Title: The First Step

Rating: Teen

Summary: Who knew a Dalek could play Cupid for Rose and the Doctor? Set immediately after 'Dalek'.

Author's Note: There was a line the Dalek said to the Doctor while it held Rose hostage that I wanted to explore a little. I was a little surprised it wasn't mentioned and talked about afterward in the episode, so I wrote this.

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The Doctor lay on his four-poster with his hands behind his head, staring up into his darkened ceiling. So emotionally drained was he that he hadn't even bothered to change. After leaving Van Statten's 'Museum of Horrors', he set the Tardis to just orbit the time-space lanes until he, Rose and…Adam could come to a consensus as to their next destination. After that was done, he'd shown Adam to one of the many spare rooms, said a curt 'Good Night' to Rose and went to his own room.

His head hurt with everything that had happened: finding that monster, watching in horror as it rampaged through the complex, and the numbing dread at knowing he'd been responsible for Rose's death – or so he thought at the time.

Even through all that, with Death staring her right in the face, Rose had still proclaimed it wasn't his fault, that she wouldn't have given up being with him for all the world…and then some. The screeching cry of the Dalek, as well as its weapon going off still rang in the Doctor's skull.

The irony of the whole episode was that the final battle between the last two survivors of the definitively last Great Time War came down to a battle of words. His utter mad ranting at the Dalek, telling it to kill itself, to rid the universe of its filth. And it – it had the audacity to calmly say, "You would make a good Dalek."

He could still feel the savage glee as he had electrocuted it, while hearing its cries to 'pity' it. How many worlds were conquered by his race? How many races were destroyed outright in the Dalek's mad rush to annihilate anything different than them? In the very end though, there he was, locked and loaded, ready to blow it away, and there it was, completely helpless, trying to feel - of all things - a ray of sunshine.

Rose had a point: what was he turning into?

A quiet knock at his door raised him from his dark musings. He switched on a light just as Rose opened the door. She stood there in boxers and a simple white shirt.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Rose pointed with her thumb behind her. "I was just heading to bed…wanted to see how you were doing."

The Doctor shrugged but didn't say anything, eyes still on the ceiling. Rose sighed and took a few steps in.

"Doctor, I told you: it wasn't your fault." Still nothing. Rose bit her lip and took another step. "If there's anyone to blame for what happened, it should be me." The Doctor frowned and looked over. She continued, "Do you know what it said to me, right after you thought I died? It told me that we – the Dalek and I – were responsible for what happened. It was my touching it that brought it to life."

The Doctor shook his head in disgust. "But I'm the one who egged it on, I'm the one who tortured it…I'm the one who closed the bulkhead…"

"Doctor," Rose interrupted. "Can't we just say we're both at fault and leave it at that?"

The Doctor blew a noisy breath, closed his eyes and with an air of finality said, "Good night, Rose."

Rose stood there for several moments, not moving. She turned her head to head back out the door, but stopped, a thoughtful expression on her face. Then, slowly, she walked over to the bed and stood over the Doctor.

She cleared her throat. "Wanted to ask you something before I go…about what was said earlier." Still the Doctor's eyes were closed and he said not a word. Rose took a deep breath and plunged on:

"Do you?" she asked quietly.

The Doctor made a face. "Do I what?"

"You know…"

Finally, the Doctor's eyes snapped open and he irritably glanced over. "Rose, I'm a Time Lord, not Professor Xavier, I don't read minds. So, please?"

Rose rolled her eyes, mumbled something about 'men' and 'thick skulls' and said, " 'What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?' "

The Doctor stiffened, hearing the Dalek's words thrown at him. Rose said, "I really couldn't say much then, what with a gun pointed at my back and all. But now that things have calmed down, I just…wanted to know."

The Doctor, chagrined, looked away. Then, a very slight but definite tinge colored his cheeks. Rose couldn't believe it; the Doctor was blushing like a schoolboy! He could face Daleks, Slitheen, the walking dead and whatever other nasty, vile and dangerous things the universe could throw at him. But when it came to discussing his feelings…well, maybe there were some universal constants out there, especially when it came to the males of whichever species you happened to be talking about.

Before the Doctor could say anything, Rose shushed him, nudged him aside, got into bed and pulled the covers up to her chest so she could keep warm. She then leaned over, shut off the light and sidled up next to him, her head on his chest. After a moment, she felt his arms enfold and hold her, the sound of his double heartbeat oddly soothing. She knew they would have to talk about it eventually, but for now…

It was definitely a start, definitely a step in the right direction. Rose smiled at a thought:

Wouldn't it be ironic that a Dalek, a homicidal creature whose sole purpose was to hate and destroy, be the one thing to give the two of them a big clue as to what they felt for one another?

Sleep finally took over, and Rose slept…and she dreamed.

FIN