here. Where're your clothes?"

She closed her eyes for a moment when his hand dropped away. "The library. Thought I'd grab them on our way out."

"Okay." He moved past her to the alcove opening and held aside the privacy curtain to peer out into the dark corridor beyond. He then extended his hand back to her. "C'mon."

Slowly, she reached out and took hold, her mind still spinning about what had happened, what it would mean. She knew she had to put it aside for the moment and just get through this now, but it was hard to when every part of her was screaming that she and the Doctor had shagged.

Together, they crept into the corridor. The place was silent now, as if everything had just stopped. Rose wondered briefly where the other bacchanalians had gone. Were they holed up in private alcoves like they had been, passed out from food and drink and sex?

When they reached a door about halfway down the corridor, the Doctor suddenly stopped and opened it, sticking his inside briefly. "Wait," he whispered and disappeared inside for a moment, returning with his leather jacket and the rest of his clothes rolled up in a bundle under his arm. His tuxedo shirt was still open, however, and Rose had to force herself not to stare at his chest. The feel of his skin under her fingertips was still rather fresh in her mind. He didn't seem to notice, though, instead unfolding his jacket and holding it out to her. "Here, put this on."

She shook her head. "I don't—."

"Rose, you're shivering," he told her, and she suddenly realised that she was – from the cold or what had happened, she couldn't tell. "Put it on."

Quickly, she shrugged into the jacket with his help and felt like she was being swallowed up inside it. "This thing weighs a tonne. What the bloody hell you got in here?"

"Just some bits and bobs."

Resting his hand on her back, he propelled her down the corridor to an archway, directly across the Great Hall from the library. The Hall itself was now dark and silent, save for the light from the pre-dawn sky coming in through the skylight. Goblets lay scattered everywhere, along with various bits of clothing, so obviously the servants hadn't been in to clean up yet. Rose wondered if they had been pulled...into the evening's fun.

"The Jewel's still there," the Doctor noted, pointing to the statue on the far stairs.

Without another word, they hurried down the steps into the Hall and over to the statue. As soon as they approached it, the Doctor reached out to grab the Jewel but then stopped, his forehead wrinkling as he stared at it. Instead of taking the Jewel, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver from his trousers' pocket and dropped down to the statue's base.

"What're you doing?" Rose glanced around, worried about someone finding them there and starting to feel a bit light-headed again. Drawing the Doctor's jacket tighter around her body, she found herself pressing her nose into its collar. It smelled like him, musky and strong, and despite its weight, she found it rather comforting.

"Checking a theory," he told her and popped open a hidden panel in the base. Within it, she could see some kind of electronics board, with dials and a small screen with a line that fluctuated up and down. "Ah ha!"

"What?"

"The Bacchanalia's host decided that food and wine and dance weren't enough to get his guests in the mood," he said while stabbing at a few of the board controls with the screwdriver. The line on the screen immediately went flat, and Rose felt her mind begin to clear. "He was sending out a hypnotic wave." He stood to remove the Jewel from its seat in the statue's wine goblet. "And was using this to amplify it."

"Hypnotism?" she asked in disbelief. "We were hypnotised?"

He nodded. "Looks like."

Rose didn't know whether she was relieved or disappointed.

Tucking the Jewel into the middle of his clothing bundle along with the screwdriver, he looked down at the exposed control board and then kicked it – hard – destroying the screen and sending sparks washing out down the steps. His mouth drawn in a tight line, he took her hand. "Let's go. Don't want to be here when the lord of the manor wakes up to his morning after the night before."

*****

After spending what felt like hours leaning against the wall in the shower, under the hot water spray, her mind replaying what had taken place with the Doctor, Rose wrapped herself in her dressing gown and padded back into her bedroom. The red gown she had been wearing lay in a heap on the floor while the Doctor's jacket sat on her bed. Sitting down, she picked it up and held it in her lap, staring at the worn leather. Her mixed feelings at finding out that they had been influenced gave way to anger – not at the Doctor but at that Lord Prat for what he had done to them and all those people.

She dread to think what might have happened had she and the Doctor not been together when the hypnosis had taken effect. Would she have ended up with someone else there? It wasn't an idea she liked to think about. At least she trusted the Doctor and knew he would never purposely hurt her. She didn't want any other bloke anyway...

Just as that thought crossed her mind, a knock came at the door.

"Come in, Doctor."

The door didn't open right away, but finally, he came in and walked over to sit down next to her on the bed. He had changed back into his usual jumper and black trousers although for some reason had decided to go bare foot instead of putting his shoes on. It also looked like he had just bathed as well because his hair was still a bit damp.

Neither of them said anything for several moments.

"Here." She heaved the jacket over onto his lap, almost not wanting to give it up, even if it was blooming big on her, but knowing that he would want it back. "Thanks for letting me use it."

"Wasn't about to let you freeze in that," he told her, pushing the gown with his toe. He paused for a moment as if trying to decide what he was going to say next. "Rose..."

Shaking her head, she put her hand up to stop him. "Don't. Don't you dare apologise. It wasn't your fault."

"I should've stopped us. Should've been stronger than that."

Rose glanced over at him and saw that he was looking down at the floor, at the dress. "Doctor." He didn't look up, and now she was sure she knew what was going on. "Doctor, did you want it to happen?"

"We were hypnotised," he responded, his tone flat.

"And what's his name – the hypnotist on the telly Mum always used to watch, McKenna or something—he always said that even under hypnosis, you can't make someone do something they deep down don't wanna do." Reaching over, she rested her hand over his on top of the coat and repeated, "Did you want to?"

Finally, he looked up at her, his blue eyes, which had been staring at her so intensely the night before, filled with uncertainty. "Yes," he admitted. "But we shouldn't've done, Rose."

"Why not? Was what we did that wrong?"

"I promised to protect you!" he said, standing up and pacing to the other side of the room, the jacket held loosely in his hand. "Not shag you at the first opportunity!"

Rose didn't know whether to be touched by his concern or offended by all this. "We travel by ourselves in a huge bloody time machine!" she pointed out. "S'not like there wasn't opportunity before this if you wanted it!"

"You were vulnerable last night!"

"So were you, you git!" Jumping off the bed, she crossed over to where he was standing, refusing to let him keep this distance between them. "It happened to both of us. Our guards were down, and we both let it happen. Both. Of. Us."

He turned and pulled her into his arms so she was pressing against him, much like she had been the previous night. "You telling me that if I had come to your room in the middle of the night one night and said, ‘Hey, Rose, you up for it?', that you would've said, ‘Sure, climb on in'?"

"Might've done. Would hope you'd use a better line, though," she told him, resting her hands on his chest. She could feel his two hearts pounding and was fairly sure her own heart was going just as fast and loud. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. What we did."

Sighing, he tilted his head down so their foreheads were resting against each other. "Neither have I."

"What do we do now?"

"Don't know." They stood there for a moment before he suddenly let out a small snort of a chuckle. "We do need to return the Jewel to the people of Creshis."

Nodding, Rose leant back slightly from him. "Guess we do. You go set course. I'll get dressed. Then you're showing me that comet like you promised." As the he headed out of the room, she turned to walk over to the wardrobe and pull out a clean set of clothes.

"Rose?"

Looking back over, she found him standing by the door, slipping his arms into his jacket.

"I can't really make any promises. Never know when the whole straw house is gonna come down ‘round you."

She knew. She had known since the night she had been forced to watch him allow Gwyneth to die to stop the Gelth. "One day at a time, yeah?"

"Yeah," he replied with a nod before leaving the room.

Scrubbing her hands over her face, Rose turned back to the wardrobe and pulled out a shirt and pair of jeans, which she quickly changed into. Then, she looked over at her vanity, where her mobile phone was sitting. Her hand hovered over it for a moment before she changed her mind and just slipped it into her pocket instead before heading for the console room. The TARDIS quaked as she walked down the hallway, telling her that they were on their way.

The Doctor was checking some readings on the readout display and looked up at her with a grin when she entered. "Way I figure, after we drop off the Jewel, I can have you at the observatory on the comet in time for breakfast. I'm buying."

"Sounds good," she replied, joining him at the console. It looked like they'd be arriving on Creshis in a minute or so.

"Fantastic."

The TARDIS gave another shudder, indicating that they were about to land, but Rose didn't have time to brace herself properly before it stopped with a sharp jolt. She didn't end up crashing to the floor, however, because the Doctor quickly reached out to catch her, steadying her and keeping her upright.

"Gotcha," he told her, not letting go of her immediately, his arms staying wrapped around her. Then he chuckled and pressed a kiss into her hairline. "Not planning on letting you go any time soon either. Not as long as I can help it."

She smiled and rested her head against his shoulder. That was probably the only promise he could make, she knew. And it was enough for her.