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Author's Note: A Special thanks to my Beta Readers – Kali and Hana.

Perfume
by Rhondda Lake

Chapter One: Breathless

When she opened the doors the reek stung her eyes. Her feet sank almost to the ankles in a greenish black mud. Methane, sulphur and Aunt Chris' curry combined couldn't even begin to touch the smell filling the too thin air.

"Oh God, we've landed in the Bog of Eternal Stench," she covered her mouth and nose with her hands and stepped back into Jack, who had been right behind her.

"I've smelled more pleasant garbage scows." Jack pulled up his t-shirt to try and filter the odour.

"Right then, we're a tad bit off course," the Doctor was the only one smart enough not to have actually crossed the threshold and into the gloop that passed for ground.

"Just a bit! This is not a purple beach," Rose struggled to pull her foot up, and lost her shoe with a wet, sucking sound. By then she was feeling very woozy and the one leg she was standing on buckled. Jack had already started leaning on the door frame of the TARDIS and it was the Doctor who caught her, wrapping his arms around her and dragging her back inside before she fell sideways into the muck.

Jack pulled himself back inside, trailing mud. "My chest hurts, like I'm down a lung. How much O2 is out there?"

The TARDIS consol read that there was twenty percent Oxygen. But a hand held scanner thrust out the door revealed a discrepancy. It turned out the atmosphere was eight percent oxygen. If they had stepped any further from the TARDIS the two humans would have been in real trouble.

As it was the muck they had trailed back inside left a hideous stink that made breathing even the proper atmosphere unbearable even after it was washed away. It was only once they vacated the Console Room and vented the air in that area into space that the smell was gone. For the most part. They could still detect a touch of it in the doorway. It seemed time alone would cure that.

But the Doctor was much more concerned with the fact that the TARDIS had landed them on a planet with such an atmosphere without warning. It meant something was wrong with the external atmospheric sensors, and that was never good. He did not want to open the doors to find they were under an ocean. The old girl had always been dependable in that respect. If the atmosphere outside was unliveable for any of the crew, the doors did not open. In fact the TARDIS was rather stubborn about landing in places at least mildly life sustaining. This was a very big problem.

As much as Rose loved markets and shopping, the open air market on Janushia Two was a bit over the top. The loud klaxon voices of hawkers calling out their wares mingled with the scent of at least twenty different species, hundreds of different foods, not to mention incense, oils, powders, etc. Of course after the joy of two days ago, those scents were actually kind of nice, if overwhelming. At least they were clean.

The planet's atmosphere gave everything a reddish tinge which over the last few hours had produced a pretty good headache when combined with everything else. She stopped while Jack stopped at a vendor offering all sorts of pieces of tech. She had no idea what most of the stuff did, and she hoped he hadn't stopped her in front of some sort of adult toy stand.

Rose had complained loudly that she needed a new pair of trainers, or the equivalent, after the mud ate hers. Thus they had come to Janushia Two, a planet with technology equivalent to fifty-second century Earth, to Jack's joy, and a thriving intergalactic trade, to Rose's. The two of them were out and about alone, as the Doctor was recalibrating the external atmospheric sensors.

To be honest, Jack had offered to help the Doctor with his tinkering, but Rose got the feeling he'd been told to keep an eye on her. For some reason both men seemed to think she attracted trouble. Her. Ha! She just got caught up in the trouble that followed the Doctor.

Really.

While Jack started to haggle with the merchant over a palm sized metal Etch-A-Sketch thing Rose caught a whiff of something absolutely heavenly. It was a musky floral scent, sensual and deep. She closed her eyes and inhaled. It was coming from across the way. A perfume vendor who was not shouting at the crowd, but letting the wares speak for themselves.

"I'll be right over there," she touched Jack's shoulder to get his attention. He looked for a moment and nodded, evidently satisfied she would be well in sight.

"Don't blame you. See if they have air freshener," he smirked before turning back to his attempt to get a better price on his Whatsit.

Rose sauntered over to the display filled with beautiful and exotic bottles. She couldn't really tell exact colours, not with the red tinted light, but there seemed to be a range. The alien woman attending the booth was beautiful as well as exotic. Her facial structure and eyes made Rose think of a cat... a cheetah, to be exact, though there were no spots or fur on her smooth, tawny skin. No hair at all.

"Are you looking for something specific?" The female's voice was a purr.

"Not really. I just...." Rose closed her eyes again and breathed deeply. "This just smells incredible."

"That is Zalori. It is one of my best sellers." The merchant gestured to a rod that looked very much like an unlit candle, but appeared to be made of some sort of cloth. Rose leaned forward and, sure enough, it was where the scent was emanating from. "The secret is a chemical compound that interacts with the both the scent signature of the wearer and the olfactory receptors of those who inhale it. What you are smelling is the undiluted. It is not mixing with the scent of a wearer. It does not smell totally the same to or for any two people."

The woman picked up a delicate looking bottle, bulbous on the bottom with a long, thin neck. It looked iridescent, like a soap bubble. The stopper looked like a cut gem. The merchant pulled the stopper to reveal a long wand. "Your wrist, please?"

Rose raised her hand and offered the underside of her wrist forward. The woman pressed the wand to her flesh, the briefest touch, and smiled, nodding.

Rose brought her wrist to her nose and took in the fragrance. That was her! She recognized the clean human scent that clung to her bedding as her own, and there was a gingery top note, crisp yet spicy and a touch of something close to lavender with a deep, rich touch of amber. It actually brought a smile to her face and a pleasant heat to her chest and lungs. Her headache had even disappeared

Rose immediately began to haggle.

Chapter Two: Intuition

The open panel revealed a maze of wires and circuit boards, wire ribbons and tubes as complex as any biological construct. Indeed, the background hum was as soothing as any heartbeat because the ship, was in fact, alive. There was something visceral and satisfying about puzzling out what was wrong and putting it to rights. There was certainly evidence of previous bypassing and patchwork. Elements replaced, some plain missing, stood out from the original components. However the external atmospheric sensors had never been tampered with before.

Oh well, after seven hundred years without a problem, not much room to complain really. At least this problem hadn't gotten anyone hurt. No materializing on a moon with no atmosphere at all, or in the centre of a sun. It could have been much worse, all considered. Having his companions get light headed and drag in something revoltingly smelly was actually a fairly good day in the scheme of things.

It was silly to try and see if the problem was any of the hundreds of sensors themselves. No, just one or two on the fritz would have still left plenty of others to alert him to trouble, so the problem had naturally been the central feed.

He had lost track of time as he deconstructed the box, roughly the size of a hardcover novel, and had begun rewiring and occasionally improving. It didn't seem like he'd been at it that long, with the TARDIS heartbeat hum moving up through his spine as he sat on the floor and the lingering eau de swamp planet giving his nose a teasing burn, when the doors opened and Rose and Jack walked in, laughing, each bearing a good sized cloth bag.

"How was I supposed to know he was her father?" Jack was grinning ear to ear.

"You're going to start another riot, you are. I just hope you didn't send them into family therapy. You could at least try limiting the flirting to a single gender in any one area, yeah?"

Rose dug into her satchel of purchases and brought forth a small glass bulb with an atomizer on the end. She gave a few spritzes near the doorway and up the ramp, stopping to loop her arm around one of the curving support beams she pressed a quick kiss to it. "There you go, girl. No lady likes to smell of swamp when she can smell pretty."

"Pretty?" The Doctor looked up, slightly alarmed. "You didn't just hose her down with something flowery and girly, did you?" He did not want his ship reeking of flowers. How undignified could you get?

"Just give it a minute, will you?" Rose tilted her head and smiled. "I know you blokes and your cars... or TARDIS."

The odour that had been burning his nose faded as a citrus tang took over. It smelled clean and a bit crisp. A vast improvement, but he couldn't let her off too easy. "Bit fruity, isn't it?"

"If you'd rather the flowers I can always go..." she turned to head out the door again.

"No! No, it's fine." He didn't want to tempt her to follow through. She would, too.

"Thought so," she beamed at him, giving her one of her satisfied and happy smiles.

He grinned back, their eyes locking and the rest of the universe falling away for a few precious seconds.

Jack came over and crouched beside the Doctor, breaking between their locked gazes and losing the moment as he looked over the strewn bits of the central feed component. "Got most of it done, I see. That didn't take too long."

The Doctor held up his screwdriver. "See, having it a bit more sonic does more than build shelves. Don't need a gun to solve everything, you know."

"Yeah, but bananas and screwdrivers don't stop rampaging Dorgnaks." Jack shot back even as he started handing parts to the Doctor as they were needed, like a well coordinated surgical team.

"Were you flirting with the Dorgnak too?" Rose leant against the console.

"You know you have a one track mind," Jack winked over his shoulder at her.

"Got your replacement shoes then?" The Doctor finished closing up the central feed box and got up off the floor.

"Yeah, ankle boots with a nice thick sole and good traction, for that running for our life thing we do so often." Her eyes sparkled with humour, and that tingle of excitement that had drawn him to her from the start. "I also got this great perfume from the place I got the air freshener."

"Perfume? Not really practical for that running for our lives thing we do so often." The Doctor shot back.

"Not like I'd wear it when we plan on rushing into danger," she defended.

"But how often do we plan on rushing into danger?" Jack jumped in.

"Go ahead and ruin my fun. At least I'll smell good while running." Rose pushed off from the console and held out her wrist.

Jack leant in and not only inhaled, but brushed his nose lightly, teasingly, along the skin of her arm. "Mmmm. That is nice. They have anything for men?"

"Oh, come on. Rose just got rid of one stink out of here," the Doctor kept tone light, although he didn't care for Jack's turning on the charm with Rose. At least she didn't take it seriously anymore.

"Doesn't stink," Rose pushed her wrist closer to the Doctor's face.

He was not about to go sniffing around Rose. Too damn uncomfortable, that. But he could smell the new perfume. His nose was more sensitive than humans. It did smell incredible, like Rose and musk and disturbingly sensual. It was almost erotic, and he didn't like the thought of her wearing that too often. Even if he wasn't sure why it disturbed him so.

"Slitheen aren't the only ones to hunt by smell. Best be careful where you wear that." The Doctor warned as he backed away a bit and turned to start reattaching the now repaired central feed for the external atmospheric sensors.

"Yeah, men do too." Jack cut closer to the truth than was comfortable. "Come on, Rose, let's get our purchases stashed."

They left the control room side by side. The Doctor watched them from the corner of his eye, inhaling the lingering scent of Rose's new perfume. It spread an uncomfortable warmth through him.

Chapter Three: Attraction

"We all done here then?" Rose marched into the Console Room, noticing everything seemed to be put back together, at least as much as it ever was. And the swamp stench was replaced by a pleasant crisp fruitiness.

"Yup. Ready to be off on our next adventure," the Doctor's grin took up his whole face. His blue eyes were filled with the excitement of the moment, teetering on the brink of the unknown. Rose felt the excitement gather in her stomach. He was positively infectious.

"Not quite. We never actually went on our last one. I was promised purple beaches, an ocean that sang and seashells of crystal. Where we ended up wasn't even close." She crossed her arms and tried to look determined.

"You're getting a bit finicky. I seem to recall the days of 'I don't care,' not so very long ago. Now you're looking for specifics," he was already flipping switches and turning dials.

"Don't care when it is, just so I get the rest. It sounded... impressive," she grabbed onto the railing seconds before the TARDIS shuddered and lurched, her engines seeming to cry for joy at the freedom of movement.

"Man, give a guy a warning, will you?" Jack stumbled from the hallway and into the Console Room, only keeping his feet by grabbing the railing as well.

"Please fasten your seatbelts and keep your trays in the up and locked position," Rose laughed as they lurched again.

"Hold down the red button," the Doctor ordered and she moved to it, actually getting a bit familiar with the routine. Sometimes the order of the buttons and switches she was told to operate changed, not often, but enough for her to wait for the word before doing anything.

"How come Rose gets to help fly? Who's the Captain here?" Jack pulled a mock pout.

"She isn't flying, she's helping. She's got the touch, the knack, and the TARDIS likes her better than you." Rose glowed under the Doctor's praise, even if it was just a way to tease Jack.

"I am hurt. Really. Cut to the quick." Jack placed his free hand over his heart.

The final lurch shoved Rose against the Doctor's side, but she managed to stay upright as all sense of motion ceased.

The Doctor chuckled but then looked at Rose strangely. His face went blank for a moment, like it did when he was puzzling something out. Whatever it was she watched him brush it off and stop to check the readouts. "Right atmosphere at least. We should be at Angel's Playground this time."

"You'll excuse me if I insist you're first out this time, eh?" Rose slapped his arm. "New shoes you know."

"One little miscalculation and you go all Nervous Nelly on me," he headed for the door, there was a bit of swagger to his walk as Rose followed behind.

"But it was a really stinky miscalculation," Rose defended herself.

She stopped as the Doctor pulled open the door and gestured to the vista beyond. The sand was purple, a deep royal purple, with traces of lavender grains. There was a sound moving through the air, similar to violins, swelling and fading.

"I give you Angel's Playground. Fifth planet of the Krillian system," the Doctor leant over to whisper in her ear.

Rose shivered. It had to be the view, or the music, or, okay, maybe a little because of the way the Doctor's breath tickled her ear.

"It's gorgeous." She stepped out, feeling her new shoes sink a little into the sand.

The water was a blue-green that reflected the sky. A cool wash of air swept over her, lacking the salt tang or even the fishy smell of Earth oceans. Back a good way past the purple sands red grasses swayed in time with the ocean's music. Rose walked towards the water, captivated by the music. With a delighted cry she spotted something in the sand. It looked like a spired quartz deposit, but as she picked it up she noted the hollowed out centre. A smooth pocked for some sea creature to live in.

She looked back and held it up to show the Doctor who was just watching her with a bemused expression.

She wandered close to the edge of the tide. She kept far enough back to keep her new shoes from getting wet, but close enough to watch the colour of the sand deepen as the water lapped at it. She sensed the Doctor had joined her before she turned her head to see him.

"What makes it sing? It sounds kinda sad." She peered out over the water, watching the shallow waves ripple and roll.

"Extremely high mineral content. It isn't the water, really, but a form of sealife. The water and minerals amplify it, making it sound like the ocean is singing," he answered and she bent to scoop up some purple sand, filling the hollow of the crystal shell with it.

"Like whales, you mean?" She looked out again, as if expecting to see a spray or a breaching.

"Only in the most general of terms. They aren't mammals, although they are pretty big, and intelligent," he explained.

He kept his hands shoved into the pockets of his leather jacket. He was watching her, watching her reactions, enjoying answering her questions. Rose knew he got a vicarious kick out of showing her things like this. Through her he got to see them with fresh eyes. Like when she used to take Shireen to movies she had already seen just to enjoy her mate's reaction to them.

"And this sand... it's minerals too. Like amethyst, yeah?" She held up her crystalline prize.

"Yup." He was almost glowing, proud that she'd made the right leap once again.

She beamed back at him. "And the shell, then?"

"Deposits form around the cetaceans, and keep growing until they get too heavy. Then they get shucked off as a new deposit grows."

"So that water's really dense... like the Dead Sea?" She looked out and imagined floating in that expanse of alien water.

"Oh yeah, mighty hard to drown in that. Go ahead if you want. It's warm enough." He encouraged her to experience all of it.

Rose turned back and noticed Jack just leaning against the side of the TARDIS, watching them.

"Come with?"

The Doctor looked mildly surprised and for a second Rose thought he might refuse. But he leaned in again for a moment, seeming to get that lost in thought look before offering a touch of a smile and a shrug. "You know, I just may, after all."

He offered her his arm and tilted his head toward the TARDIS. "Change first, unless you want to give Jack a show."

She looped her arm in his and together they headed back to the ship.

Chapter Four: Spark

The Doctor wasn't surprised to see a fire already blazing cosily on the beach by the time he re-emerged from the TARDIS. Night had fallen, and Jack had declared that they were going to eat on the beach, under the night sky. At the time of said announcement the Doctor was striving to not focus on the way Rose was gleaming wetly; tiny mineral deposits sparkling like diamonds on her skin and in her hair.

The three of them had played in the singing sea for an hour or so, and had emerged sore and tired. The heavy water gave quite a bit of resistance against movement. When they had returned to the purple sand, both the Doctor and Rose left Jack to seek out their respective showers. The mineral rich water left build up where it could, and hair and swimsuits were soon itchy and chafing.

Dressed in more customary and comfortable attire, the Doctor moved to Jack's crackling fire and sat down on one of the array of blankets his companion had drug out. Jack had also brought out a basket of food and was busy whittling several long sticks into a point. The fire crackled and threw up sparks that danced in the breeze before them.

"You are just full of surprises, Doctor. I would have bet against you joining us for a swim. You just don't strike me as a beach blanket bingo type." Jack winked at the older man and stuck the pointed end of his stick into the fire to harden.

"Oh, I have a type? Nice to know I'm all categorized and labelled." The Doctor looked over the drink selections in a bucket of ice.

"So defensive," Jack teased as he shook his head. "Don't worry. You're still beyond classification. The enigma of the ages. The unknown variable in life. The..."

"Oh, do shut up." The Doctor selected a bottle of lemonade and tossed the cap at Jack's head.

"You know, you could have put my eye out with that." Jack pointed at the Doctor with his sharpened stick.

Both men dissolved into laughter.

"Can't leave you two alone for one minute," Rose sat between the two men, claiming a Fuller's from the drink selection as she did.

She had changed back into jeans and a hoodie. The Doctor also noticed she had reapplied her new perfume. He leaned a bit closer to the fire, taking in the scent of woodsmoke.

Jack spent the next half hour spitting sausages and roasting them over the flames for their dinner.

"Will you look at that," Rose had her head tilted up and was looking at the triple moon formation in the sky. The moonlight and firelight were painting her face in soft hues, the breeze from the sea ruffling her hair. She looked as beautiful as anything this world had to offer. The doctor followed her gaze to the moons. All of them had an orange tint, and one was totally full, while the other two were in stages of waning.

"Kinda looks like Mickey Mouse, if one ear was a bit bigger than the other," Rose announced.

"I show you some of the most spectacular views in the universe and you compare them to an animated rodent?" The Doctor looked appalled.

"Well you getting all huffy doesn't change the fact that it does." Her eyes were full of mischief. Oh, she was baiting him, he realized.

Jack passed them each a stick with a marshmallow stuck on the pointed end. "As stimulating as this conversation is, you'll have to pay attention to your marshmallows to get the S'mores right," Jack interrupted.

"The what?" Rose looked at him as if he had grown a new head.

Jack sighed. "It's an American thing, but it's an ancient tradition not to be broken..." He held his marshmallow over the fire, toasting all sides evenly before sticking it into a lick of flame to watch it burn. The smell of charred sugar joined the odour of woodsmoke and Rose's perfume. Jack grinned and pulled the burning fluffball closer to blow it out. He gingerly peeled the black coating off in one pull. "Now you break off a piece of Cadbury bar and put it on the graham cracker, like so," He demonstrated as if showing a class of simpletons. "You put the gooey hot marshmallow in the chocolate and cap it off with another cracker. Then eat." He passed his over to Rose.

Rose looked at it like it might bite her before taking a tentative bite into the sandwiched confection. Her eyes shot open and then rolled back, her face becoming a mask of rapture. It was discomforting. The Doctor was pretty sure he was sitting too close to the fire because he was getting a bit too warm.

"This is brilliant." Rose wiped some chocolate off her chin. The hot marshmallow had melted the chocolate bar.

"Yup. Best thing since sliced bread." Jack gestured to the sticks he had handed each of them. "Now get roasting, because that's the only one I'm handing over." He tossed a Cadbury bar between them and a box of graham crackers.

The confection was delicious and very sweet, but one was enough for the Doctor. There was such a thing as too much of a good thing, especially when that much sugar was involved.

Instead he surreptitiously watched Rose nibble at her second S'more. She was apparently savouring each bit. Jack was watching her much more openly. But he looked a bit more amused than titillated.

In no time the Doctor saw Rose lean towards him and the warm weight of her head settling on his shoulder. The sensual cocoon of her perfume washed over him. It filled his lungs and a languid warmth seemed to spread through him. His hearts stuttered, then resumed their normal rhythm. He felt settled and uncomfortable all at once. Maybe it was the setting, the fire, or just her warmth pressed against his arm and shoulder, but an empty, black ache reared up in him. A yearning he ruthlessly shoved down even as it pushed forward.

He had always been aware of Rose as a beautiful young woman. And if he had to work a little harder to ignore that than he had in the past with former lovely female companions, what of it? And if her spirit and courage drew him, well that was why he'd asked her to come with him, wasn't it? And if she trusted him implicitly, even when he knew he didn't deserve that trust? And if they could communicate with their eyes alone from across the room, that was just familiarity. He might have the stray thought, any male of similarly built species would. That was normal. He could suppress such distracting thoughts easily enough.

Except right now those thought were winding their way through his mind, like tendrils of smoke.

He stared resolutely into the dying fire. He had to get a hold of this dangerous and foolish reaction. He was not some primitive little species ruled by biological imperatives, he was a Time Lord. The mind ruled the body, not the other way around.

"Awww, she's out like a light. Too much fun for our girl, eh?" Jack grinned as he started to collect the debris of their meal, careful to leave nothing behind except the blankets and the fire.

Our girl? The Doctor looked at the golden hair draped over his leather jacket. She didn't belong to either of them. So why didn't he feel like sharing?

Chapter Five: Escape

"Well that went well." The Doctor grinned at Rose.

She answered with a glare. Usually she appreciated his sense of humour. But not when the blood flow was cut off from her fingers and they were standing on a large pile of kindling. "Oh yes, being burnt at the stake as demons is much preferable to being drawn and quartered, or boiled in oil."

He shrugged as much as he could, considering the ropes holding him to his own personal post were pretty snug. "Well, yeah, all things considered. Less time to come up with a plan B."

"There's a plan B?" Rose knew the Doctor's sense of planning. There was rarely a plan A.

"Pretty much, yeah. Hope Jack is all clear and coming up with it 'bout now." The Doctor looked out at the crowd slowly gathering in the dark courtyard before them.

Rose shook her head. She'd feel a little better if they had been tied together. Then she could at least hold the Doctor's hand, if she could feel her fingers. But they were each honoured with their own individual stakes, a few feet separating them.

"Didn't anyone warn you that showing a primitive civilization that their monarch is a cyborg clone is not gonna go over well? They don't even know what a cyborg is." Rose looked over the pale green, noseless faces looking back at her with fear and hatred. Angry mob, check. Pitchforks and torches, check. "Do you think the real queen is still alive?"

"Don't know. Whoever set this up might have kept her as a bargaining chip if their little toy failed. But it would be just as easy to kill her. Less fuss."

The Doctor seemed to be standing perfectly still. His eyes locked with Rose's and she felt the reassurance he was trying to send. Silly, really, to be reassured with a look when she was trussed up like a Christmas goose and waiting for someone to start a giant bonfire under her. Too bad there were no S'mores. Was that just two days ago?

Best to keep her mind off all those flaming torches out there. "So any idea who planted the fake queen?"

The courtyard was almost full now, and the guards were pressing the alien throng back more than watching their tied-up prisoners.

"Well the only thing this planet has of value is a pretty potent but rare fungus used to make a highly addictive narcotic in the Pythian system. Worth a fortune on the black market. And seeing as Miss Sparky was pretty consistent with current Pythian technology..." the Doctor's bindings seemed to slacken a bit and he looked over at Rose with one of his manic grins.

She felt a rush of adrenaline. She could see he had managed to work himself loose and was just holding the ropes behind him to keep up the pretence. He probably learned escapism from Houdini himself. There would be no living with him now.

"You mean all this is because of a bunch of drug runners? That just seems so..." she shook her head, her eyes never leaving the Doctor's face.

"Disappointingly mundane? Yeah. But if you haven't noticed yet, many evil plots always lead back to somebody's profit margin. Greed is a universal variant." His eyes broke away from her and looked up to the courtyard wall. Rose gaze moved to where he seemed to be looking. There was a small flashing red light. And since this planet was still using candles and oil type lamps that could only mean...

Suddenly blue smoke erupted somewhere in the centre of the crowd, then to the side, and from someplace way in the back.

"Rose, hold your breath," the Doctor looked back to her just as the crowd noticed the smoke.

Already people were dropping, slumping to the ground. More smoke plumes started and panic barely had a chance to start. The guards were trying to look for the source of the smoke but were being overcome as well.

Rose saw a metal canister fall to her left, smoke spewing from it. The chemical sting made her eyes water and she tried to hold her breath against the gas. The Doctor had stopped pretending to be tied and had moved behind Rose. She could feel him cutting her bonds with something.

There were few people still coughing and moving as Jack came running towards them, a small, clear gas mask covering his nose and mouth. "Someone call for a ride?"

Rose let out a choking laugh and felt the gas tickle her throat. She couldn't hold her breath much longer. Her vision was already narrowing, like she was looking down a tunnel. Jack was climbing up the wood pile and reaching towards her with a gas mask when everything went dark.

The first thing Rose was aware of was that she was lying on her back. Something was pressed over her mouth and nose, and cool air was rushing up her nostrils, drying out her sinuses. A familiar, cool hand was grasping hers. Then she heard the voices.

"I had to make sure they were all out. It wasn't like it was an enclosed space." Jack sounded defensive.

"Humans have died from an overdose of fentanyl. And you tossed a grenade full of it practically at her feet," the Doctor snapped back.

"Yeah well it was kinda hard to get a good aim with all the other gas grenades going off. I could barely make out where you two were. And I brought masks for you."

Uh oh, this sounded like it could get ugly. Rose opened her eyes to see the sterile white ceiling of the infirmary.

"It burns the eyes too," her voice sounded muffled by the breathing mask she had on.

Both men looked at her in surprise and relief. She tried to sit up but the room decided to sway dangerously. Nope, wasn't the room.

"Give it a bit. The oxygen will flush the last of it out of your lungs," the Doctor's eyes crinkled at the corners, softening as he looked down at her.

"So that was plan B, eh? Not too bad. And no one got hurt, right?" She gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Nope, but there'll be some nasty headaches when they start waking up." Jack looked rather proud of his successful rescue.

The Doctor shot Jack a dark look that would have withered lesser men.

What was wrong with him? The plot to surreptitiously take over the Hamaricjian monarchy was exposed, they got away, and no one died. The Doctor should have been giddy.

Rose managed to sit up on the second try. "Jack, give us a minute, will you?"

Jack glanced from Rose to the Doctor and back before nodding and backing out the door.

"You alright?" She tugged at their joined hands to make the Doctor focus on her.

"Fantastic." He offered her a grin that didn't quite go to his eyes. He released her hand and grabbed a spray of some sort and misted her wrists where the skin was chaffed red from the rough rope.

"Jack did good. Why were you all over him then?" Rose tried to meet his eyes, but he was avoiding looking at her.

She pulled the oxygen mask off and touched his arm, feeling the cool leather under her palm.

"Just worried was all. Not like I wanted to train up a new companion when I just got you all broken in," he finally met her eyes and smirked a bit.

"Take more than a bit of gas to get rid of me. You should know that by now." Rose pushed a lock of hair out of her face. It felt kind of nice that he was that worried, but it wasn't fair to take it out on poor Jack.

"Rose, I..." The Doctor caught himself and just looked at her, as if he were committing every line of her face to memory.

She felt flushed under such intense scrutiny, and her stomach fluttered as she caught a glimpse of something deep and even possessive in the Doctor's blue eyes.

"You... what?" She shook her head slightly, urging him to continue.

"Nothing. Just want you staying right here till the dizziness fades. Can't have you escape being burnt at the stake only to fall and break your neck at home, right?" Whatever was in his eyes was pushed down. He offered her defensive humour instead.

"Doctor's orders? Okay, I get it." She lat back down. "You need to work on that bedside manner, though."

"My bedside manner's perfect, I'll have you know. Don't want people getting all comfy in here, wanting to spend more time hanging about." He hopped up on the medical bed beside her and nudged her lightly with his shoulder.

"Which explains the boring white walls and smell of disinfectant. And why does it smell of disinfectant?" She frowned as she looked at him, a line appearing between her brows.

"Maybe cause you expected it to. Plus not a very pleasant smell. Goes with the bedside manner."

Rose felt his hand slide along her own then. Larger, rougher fingers twined with hers. His cool palm pressed to her warm one. He pulled and brought their joined hands up to his mouth, not quite brushing his lips against the knuckles of her hand, but she would feel his warm, moist breath brush across her skin.

"Unlike you. You smell really good. All warm and inviting."

Rose wished her heart wouldn't falter like that, and the butterflies wouldn't beat furious wings in her stomach. Because she knew he didn't mean anything by it. He had no idea how he sometimes affected her. He might play at flirting a bit, but he always backed off and let her know by his manner that friendship was all it was, and would ever be. She could content herself with that, really should could. Because he was the closest and best friend she ever had. Wanting anything more was futile, and frustrating, and bound to make her miserable. So when she got all flustered and tingly by some innocent thing he did, some touch given, or look that made her melt inside, she had to come up with her own defence mechanism.

"Ha. I knew you liked the perfume." She teased him back.

"It's better than disinfectant, anyway." He let go her hand and jumped back down from the seat. He looked flushed, and he wasn't looking at her again. Something was up. "I'm going to go make sure the proper authorities get a message about the Pythian drug cartel's latest move. They can track down the so called genius behind this plot, and with any luck, turn up the real queen. If she's even alive. You stay there until you are certain you're heads all clear."

"Right. Gotcha. Stay right here until I feel better or die of boredom."

He left without another word.

That little line reappeared between Rose's eyebrows as she contemplated the door.

Chapter Six: Enigma

The Doctor had no idea what had just happened. Something was just not right. He had wanted to kiss her. He could breathe it, almost taste her. Her scent still clung to him, to his clothing where she had pressed against him as he had carried her back.

He'd had the fleeting thought of kissing her before, and sometimes dreamed of it. But never had he come so close to acting on it. Never felt the desire rise so strong he actually shook within his own skin with it. The idea was beyond foolish.

No matter the attraction and affection, she was human. It was not really some misguided speciesist ideology, it was simple fact. She would burn brilliantly, perhaps leaving an afterimage in his mind forever, but like flash paper she would be gone too quickly. Short little life spans made humans want to cram as much living, as much life, into their limited time as was possible. The resulting curiosity and sense of adventure were part of the reasons he had a weak spot for the silly little apes. But to form such an intimate emotional and physical bond, it would only end in disaster. If he 'died' before she did, how would she take facing a stranger with his memories, his feelings? If it were too much for her the resulting rejection would destroy him. And if he did not regenerate within her lifetime, then what? He would watch her age. She completely believed she wouldn't leave him, but it was the naive belief of someone unable to comprehend the order of things. She may not want to, but she would.

In time age would take a toll, slow her down, and even if he stopped moving, stopped running, stopped saving the universe from itself to stay with her after that, until time took its toll, she'd still leave him. Everything has its time and everything dies. Some faster than others. As it was he had become too attached to her. More than any other companion. The thought, the idea of her inevitable demise made his hearts feel hollow and his throat tighten. He was already too close, already facing the possibility that this loss atop all the other would be more than he could take. He didn't need to be certain of it by doing something so bloody stupid.

"She gonna be okay?" The Doctor looked up to see Jack leaning against the wall in the hallway.

"Should be," he sighed, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

He fought against the irrational anger. Rose had been right, Jack had done very well. He didn't usually lose his temper without reason. What was going on?

"Look, Jack..."

The ex-Time Agent cut him off. "It's okay. If you apologize the universe might come to an end or the TARDIS will implode. You were worried and I was there to take it out on. It happens." Jack offered a too-charming smile. "Just as long as you do realize I'd never deliberately do anything to hurt her, right?"

"Yeah. I do know that." The Doctor turned away, intending to go to the Console Room. "I have to contact the local agencies and let them know..."

Once again he was cut off. "Done. An anonymous tip was already sent out. I've done this, before you know. Used to be damn good at it. Now you," Jack had walked up alongside the Doctor as he had spoken and now slung an arm around his shoulders, "owe me a drink. A very nice, very strong one. We could both use it. And if you play your cards right, you just might get lucky."

The Doctor couldn't help but smile a bit at the irrepressible man. "Not quite, I told you, you had to buy ME a drink first. My ship, my alcohol. It just isn't quite your day."

"You could have at least strung me along a bit longer, played all coy and vulnerable. But no, just rush in and trample my fragile hopes to the floor right away." Jack didn't remove his arm but shook his head.

"Maybe I'm just playing hard to get," he offered as he opened the door to the TARDIS Library, where there happened to be a nicely stocked drinks cabinet.

Jack flung himself into an overstuffed velvet armchair. It had appeared in the library around the time the Doctor and Rose had saved him from his own heroism. "You, sir, are impossible to get. Which just makes the challenge so much more interesting."

An hour later the Doctor returned to the infirmary to find it empty. Not that he really expected Rose to be there. But he had to make sure she left because she was actually feeling better, not just because she didn't feel like waiting for the effects to be totally gone.

He knocked on the door to her room. It swung open silently and she smiled up at him cheekily. "Knew you'd have to check up on me sooner or later."

Her hair was damp at the ends and her face scrubbed clean of makeup. The moist air of the room and the smell of soap mixing with her perfume all indicated a very recent shower. Her bare toes peeked out of the bottom of her jeans.

"Part of the service. You feeling alright now? Nothing spinning that shouldn't?" He reached out and gently took her wrist in his hand, feeling her pulse with his stroking thumb. Oddly it sped up a bit at that.

"Nope. I'm all better. So have you decided where we're off to now?" She didn't try to reclaim her wrist.

"Actually thinking of the Delnusian orb. Giant space ship the size of a small planet. Its outer hull is like a planet turned inside out. Gardens and forests lit up by giant sun emulators, and at the centre is another orb, the size of a moon where all the people live. It's fantastic to see. Travelled the universe for some eight thousand years. Its inhabitants originated from hundreds of different worlds."

She was nodding with his words. "Sounds interesting. Not the burning at the stake sort. Definitely a plus."

It was rising again. A sweet flood of desire washing over him, making his skin feel too tight, too hot. It wasn't necessarily stronger than it had been before, no. But something was missing. He was finding it harder to struggle against it. He couldn't think straight. He recognized this, but couldn't peace together how he would normally be thinking.

"Doctor, what is it?" Rose's earnest brown eyes were peering at him in concern, her hand on his chest, over his hearts. He could feel its heat through his jumper.

And he couldn't focus on anything but the way her lips formed the words.

Then all he could think about was how soft and succulent those lips were under his own, how the pulse, still under his thumb sped up all the more as he drew that plump bottom lip between his to taste it, to run the tip of his tongue over as he had longed to forever.

The blood pounded in his ears, and something broke loose inside of him, pushing all thought and rationalization away. There was only this. This woman, this moment, this FEELING.

And she was kissing him back. Her lips sipping at his, the hand on his shirt now clutching at the fabric and the sweet little noises she was making in the back of her throat. He angled his head and deepened the kiss, the contact, stroking her tongue with is own. He found his hands cupping her head, holding her there, her hair thread through his fingers, soft and golden. Want was rising to need, as she clung to him, responded to him, feeding and spreading the overwhelming desire.

She pulled back, gasping in air as her own passion-clouded eyes locked with his. "Doctor?" She sounded breathless and uncertain. "I'm not complaining here, but this is kinda out of nowhere, yeah?"

He shook his head, watching her lips move again, imaging them moving elsewhere. His whole body tight and throbbing with a need to make her his, to keep her with him, to possess and savour and protect, to taste and feel and devour.

"Need you. Want you so much." The words were dragged from him, deep and resonating. Honest and raw. The only coherent words filling his mind at the moment. "For so long. Too long."

Her eyes widened, and seemed bright with emotion. "Please don't do this to me if you're not dead certain. I don't think I could take it." Her hand released his shirt and her hot fingers traced his jaw, he could feel the light brush, the touch of her fingernails, and he leaned into the caress.

She scraped her teeth over her kiss swollen bottom lip and he felt a shiver of anticipation slither up his spine. But she was speaking again, words that wove through the scented fog filling his mind, his thoughts.

"You've been acting a bit off lately. And," she closed her eyes and shook her head, "I can't believe I'm saying this. I'm gonna hate myself later. But..." He watched her eyes open and something seemed to be warring within them. Desire and something softer. "You really have be sure of this."

He was sure. Absolutely certain. He was. But something deeper that need and desire and want was cutting through, aided by her words, her vulnerability. Rationality barely flickered and clung to that deeper emotion, clung to her.

"Rose? I think... I think there's something..." Intellect struggled with emotion, reason with desire. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. "wrong." The word was almost a whisper and he tried to grasp himself once more.

He felt his knees hit the floor as he struggled.

And Rose was on her knees before him. She looked afraid now, almost panicked. Her hands on his shoulders. Rose. His Rose. The only constant in the war in his own mind. There was always Rose, holding and filling and being.

"Jack!" She was calling, her voice shrill with rising panic as he fought himself. She was holding him up and he was clinging to her, his face tucked against her shoulder and neck, and he could smell her. She surrounded him. She was his universe, his hopes and dreams, and fears. She was all and everything.

"Oh God, JACK, We need help!" Her voice filled his head as her cry was so close to his ear.

He clung to her, felt her heartbeat, her breath. The awareness faded away.

Chapter Seven: Trouble

Rose sat on the edge of her bed and held the Doctor's hand. It was kind of ironic that the roles were reversed from just three hours ago. Jack had come running –evidently the TARDIS had made sure he heard Rose's cries for help. She couldn't lift the Doctor on her own, and so had been holding his slumped body, rocking him]slightly as if that would somehow soothe away the problem. Jack had helped her drag the Doctor to her bed, as it was right there, and ran to the infirmary to bring back diagnostic equipment.

Now Jack was sitting straddling a straight backed chair his arms folded over the back, chewing on his thumbnail. A whole bunch of useless equipment sat on the bedside table and dressing table. Medical devices that told them everything and nothing. Oh they had a total scan of everything about the Doctor's biology even his strange three stranded DNA... It was kind of surprising to find he had two stomachs. But they didn't have a damn baseline to compare to. The Doctor's pulse, both of them, was at 170. Seventy was average for a human. Was it going too fast or was it normal? And his temperature was currently 16 degrees. She knew he was always cool to the touch, so she guessed his normal body temperature was lower than that of humans, but was it always twenty degrees off? Rose looked at the book propped on Jack's knee.

After running scans and realizing they had no idea what was considered normal for the Doctor's biology, Jack had run back to the Library to look for some kind of books on the subject. If the Doctor really was a doctor, after all, he had to have Medical texts in abundance. That was if he was a medical doctor. Knowing our luck though, he held a doctorate in astrophysics or cosmetology, Rose thought to herself.

Jack had returned with an armload of books he said had been waiting on the main reading table, all Gallifreyan Biology texts, but were close to useless as well. Rose was near tears again. All that knowledge at their fingertips and the two of them were too damn stupid to figure it out. She had taken one look at the book Jack had given her to look through and got a headache. Not only was it a medical journal of some sort, clearly written for someone with a background in biology, chemistry and medicine, but some of the words were... alien. The geometric circular script she'd sometimes seen on computer screens about the TARDIS were in print here. Evidently there were no English translations some of the words, leaving the already confusing texts with gaps.

"We need to pinpoint when this started. I mean, what was he doing before he collapsed?" Jack was looking at Rose, and she felt herself blushing under his questioning look.

"Rose, I meant besides kissing you," there was a ghost of a teasing smile on Jack's lips, but his eyes were still worried.

"Wha... what makes you say something like that?" Oh it was stupid to deny it. It might be important, but she was still having trouble working her way through her own emotions and reactions to the whole incident.

"Like I don't know the look of someone who's been soundly kissed. Come on, I'm not trying to get gory details of your possible sexual exploits with the Doctor. Not yet anyway. After we figure this out expect to be grilled for juicy details, but right now we have to figure out what's going on."

Rose rolled her eyes. But Jack's words had the result he was doubtless aiming for, lighten the anxiety get them to focus.

"He came by to make sure I was all right. Then, he was kissing me." She looked down at the unconscious Doctor, her thumb rubbing against his knuckles, seeking some response.

Oh yeah, he had kissed her. It had been incredible. She was hardly some fresh faced virgin. She knew kissing and thought herself pretty good at it. But no one had ever stolen thought and breath away like the Doctor had with just the start of that kiss. And that was before he really got going.

What was she doing? The Doctor was in trouble and she was getting weak-kneed remembering a kiss. She felt the guilt push her forward. "I was surprised, as it was really sudden and out of nowhere, right."

"If you say so," Jack murmured, but motioned with his hand that she continue.

"Anyhow, after he had been so short with you earlier, and the confusing way he acted in the infirmary, I kinda questioned him on it. I mean he hasn't been acting normal."

She shook her head again at Jack's raised eyebrow and pointed look at the unconscious man sprawled on Rose's bed.

"Okay, normal for HIM, alright. Anyhow, he looked at me really confused, and said something was wrong, then just,...collapsed."

Jack ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to figure it out. He wasn't medically trained either, and apparently the books were as confusing to him as they were to her. She was actually wishing they had some of those nanogenes about. No medical knowledge needed.

"I can tell you there isn't any known virus or infection in his system. When you two got captured, do you remember if he got hit on the head? No sign of skull fracture of brain swelling, but maybe I missed something."

"Jack!" She wanted to yell at him for pushing the joking about a bit far, but it was a valid question. "No. I mean, we both pretty much surrendered with a hundred pointy swords and spears sticking at us. We were just shoved about, nothing too rough. They were as frightened of us as they were angry."

"Rose?" The hand in her squeezed, responsive for the first time.

Relief washed over her. She felt like she could actually breathe again for the first time in over an hour.

"Doctor! Are you alright? Do you know what happened?" She fired the questions at him before she noticed his eyes.

He was looking at her all funny. Dark and intense, sending a shiver through her. A shiver of what she wasn't certain.

"Doctor?" She frowned, worry filling her once more.

He sat up and with his free hand traced the cupped her cheek. She instinctively leaned into his touch. He smiled at her.

"Mine." The word was said softly, with a passionate conviction, but a gentleness as well.

The worry deepened. "Doctor, do you know where you are?"

Rose looked to Jack, who was standing up now, a frown on his face.

The Doctor turned to look at Jack as well. His face twisted, his features sharpening, something feral coming to the fore. He jumped up, pulling his hand from Rose's grasp to place it on her arm, gripping with a bruising pressure as he pulled her up to her feet and behind him.

"Mine." Now the word was a proclamation and a challenge. It was ground out through clenched teeth.

Rose gave a cry of surprise at the action and the sudden pain of the Doctor's grip on her arm.

Jack had taken a step back, his hands open, palms forward. "Right. Yours. Got it. Clear as crystal. Rose is yours and no one's gonna take her from you."

Rose caught Jack's eyes as they moved from the Doctor to her. Fear and concern were evident. She also saw that despite the non-threatening gestures he was starting to tense up for a fight. He thought she was in danger.

No. Whatever was going on she felt absolutely certain the Doctor wouldn't hurt her. He may be hurting her arm a bit, but it wasn't intentional, not aimed at her. Did he even realise he was doing it on any level?

"Jack, it's alright," she spoke the words with a forced calm. It was far from alright. Something was seriously wrong with the Doctor. But she wasn't entirely sure Jack stood a chance if things really became violent. She didn't want to see either man hurt.

"Sure it is. You're being manhandled and I'm not entirely sure the Doctor is keeping office hours right now." Jack hadn't moved back any further.

The Doctor let go of Rose's arm and started to advance on Jack with long, purposeful strides. He wasn't moving like Rose was used to seeing him move, but like some stalking jungle cat. There was grace there, but a deadly purpose that had her heart thudding in fear now.

"Jack, please. Go. He won't hurt me," she pleaded.

Too late. The Doctor actually growled and swung at Jack. Jack blocked the blow with his forearm, grunting at the impact. Rose never even saw the Doctor move. She didn't know he was capable of moving THAT fast. His hand was just suddenly around Jack's throat and lifting him up, slamming the human against the wall. Jack grasped at the Doctor's arm, struggling to even breathe.

The Doctor was looking at Jack, his head tilted a bit to the side. His eyes full of a cold fury.

"No!" Rose rushed forward, laying a gentle hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

He turned his head to look at her. She did not look at Jack. Something told her that to acknowledge him would be a mistake.

"Yours," she touched the arm holding Jack against the wall and felt nothing but unyielding tension. "Don't do this. It's okay. Doctor, let Jack go." She kept her voice low, soothing, as if she were talking to an animal, trying to use tone as much as words.

Trying for the familiar as well she took the Doctor's free hand, even though it was rigid with anger and tension, and wove her fingers with his. This was theirs, would he recognize it? The Doctor looked down at their clasped hands and relaxed.

Jack dropped to his feet again, taking in great gasps of air. Rose didn't dare look at him, even now.

"It's alright, I know I'm safe." Was she talking to Jack, the Doctor or herself? She wasn't certain.

"Come on, Doctor, lets go somewhere a bit more familiar. Do you know where you are, who you are?" She pulled his hand, leading him now that he was again focusing all on her. His eyes locked with hers, the blue had deepened in colour, and his pupils were dilated. She slowly led him by the hand, out of her room, away from Jack. She needed to try to get him to come back to himself.

The Console Room was where he tended to spend most of his time. She silently prayed it would calm him, if nothing else.

Chapter Eight: Fragile

There was something simple and basic about the hot little hand entwined with his own. Although, at the moment, simple and basic was a level he was operating on. He did not remember who he was, or where, or what the soft, singing words were that came from her mouth. But he did know her. Rose. It was a flower, a delicious smelling blossom. She was his and he was hers, and it was all just as simple as that.

The other, the male, was a threat. Too perfect, pretty, all swagger and sex and seduction that imperilled his place with the female, with Rose. A threat must be met with an equal menace. Nothing would take her away from him. She was vital, a part of him, she was needed.

She was taking him someplace. He didn't care where. Where she led, he would follow.

The yellowish light of the hall they were walking down merged with green as she led him to the womb place. This was a heart, he could feel it, hear it. This was special. Like she was. She knew what she was doing.

"Do you know where you are yet? Do you remember? Do you know who I am?" He could understand some of the words now, they were penetrating the fog that had enveloped him.

"Rose." He offered her a smile. See, he knew her.

"That's right. I'm Rose. And you're the Doctor." She had stopped leading him. It was his turn to lead.

He advanced slowly, and she backed up a few steps until the railing caught her at the small of her back. She looked surprised and a little frightened. No, he didn't want her afraid.

He leaned over her, leaving go of her hand to take hold of the railing at either side of her. There was some sort of soft padding under one of his hands, and cool metal under the other. She seemed rather small as she arched back a bit, as if she though he would hurt her.

"Rose," he repeated as he leaned forward, drawn by the scent of her. Female and heat, flower and lust, the scent of fear did not belong. He had to send it away.

Slowly he bent down, inhaling the scent at her neck, at the sweet spot where her shoulder turned to vulnerable throat. He heard her breath hitch. He drew his cheek up, along her skin, feeling the warmth, the softness, the touch of her flesh against his. Up her neck, the side of her face. His lips brushed her ear, and he felt her shiver. That was not fear he smelled. He smiled.

"Mine." The word was a breath, a promise pressed to her ear, the curve of her cheek.

Small hands on his chest, not pushing, not pulling, not moving. This was right. This was meant to be.

He nuzzled along her cheek, felt her breath on his face, breathed her in. Inhaling with her every exhale. His lips gliding over hers, the barest touch. Now they both shivered.

His mouth covered hers as he pressed his body to her. He felt her heat as his mouth took possession, letting her know that she was his. Only his. And oh, she was fire to his ice, tasting of spice and sweetness and all things female. The kiss was hungry, and he tasted her moan, swallowing it into himself, feeling the sound wrap around his nerves. He felt her softness pressed against him. Delicious. He released her mouth so they could breathe, his mind going to other places he wanted to taste, to feel. He breathed in the little gasps of air she exhaled. He could smell her arousal as surely as she could feel his.

"Doctor, please," the plea was brushed against his lips, he knew that word. Please. He could please. He could take and give and be.

But other words were coming now. Faith, and trust, desire, and love, friend and soulmate.

Other words cutting through the haze in his mind. Time, courage, anchor, heat, strength, continuance, life, past, present, tempo, tide, turn, instant, TARDIS.

"TARDIS," he murmured, stepping back. She did not follow and stood there, looking at him with those confused eyes, doe soft and full of worry.

Rose. This was Rose, and he wanted her, needed her. His grip tightened on the railing even as he fought. This was Rose and he was scaring her. He was not supposed to do this. To touch her or taste her. This was Rose and he loved her. This was Rose and she was off limits.

He let go of the railing and stumbled back, almost falling, but for the Console desk that he had backed into.

"Rose?" He was almost pleading now. What was happening? He was not like this. He had control. He was a Time Lord and something had just stripped him of himself. And Rose had borne the brunt of it. Rose and ... Jack.

His eyes widened. He had attacked Jack. His friend, the man who had been trying to protect Rose.

"I'm sorry." The words sounded small and empty in the face of the enormity of what had just happened. They were useless and empty things tumbling from his lips. But they were all he had right now.

"Doctor?" Her eyes were lighting with hope now. Joy and even love.

Oh no! Didn't the silly little girl understand?

"No." He held out his hand to ward her off. "Stay away. Something..." he tried to think, fought against the tendrils of feral lust and primitive longing. "I'm not right."

He leaned against the Console for support, seeking the TARDIS' comfort and reassurance. He felt her support in the back of his mind. But something was muffling the connection.

"Doctor, we're trying to help." Rose took a step towards him, even now so trusting and faithful.

He moved away, jumping back to place the Console between them. "No, Rose, stay away. I'm not safe."

She tilted her head, as if considering him. "You never were. But at least now you're more yourself. Do you know what happened? What's going on?"

"No. I don't know." The Doctor bowed his head. He was still not thinking clearly. He was better than before, but still... on edge. Something was stealing away his control. Stripping down his walls. Ethics, intellect, all were dissolving, leaving him bare and bleeding. He had gained some tentative control now, but for how long?

"You need to go check on Jack," he tried to sound decisive, in control. "Make sure he's alright. I'm going to the infirmary. Once I'm in there I want you, and Jack if he's up to it, to lock me in. Barricade the door."

Rose paled at this; the fear was back in her eyes. "No. You're okay now. And you wouldn't hurt..."

"Wouldn't hurt you? How's your arm?" He remembered his own possessive grip, "Jack? I would have killed him. Don't be a sentimental little fool. This isn't me. This is something dangerous. I am something dangerous. Go check on Jack and do as I say, this instant." He let the anger take him.

The fear was rising, but anger was better. He was having so much trouble controlling anything, his thoughts were getting stronger now, more his own. But not knowing what had happened meant it might happen again. He remembered, with perfect clarity what had happened while all control was gone.

Rose looked torn between doing as he said and some need to stay with him. Of course, she most likely thought if she left he might slip away again, have a relapse, or collapse.

He gripped the edge of the Console, hard, needing the strength the TARDIS leant him. He pinned her with his gaze, focused. "Go."

As she turned from him and ran back down the hallway, he didn't know if he was relieved or wanted to weep.

With slow, deliberate steps he made his way to the Infirmary. A lot of the smaller, handheld diagnostic tools were missing, but there were still plenty of other instruments and tools at hand.

His thoughts were still slow, but it was getting easier. Right, first he needed to run a blood scan.

Chapter Nine: Mystery

Rose ran back to her room, her heart pounding in her chest. Her pounding heartbeat was a combination of joy, that the Doctor was more himself; fear, that he was so afraid; and good old fashioned 'gah'. Oh, but the last few minutes had been the most erotic in her life. She was still blushing.

She found Jack before she even got to her room. He was marching down the hall with long, purposeful strides, a gun in his hand.

"Hold it right there. What do you think you're doing? You are not going shoot the Doctor." Rose blocked his way. She winced when she saw the angry red marks on Jack's neck; no doubt they'd be bruises in an hour.

"Tranquilizers." Jack held up the gun to show Rose the dart in the chamber. "I'm not going to kill him, just tuck him in minus the bedtime story."

"Well you aren't gonna shoot him with anything. You have no idea what those things will do to his system. Besides, he's better. The Doctor knows who he is and recognized me and the TARDIS. He told me to check on you, and then have the two of us barricade him in the infirmary." Rose did not like this plan, but she felt obligated to deliver the message.

Jack looked surprised. "He is feeling better then. Good. I like breathing. It's a hobby I'd like to continue." He touched the red marks on his neck before starting to march with purpose past her and down the hall.

She followed after him, her shorter legs working faster. "I not gonna let you shoot him."

"If he's lucid I don't plan on it. But I am going to do as he says and barricade the infirmary door." Jack took two lefts and a right past a metal circle stairway.

"You see, here's where I see a problem with this plan. Do you know how to fly the TARDIS?"

Jack turned to look at her. "Nope, and I don't fancy learning with a crash and burn landing. So we have to help the Doctor. We also can't let him roam the TARDIS when he could turn and attack us at any moment."

"Attack you. He didn't attack me," Rose muttered, but by then Jack was too far ahead to reply if he even heard.

There was a window in the door, and they could see the Doctor bent over a microscope.

Without a word Jack pointed a rod at the door and a small laser beam burst forth. There was the stink of burnt metal, ozone and a wisp of smoke. He'd welded the door to the frame next to the handle.

"Any luck?" Jack called through the door.

"Not particularly. Something's sending my amygdale and hypothalamus into overdrive. Whatever it is appears to also be suppressing advanced cortex functioning. I'm thinking clearly at the moment, but I'm not certain how long this clarity will last." His words were in that clipped and impatient tone that warned others to back off.

"Do you have any idea what he just said?" Rose looked hopefully at Jack.

"A bit. Something's jacked up the hormones responsible for emotional and sexual responses while inhibiting his higher brain functions, such as logic and reason."

"Sounds like someone slipped him a mickey. How much did you two drink earlier?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Ha, ha," Jack mocked flatly. "No, it's something else. I don't think it's affecting us, whatever it is."

"Let's look at this one step at a time. When did you first notice him acting off?" Rose twisted a lock of hair around her finger. "Did it just start today?"

"No. It started a few days ago I think. Would you have gambled on him swimming in the Singing Sea with us? Not that I didn't appreciate the lovely view, but he's more uptight than a Victorian Vicar when it comes to personal modesty. When he really let's his hair down he might take off the jacket. He's all armoured up in his clothes."

Rose nodded. She had been surprised on Angel's Playground as well. But they had fun, and they were all so relaxed, there was no reason to question it. Besides, like Jack, she had enjoyed the view of the Doctor in his swim trunks. It had featured in her dreams that night.

"Okay, so it was at least since then. But he'd been there before, so it couldn't have been anything there, right?" Rose chewed on her bottom lip as she thought. "Unless it was something in the air that wasn't present before. We don't know when he had been there before. Couple hundred or thousand years something new could have developed, yeah?"

"Unless whatever it is worked damn fast I'd rule out that planet as well. We were only there for a half hour before he agreed to go swimming. So it had to be from before then," Jack reasoned aloud.

"But he didn't even leave the TARDIS on Janushia Two, so it couldn't have been anything from there. Maybe something from the swamp planet. Some bug or something we dragged in with us." Rose peered through the window in the infirmary door.

The Doctor was scribbling on a clipboard and looking over a computer screen.

"A very distinct possibility. If the exterior atmospheric sensors were out, maybe the interior were wonky as well. I'm going to go run some scans on the interior atmospherics from the Consol Room. Will you be okay here?" Jack looked at the welded spot on the door. "He's pretty much locked in tight."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just go do what you can. I'm feeling useless anyway." She pushed on Jack's arm, urging him to go.

She rested her forehead against the infirmary door and pressed her hand against the cool metal. She wished she could do more to help.

Chapter Ten: Knowing

The biometric scanner could not detect a single foreign body in his system. However, his blood chemistry was way off, and he suspected his telepathic shields were a bit weak. The TARDIS would help reinforce his mental shields, but he was on his own with the rest.

The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought. He had been staring into different scanners, microscopes and data stores for hours.

Whatever was happening was acting like a very unusual allergic reaction. It couldn't be topical, as he was fairly immune to most topical irritants. Besides, he'd take a rash and a good bout of itching over this loss of control and reason any day.

"You seemed fine around Jack when I wasn't there." Rose's voice was only slightly muffled by the door. He turned and could see her looking in through the window. "Seriously, Doctor. You were all teasing and jokes, and drinking mates when I wasn't about. But you were ready start a good row because of that sleeping gas, and you did go for him in my room. Both times I was right there with you."

"And I've been around you plenty before, Rose." He moved to the door, so they were looking at each other through the glass. "It isn't you. At least not directly."

"Not directly? Hey, do your people have some weird mating cycle? I mean I told Jack you were Mr. Spock, but you haven't started to run Amok have you?" Her tone was light and teasing. She was trying to cover her worry with humour.

"I've been running amuck for centuries. And leave it to you to try to solve a problem by referencing b-rated science fiction," he made sure his tone was as light as hers. No real sting. He knew he'd scared her enough. He'd scared himself.

However, Rose did have a point. A very valid one. He'd been very annoyed with Jack and Rose's flirting at first. He'd figured the Captain as just one more pretty boy that piqued Rose's interest. Just because he felt the twinge of anger that he wasn't interesting enough for her that she had to go looking around for other company didn't mean he had to act on it. And really, it was soon apparent that Jack flirted with anyone, and it had become a game with only a hint of seriousness to it. It had been months since he'd felt that angry twinge between his hearts.

But lately it had returned. One more symptom. But what was the trigger? Not Rose herself. No, the loss of rational thought left his emotions open and bare, as well as his more base desires. It was he that became the primitive. Deep down, he perceived Rose as his. Not just his companion, his charge to be protected, but HIS. It was foolish but it was there. And lately he'd been having a hard time fighting the primitive urge to stake a claim. He had turned to cold showers to tame the desire when a few mental exercises had sufficed before.

Even now, looking at her through the glass pane in the door, she was beautiful. Not only physically, but by the depth of her compassion, the breadth of her curiosity, the heights of her mind. He stepped back from the door, feeling his skin becoming too tight once more. He wanted her, and his body was reacting once more. Hell, she even smelt like an erotic dream of flowers, sweat and musk.

His eyes shot open.

"What is it? I know that look Doctor. It's that Eureka look." Rose started to grin, relief already visible on her face.

"Eureka is Greek for 'this bath is bloody cold'," he muttered. "Rose, I want you to bring me that perfume you bought. Make sure it's sealed up tight. In fact, have Jack bring it, and have him bring some restraints. I want to test a theory."

"My perfume?" She frowned a bit, then looked suddenly quite alarmed. "You think that's what's doing this? It is my fault. Oh, Doctor, I'm so sorry."

"Rose, now is not the time for self flagellation. It's a theory and one that needs testing. Now go; do as I say. If that is the problem at least it's a simple solution."

She nodded and disappeared from sight.

It was almost a half hour later when the Doctor smelled the bitter burn of ozone and saw the smoke seep from the frame of the door. Jack entered infirmary with a delicate looking perfume bottle in one hand and a pair of wrist restraints lined with black fur. He was grinning like an idiot. The Doctor tried to ignore the bruises on the man's neck, but he felt the guilt kick in anyway.

"Been waiting for this, haven't you?" The Doctor crossed his arms.

"You betcha. Besides, don't want you hurting yourself." Jack set the bottle on the table and held out the restraints. "Nice and solid. Only opens with the right password. No locks to pick, and I'm confiscating your screwdriver."

The Doctor could have argued or insisted Jack find a normal pair of restraints, but he let it go, it was the least he could do for nearly choking the man.

Jack was looking around for something solid he could restrain the Doctor to. He finally pointed to the leg of one of the tables. The back end of the table was fused to the wall, the two legs in the front were for stability. It was metal, and sturdy looking.

The Doctor watched Jack pull a stool over for him to sit on, otherwise he'd be hunched over or seated on the floor for what Jack had in mind.

"Have a seat, Doc." Jack patted the black leather of the stool.

"Where's Rose?" The Doctor asked as he sat down and held his arms behind his back, trusting Jack to work the ridiculous looking restraints.

"I'm here." She stood in the doorway, looking uncertain, unhappy and generally distressed.

"It'll be alright," he managed to smile at her. He was fairly sure he was doing pretty well at hiding the fact that he hated the idea of being out of control again.

She just offered a watery smile in return.

The Doctor felt the fur brushing his wrists and gave an experimental pull. They seemed to work well enough.

"Okay. Time to try this little experiment." Jack opened the perfume bottle and pulled out the wand attached to the stopper. He took a step towards the Doctor, another...

The scent flowed over the Doctor in sensual waves, engulfing him; filling his lungs, his veins with a sweet, throbbing heat. His eyes darkened.

"I think..." he was about to say something, but words fled. The scent surrounding him became incidental as his eyes found the woman. Rose. She seemed to glow from within, and her face was slowly filling with dismay.

No, he didn't want her upset. He wanted her happy, with him, here, before him, beneath him, around him. She was the laughter filling the darkness, the light filling the desolation, his hope and his salvation. She was everything.

The other male, the rival, he was upsetting her somehow. The Doctor lunged forward, but his arms were pulled back. His hands were bound behind him.

"No. Don't. You'll hurt yourself." Rose was crying as she came into the room. "Jack close that up. I think we have the answer. I'll go chuck all my clothes and sheets in the washer."

The rival shook his head. "I'll do it. I just aggravate him in this state. You seem to calm him. You stay here with him until I get rid of this stuff and get your things washed out. Just don't let him loose, okay?"

The Doctor struggled to comprehend the words. He tried to focus, but they were not making the right connections in his head. But then the rival left, and Rose walked towards him, tentative. She was weeping.

"I'm so sorry, Doctor." She knelt before him, her brown eyes beseeching.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her cheek, tasting the salt tears. She gasped, but didn't pull back as his lips found hers. He pulled at the bonds holding him. He wanted to hold her. To soothe her. To make everything better. Unable to break free he let his lips and tongue do what his hands could not.

"Mine." That word had meaning. It was the word that meant her, as much as the flower word.

"Yes, yours. I just wish..." She shook her head and her warm hand cupped his cheek.

He could sense her thoughts, somehow, they were in his head. Clearer then his own. She wished it were more than some reaction to alien perfume. She wished she'd never bought it, but was perversely grateful that she'd gotten to know for a few moments what it was like to be kissed and held by him. She felt guilty because of that.

She pressed a kiss to his forehead and backed away, frustratingly out of reach.

"I'm gonna wait right over here for Jack to come back. I'm wearing that stuff. So as soon as he's back I'll go wash it all off. Hopefully you'll be back to normal soon." Her words were in a soothing tone as she moved away from him, taking her warmth, her light, with her.

Chapter Eleven: Alchimie

Rose sat on a stone bench in the arboretum. She could hear the song of birds in the treetops and the flow of water trickling past in the artificial stream. The room was the strangest mixture of Earth and alien plant life. Other than the birds there were insects and little almost squirrel like creatures making up a patchwork ecosystem. She came here every once in a while because she liked the way the plants she recognized seemed to grow in harmony with things like the bush with the bright pink leaves.

The lights in this room were cycling to dusk. The oncoming darkness seemed to suit her mood.

It had been several hours now since Jack had returned from disposing of her laundry and bedding, having vented the air from her room as well and cycling filtered air back in. He'd been very thorough. Once that was done and he had returned to the infirmary Rose had fled.

She scrubbed herself almost raw, washing away as much of the stuff as she could. She'd spent several minutes sobbing in the shower before pulling herself together.

She was upset, not only because she had inadvertently endangered the Doctor, but because she was hurt and angry as well. Hurt and angry that it was the perfume that the Doctor had been interested in, and not her. Nothing like a good sized kick to the ego. And it wouldn't have hurt so much if part of her hadn't wanted it to be real.

The rug had been well and truly pulled out from under her. Now she had to try and fall back to being best friends with the one man who meant everything to her. She had to pretend she didn't know what it was like to kiss him. That she hadn't been more affected by his kisses then whole rounds of sex with previous boyfriends.

Right now she just didn't know what to do with herself. She was afraid to see how the Doctor was doing now, if he was back to his usual self. What kind of friend did that make her?

"Hello."

She jumped at the sound of his voice, even as she turned her entire body in his direction.

There he was, looking imposing, yet at the same time as uncomfortable as she was. The Doctor had his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, his stance stiff and a bit uncertain.

"It's not your fault, Rose. You don't have to sit in here, blaming yourself." He took the few steps remaining between them and sat beside her on the bench. Close, but not touching.

"I'm glad you're feeling better then." She neatly changed the subject.

He shook his head and seemed to sigh softly. "I suppose so."

They sat in silence for a few long minutes. It wasn't the comfortable silence of shared companionship. No, this was an awkward thing settling heavily over them, despite the environmental noises.

"I think it's too late for me." The Doctor broke the silence.

"Too late for what?" Rose regarded him with open puzzlement and no little trepidation.

"For keeping an objective distance. For self preservation through emotional anaesthesia." He wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the stream running past them. "I wanted to stay over here, dry and safe as all that water rushes past. I could see it, hear it, watch it twist and eddy, and smile at all the little fish swimming in their happy oblivion below the surface. But I reached in, just to feel the water between my fingers, maybe to stop a big fish from picking on a little fish. Doesn't matter why I did it, just that it was done. Before I knew it I was up to my neck and facing the inevitable outcome of drowning."

Rose remained silent. She didn't know what to say. In fact she was still trying to puzzle out what he was saying. She knew it didn't have anything to do with the little stream running in front of them.

"I've had companions before, Rose. Nine hundred years of travelling time and space, I've picked up strays and stragglers. Only ever asked one other outright to come with me, and I got turned down. I didn't ask that one a second time." He turned to meet her eyes now. They sat only inches apart, but the emotional gap seemed miles. His words were closing that rift. "I've cared for all of them... well most of them. One or two were too annoying for words really. But I kept a certain distance. They were friends, but very rarely were they family." He closed his eyes then, a look of such intense pain came over his features at the word family. It reminded her of how much he had lost.

"I was always a bit detached. Had to be. You know the kind of decisions I have to make." His eyes bore into hers, and she knew that he was remembering locking her in with that Dalek. Yes, she knew too well the kind of decisions he often had to make. And she supported them. Even that one.

"But somehow you've brushed past that detachment. You got inside my defences into places no one has ever been before." His voice was husky with emotion, and there was a tremor of something else. Was it fear? "I tried to step back. I told myself over and over that you were another travelling companion. But you're not."

He reached out and took her hand, turning it palm up, his cool fingers traced over the lines of her palm. She was shaking now. Not certain she was hearing what he intended or what she wanted to hear.

"You've become vital. You became part of me, like the TARDIS is part of me. If nothing else came out of my reaction to that perfume, this did. It stripped away logic and reason, and left only the essence of self, the emotional part of me, what I kept hidden. I don't know if I can go on without you. And that scares me more than anything. I never needed anything or anyone." He sounded so lost.

Rose closed the little space between them. Her heart was beating furiously, and her vision misted, although she refused to let tears fully form. With her free hand she touched his jaw, making sure he didn't turn away as she leaned in to place a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. Not demanding, but reassuring. She leaned back a bit with a smile.

"I'm not going anywhere you know. I need you too. I love the adventure, and the exploration, and all that. I really do. But none of that is important without you."

He grinned at her, the fear hadn't totally fled, but there was relief there as well. They both moved in, and this time the kiss was mutual. It moved from tentative and sweet to something rich and hungry very quickly. Rose felt the Doctor's one hand at the base of her neck, as if he were afraid she would run now. His other hand was resting softly at her waist. His tongue was learning hers, engaging in a battle where everyone came out the victor. Heat gathered and pooled in her body. She felt like she was floating, yet was strangely heavy all at the same time.

Too soon the need or air caused Rose to break the kiss. She rested her forehead against his. "If this is something left over from that perfume I may have to smack you."

He gave a small bark of laughter. "Believe me, I know you've learned smacking from an expert. And I think this is left over from the perfume, just not like you're implying. It was a catalyst. Made me face up to things I was trying to avoid."

"You were avoiding me, where you?" She grinned, her tongue peeking out between her teeth.

"Not you. This. Needing you. Wanting you. Loving you."

She reared back now, looking him full in the eyes. "Loving me? Now you've gone and said it, and I'm not letting you take it back. Now you're stuck with me."

He gave a gentle smile. "And I'm so glad." She stood up and pulled him to his feet before pressing herself full against him, a hand sneaking up to bring him down to kiss her once more. She felt herself losing all sense of time and space, melting into the exquisite longing, the aching erotic pull of his mouth, the dark, sensual taste of him. Better than aged wine, darker than chocolate, his kisses made her forget herself.

It was him who pulled back this time. His eyes were dark, hungry, like they had been before, but there was also a real sense of him there was well. He was looking at her like she was everything. It couldn't be healthy for her heart to keep skipping beats like that.

Then there was a spark of something in his eyes, a sense of joy. "Come on then, the Delnusian Orb is waiting."

It took a moment for her mind to wrap around what he said as he tugged her towards the door.

"Wha..." She felt her mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"Can't spend all day snogging in the arboretum." He pulled her by their joined hands out the door and into the twisting hallway. "Did you know that the Delnusian Orb is..."

She set her feet firmly and stopped, making him stumble as he moved forward and their locked hands didn't.

"I am going to bed," she announced in a firm tone that brooked no argument. "I have been chased, tied up, nearly burnt at the stake, worried myself silly over you, and you just told me you loved me. All within the last thirty so hours without any rest, and being knocked out by gas does not count. I am going to take the next eight to ten hours to recuperate." She let go his hand and marched past him. She looked over her shoulder, "the amount of time I take depends entirely on if I'm going to be alone or not."

With that she turned the corner and sought out her own room.

Chapter Twelve: Passion

Rose was rather put out as she could not find her room. It wasn't that she was lost. She knew her was from the arboretum to her room by heart. No, her room wasn't where it was supposed to be. There was a broom closet there instead.

It was quite obvious that the TARDIS was playing tricks. And she knew why the moment she turned around and headed back the way she had come. There was the Doctor, leaning against the wall besides a door. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Something wrong?"

She narrowed her eyes. "You know very well what's wrong. Where's my room?"

"I'm sure it's around here somewhere. Maybe you took a wrong turn." He offered, all innocence.

"This isn't funny." She protested.

"Not supposed to be." He reached out and cupped her chin, tilting her face up and a second later his mouth was covering hers.

What was a slow and gentle kiss quickly became something deep, heated and passionate. His arms wrapped around her, closing the slight gap between them, and the feeling of his body pressed against hers was raw and compelling. Their mouths fused together, tongues speaking volumes without a single word. The kiss was as mind numbingly carnal as anything she had ever experienced. She was almost ashamed of the small whimper it elicited from her.

The kiss broke and she clung to him, not entirely sure her knees were in proper working order at the moment.

"My rooms right here. I wouldn't mind lending it out, since you're so tired and all." She was a bit gratified to notice he seemed a little out of breath. And as she was so intimately pressed against him, that wasn't the only evidence that he was as affected as she was.

"Yes, well, I really think I should get to bed." She traced her lips along his jaw, tasting the salt-honey of his skin. She followed the line to his ear, where she drew the lobe into her mouth and gently bit down as she sucked on it. The moan she received in response made her feel powerful as well made the heat pool low in her belly.

She heard the door open, and was vaguely aware of her legs moving, of her fingers working against clothing, of feeling flesh against flesh. Both of them were eagerly peeling cloth away from themselves, from each other, until in their frenzied rush they got tangled together and fell, briefly brushing a bed before landing on the floor. Rose knew her hip and elbow might be sore in the morning, but she couldn't help laughing. The laughter was contagious. It was part relief, part nerves and no little because they had to work themselves out of the gordeon knot of clothing they had made. Rose vowed to pay more attention next time, to avoid the accidental bondage.

They were both still chuckling when they managed to kick free of the last of their clothing., then the laughter disappeared.

"Is this real?" Rose reached out to run tentative fingers down the smooth, swimmers build of the Doctor's chest.

"As real as anything I've ever known." The Doctor cupped her chin and drew her in for another kiss. This one burned and devoured, searing itself into her soul. It turned to bones to molten jelly and seemed to reach right into her mind. To touch and stroke her soul.

His hands traced down her arms, fingertips stroking, then the back of those fingers running back up as that wonderful mouth moved from her mouth to her neck.

Never one to be passive while another did all the work, she drew her nails lightly down his sides, over his ribs, his hip bones. He groaned against her throat as his teeth grazed the tendons of her neck. Not biting, but sensitizing even as he made his mark, branding her as his.

Then the carpet was at her back as clever fingers traced unknown patterns on her skin, finding sensitive places she never knew were there, a fiery mouth following the path blazed. Her hands could only clutch and grasp at his back. She cried out and grasped at the back of his head at his brilliant mouth found and teased one begging nipple. By then there were no coherent thoughts at all. Only a primitive drive to give and take, a drive not only for passion, but to mate.

She wrapped her knees around him and twisted, bringing herself to the top, reluctantly pulling her breast from his mouth. Then it was her mouth and hands working magic on him, as he moaned and arched beneath her.

This was a time for scent, heartbeat, feel, flesh.

It was a mutual give and take, a fire that blazed out of control. By the time he sheathed himself in her she was vaguely aware of a shoe under the small of her back, and she was fairly certain it was his crumpled leather jacket under her head, adding the earthy scent of leather to the musk of sex and sweat and them.

And she was full, so full, and he touched and reached places no one ever had before. Not in the flesh, but in her heart, her mind and her soul. She was overflowing with him. They were truly one in some incomprehensible way. They were moving. Him. Her. This was the culmination of something elemental. This was meant to be.

Their movements slowed from frantic to languorous. Gliding, brushing, dancing until every molecule of flesh sang.

And then he showed her another universe of stars and she both scattered to the ether and collapsed within herself at once. She wasn't falling, she was floating, and he was there, with her, in her, supporting and loving.

It was some time later, when breath was regained and the utter satiation that left her limp and unmovable had eased just a bit that she finally reached under her and pulled his shoe from its uncomfortable place. She lifted it up and they both laughed again. The little tremors and vibrations of that laughter playing havoc on nerve endings still to raw and attuned.

"I never did get to bed." She curled on her side, into him.

"Nope, seemed to have missed it by inches." He looked up at the edge of the furnishing in question.

"It's kinda far away, isn't it?" She pouted. Nope, she didn't want to move.

"Yep. Comfortable here," he answered, pulling her to him, still slicked with sweat and heat.

"Think we'll ever make it?" she asked into his shoulder.

"Oh, yes. Again, and again, and again." She could feel his grin and she slapped ineffectually at his shoulder for his cheek.

She felt his fingers tracing circles on her back. "Rose?"

"Yeah?" She tilted her head up to look into his brilliant blue eyes.

"You don't need any perfume. You smell fantastic, all the time." He smiles softly.

"Smooth talker, you. So tell me about this Orb." She muttered sleepily.

She never did hear the answer.