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Rose hurried towards the Doctor as he strode away from the Ducal palace, and frowned. He wasn't showing any signs of rush or worry, but there was something…

"What is it?" She asked, catching up with him and slowing to a quick walk to match his long stride.

"We have to leave." The Doctor said shortly, taking Rose's hand and pulling her along.

"Why? What happened?" Rose pressed. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the palace gates opening to release a horde of white robed palace guards. "What did you do?"

"What makes you think I did something?" he asked with an injured expression.

"The large quanity of guards following us. I wasn't under the impression they followed you for fun." She said drily. He glanced over his shoulder at them and swore, pulling her down a side road. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one – a dead end with a fifteen foot wall at the end. Rose dashed back to the entrance of the side street and saw the white guards were too close for them to run now and have any chance of escape. "What did you do?" she repeated, turning to the Doctor and folding her arms.

"Refused to marry the Duke's youngest daughter." The Doctor replied, still looking around the alley-way, evaluating their chances of getting out and repeating the process when he got answers he didn't like. The houses on either side of them were three stories high, and the walls were smooth.

"So what's got you in a fuss then?" Rose asked, putting a hand on his arm. He looked down at it before pulling away and returning to his search for an exit. "Normally you wouldn't care if you're legging it from guards trying to defend a stuck-up princess' dignity."

"I don't." He said shortly.

"So why are you pissed off?" Rose pressed. He spun and looked hard at her.

"Just leave it, okay Rose?" She shrugged, recognising a lost cause.

"Whatever." She glanced back out of the alley way, and saw the guards splitting up to search the sideroads that branched off from the main road every seven metres or so. "Well, we better do something soon, or we're going to have company."

"How many?" he asked tersely.

"Three are going down each side road, but if they find you I imagine there'll be more." She glanced out of the sidestreet again, and smiled as a couple across the road gave her inspiration, and the memory of saving Jimmy Stones' ass that one time, before she realised just how much trouble he was in. "Look, I know how we can get out of this." The Doctor turned to her.

"Oh? Because I'm all out of ideas." The sounds of the guards measured tramping footsteps was fast approaching.

"Well, you've noticed how modesty is practically a null point on this planet, right?" she asked, moving quickly to his side and pushing him back against the wall.

"Rose-"

"It'll work, just don't look at them. And take off the jacket, no one wears leather on this planet. Trust me." She pulled his jacket off him and tossed it into the shadowed corner of the wall before putting her hands on his shoulders and gently touching her lips to his. He didn't respond, and she pulled back. "Doctor?" she whispered. The guards were nearly upon them. "If this is gonna work you've gotta kiss me back." He gave her an odd look, but then nodded. She kissed him again, and he reciprocated, his arms going around her waist pulling her closer to him. She flicked her tongue against his closed lips and he parted them, allowing her tongue access. Her hands ran down his chest and down to the waistband of his black jeans, then back up to his neck, pulling his head closer to hers as she deepened the kiss.

Kissing him wasn't like kissing anyone else, and she had kissed an awful lot of people. He almost fought her while kissing, his tongue warring with hers and his hands tight on her hips. His leg nudged hers apart and his hard thigh pressed against her sex, and she whimpered against his mouth.

"Hey!" she turned her head to face the three white guards who stood in the alleyway. The Doctor buried his face in her neck, hiding from the guards. His tongue flicked against her neck and then he blew softly over the spot, and Rose swallowed, her hand tightening on his neck.

"Yes?" she asked, rather hoarsely. The Doctor pulled her tighter to him, his thigh pressing harder against her. She bit her lip to prevent herself from moaning out loud.

"Have you seen a man come past here?" the guard demanded. The Doctor nipped at the dip where her neck met her shoulder and she took a sharp breath.

"I've seen plenty of men." She commented, her hands slipping to the Doctor's waistband again. "What does the one you're looking for look like?" Her fingers slipped under his shirt and traced small patterns against his cool skin.

"Short dark hair, big nose and ears." The guard said bluntly. "Calls himself the Doctor." Rose shook her head slightly.

"No, I havent seen him." she said, and let out a shuddering breath as he ground his hips against hers. "Though I cant say I've been looking." The guard gave a tight little smile.

"No, you wouldn't be. And your lover hasn't seen anyone?" Rose scratched her thumbnail against his skin and he shook his head.

"Nope." His voice was muffled, but the guard took that answer as good enough, and the three of them marched away. The Doctor took his head away from her neck and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth, his grip on her not relenting as his thigh ground into her sex.

"Doctor." She gasped against his mouth. "We have to go." He pulled back slightly, though didn't let go of her. Their eyes locked and Rose rose up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his mouth, her arms twining around his neck once again.

"Did you get a look at the man she was with?" The Doctor started to pull away at the sound of the guard's voice so close, but Rose tightened her grip and shook her head slightly.

"Don't." She whispered. "Just listen." He wasn't making it very easy for her to listen, she thought, though with no annoyance. The thigh pressed against her centre and what he was doing with his mouth was making it very difficult for her to concentrate.

"No, but it doesn't really matter." The guard said with certainty. "The girl was fairly beautiful, he never would have scored a girl like her. Not with his looks. It wasn't him. Plus he wasn't wearing the jacket." The Doctor released her mouth, and the two of them looked at the entrance cautiously. The guards marched on and the Doctor released her and pushed her gently away.

"Good idea. Let's go." He strode off, and she hurried to catch up him, her heart still pounding from their…encounter.

"Doctor?" she asked, almost shyly.

"Look, just forget it. It was just an idea to get us out of trouble, which we're still going to be in unless you hurry up. So come on!" she followed him in silence, not knowing what to say. There was no sign of the white guards as they hurried to the TARDIS.

They got to it and inside without any problem, and Jack looked up as they walked in.

"Hi guys! You're a bit late, arent you?" he asked with a grin. Rose gave a weak smile and hurried on from the control room, heading towards her bedroom. She smiled again as she heard Jack's question just before she went out of earshot.

"What did you do?"

&

Jack knocked softly on the door and let himself in when there was no answer. Rose was sat on her bed, a pillow hugged against her chest, tears leaving black mascara trails down her cheeks.

"Hey there." He said softly. She looked up to him and smiled slightly.

"Hi." She sniffed, and wiped at the mascara tear-trails, but only succeeded in smudging them further. "What's up?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you the same question." Jack smiled. "Mind if I sit down?" She nodded and patted the bed beside her. He sat down and looked over at her. "So? What's wrong?"

"Has the Doctor said anything?" She asked. Jack shrugged.

"Not a lot. He just gave me his injured look, like he does when he feels wronged."

"Wronged." Rose sighed and shook her head. "Yeah, whatever."

"I can guess some of what happened, but I'd need you to fill me in." she looked over at him and raised her eyebrows. "You and the Doctor kissed. Then something happened to piss him off and leave you." Rose rolled her eyes.

"How'd you get that from him storming in and me coming in here?" she asked curiously.

"Because he was pissed off, and you had swollen lips and red cheeks. Plus you looked confused." Rose's hand went to her mouth.

"I did?" she asked. Jack laughed.

"Must have been one hell of a kiss." Rose punched his arm.

"Oy." She said, sticking out her tongue.

"Well, I'm glad one of us is getting some action with dear old Doc." Jack grinned and Rose laughed. "So? You two got it on and then what happened?"

"Well, there were guards coming, which was why we were kissing in the first place." She explained. "The guards were looking for him because he'd refused to marry the Duke's daughter, so we were heading back for the TARDIS when the guards came. Anyway, when the guards were leaving after asking me if I'd see him, one asked the other if he'd seen the Doctor's face, and he replied that he hadn't but it didn't matter since the Doctor wouldn't have scored a girl who looked like me. Then the Doctor just got really pissed off and ran off." She shrugged.

"Yeah, but you know what he's like about comments about his looks." Jack pointed out. Rose nodded.

"Yeah, but…I would've used that trick if the guards were looking fro you, but no offense - I wouldn't have kissed you like that." Jack smirked.

"Touche." He commented. "He's just worried that you only kissed him to get him out of trouble, that you don't actually like him."

"That's ridiculous!" Rose exclaimed. "For a start, that kind of kissing does not go on if I'm only trying to save someone's skin! Secondly…I've been dropping hints like anvils about how I feel about him, and he still hasn't got it?"

"He's a guy, Rose." Jack said solemnly. Rose rolled her eyes.

"For Christ's sake, though!" Rose hugged the pillow tight to her and leaned her head on Jack's shoulder. He had really comfy shoulders. Jack laughed.

"Oh, Rose. How long have you been dating?"

"Five years." She muttered.

"And you still havent learnt?" he shook his head and rose from the bed. "Rose, you're a muppet."

"You can't call me a muppet!" she protested. "That's not even an American phrase!"

"What can I say? I learn. Unlike some. I gotta go try and refix the tertiary calibrator the Doctor keeps breaking. Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Rose smiled. "It's not like it's the first time I've been knocked back." Jack rolled his eyes.

"He doesn't mean it like that, honey. You'll see." He ruffled her hair and then left. Rose sighed and closed her eyes, wishing he was right.

&

Rose woke slowly, hearing someone else in her room. She lay very still, and cracked her eyes open blearily. It was still dark in her room, indicating that it was still night, or what passed for it on the TARDIS. She opened her eyes further and saw the Doctor standing there, just in front of the door, watching her.

"Doctor?" She pushed herself to a sitting position. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?" He nodded reassuringly, and Rose fell back to her pillows, burying further under the duvet. How he could stand there only in sweatpants without a shirt in her freezing room she didn't know.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly. She nodded.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Jack said you were upset earlier." The Doctor replied. Rose sighed.

"He talks too much." She reluctantly left her warm spot in the bed and wiggled backwards and flipped the covers back. "Come on, you must be freezing." He hesitated a moment before doing as he was told and slipping into her bed, drawing the covers back over him and to a lesser extent, her. She wriggled closer to him, basking in his warmth and the remnants of her warm spot and sighed. Much better.

She could feel his hand on her hair, gently stroking it back away from her face, and she smiled slightly. It had been a long time since they had last shared a bed – the last time had been after the mess with her dad, when she'd been in floods of tears for hours and the Doctor had just laid down next to her and hugged her until she fell asleep. It wasn't exactly the same thing now, but still, having him to herself again, whether tangled in this whole emotional mess or not, was a nice change.

Rose scooted closer, and the Doctor wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly to him and pressing a kiss to the top of head. She leaned her forehead against her chest and inhaled, taking in the familiar scent of him.

"Look, about earlier," he began. Rose shook her head with a soft groan.

"I've forgotten it like you told me to." She interrupted. He took her chin in one hand and tipped it up so she was looking up at him.

"I was wrong." He smiled slightly before ducking his head and kissing her gently. Rose immediately straightened out, lifting her head so she could reach his mouth better. His hands slipped from her head down her sides to her hips, holding her to him.

Like she was going anywhere, Rose thought ruefully. Not this time.

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