"What do you mean, 'you lost one

"What do you mean, 'you lost one?' They were in solitary confinement!" Rose knew getting upset would do no good, but when the former occupant of the charming jail-cell-turned- romantic-getaway is on the loose, it just makes you feel better to yell a bit. The Warden-turned-concierge floundered for the correct thing to say before sagging visibly.

"Sorry," he settled for lamely. Much to his surprise, Rose seemed to have written him out of the room and had rounded angrily on the Doctor.

"You knew." Fire flashed behind her eyes to undermine her now calm voice. "What did he do-start a genocide? That the real reason we're here, isn't it?!"

"No! I didn't know," the Doctor was cut off in his attempt to defend himself by Rose's derisive laughter. "If I had a Time Lord for every time you made that outrageous claim…"

"You'd have a whole pantheon of boring?"

"What's a Time Lord?"

Both Rose and the Doctor turned to the warden/concierge. Simultaneously, they decided to change the subject.

"What was he in for, anyway?" the Doctor asked.

"Um…" the warden regretted calling attention to himself. He hazarded a glance at the file on his desk. "Matchmaking." Rose looked incredulous.

"Matchmaking?" She pressed the matter, desperate to know the reason behind her recent lack of control. "Alright, it's annoying when someone butts into your business, but hardly a jail-able offence."

"It is the way he did it," the warden assured her. "See, the Komenians are a race that has, for generations, spurned emotion." The Doctor rolled his eyes in sympathy. "This particular prisoner, Tankus, developed a chemical that, when introduced to a Komenian, would, ultimately, kill them unless they were to give into their emotions. Unfortunately, Tankus underestimated the levels of their control. Instead of liberating a species, he killed dozens before being caught."

"You mean…it was like…shag or die?" Rose asked. Everything had clicked in her head. "Wait…what was he doing in his cell? All alone for so long, how did he pass the time?"

"I believe, from the chemical supplies he requested, he was looking to perfect the solution. It would hardly matter if he did, though, he was never to be released, so could never use it."

"But he's escaped. And people will live in his cell for the next ten years. There's no telling what he could have done to it!"

"Our systems won't allow a Komenian to enter that building. And, despite the textbooks he's been given access to, it's impossible that he would have sufficient information to begin to work on another species. After all, neither of you have had any effects from staying there, have you?"

"Nope," the Doctor popped the 'p' quite innocently and turned to study Rose, who had turned a rather alarming shade of scarlet.

"'Course not." She said, and quickly searched for a means to divert attention from herself. "But now he's loose. There's no telling what he could do."

"Good point." The Doctor took control of the conversation, and Rose was glad for the shift of attention from her. "Are there any Komenians currently checked in?" The warden checked his computer.

"It's not uncommon for them to come and study our native flora," he explained while typing on something that resembled a keyboard, but, instead of letters or numbers on the keys, they were each distinguished by a color. "Yes. Two checked in last night."

"Where is their room?" the Doctor demanded, but the warden was already on his feet and sprinting towards the door.

When the three of them skidded to a stop in front of another secluded cabin, the Doctor raised his hand, wielding the sonic screwdriver. Rose reached out to stop him and motioned for silence. From inside the cabin came the unmistakable sounds of passion.

"I fixed it!" A blue and teal, newt-like creature came out from behind some bushes. "They can be free!" He turned to the warden. "I just had to test it. I knew that it wouldn't kill them this time." He held out the appendages that he wasn't using to walk on for the cuffs that the warden was holding. "I know I'm not done yet. I must get back to my work. There are so many others that deny themselves the most important connection a sentient being can experience. You can take me back now. I must still pay for my previous failures." Though Tankus seemed to be speaking to the warden, his eyes flickered between Rose and the Doctor with an unreadable expression on his face. Finally, he smiled. "Cherish it." He told them as he was led off. Rose and the Doctor watched the two leave, mute in amazement as to how little their assistance was required.

"Did he just turn himself in?" Rose asked, incredulously.

"Yup," the Doctor's 'p' was barely pronounced.

"Can he do that?"

"Apparently."

The warden and Tankus disappeared into the main building of the jail. The Doctor took his eyes of the doors and focused on Rose. When Rose noticed his scrutiny, she colored.

"How many makes it worth it, do you think?" she queried softly.

"Sorry?"

"He did that to help the Komenians. For a whole species. But…if he saw two people, just random people on the street, that were nuts for each other, d'you think he'd try again? Just for them?" her voice was hushed, intimate, and she didn't break eye contact. Had Tankus prepared similar chemicals for other, less inhibited species for those who were too blind to see what was right before them?

"If they were both in love with the other, I don't think he'd hesitate." The Doctor searched Rose's eyes for some hidden answer to a mystery Rose didn't even know she was hiding, but Rose had blinked and shut herself off from his gaze.

"Right. Both of them," she repeated, sounding slightly dejected.

They spent the remainder of the day exploring the lake front. Rose was enchanted when the found a chain of caves that had formed and continued to form due to the freezing and melting of the lake. Lush moss lined the floor and walk for the first twenty feet or so and the water dripping into an underground pool echoed into a haunting melody. The Doctor spread his coat on the moss in the same way he'd done on New Earth, and they sat. Rose leaned into his one armed embrace and smiled wistfully as the second sun set.

As the lilac of twilight dwindled towards black, a thought struck Rose.

"Doctor? How dark, exactly, does it get at night?"

"Oh, almost completely black. Practically no light at all, he said, cheerfully.

"Oh," Rose paused. "Doctor? How are we supposed to get back?"

"Ah."

The Doctor led her very carefully over the rocky landscape. His left hand rested on the small of her back, and his right hand crossed his body to hold hers. Rose was conscious of the way their hips brushed with nearly every step. So focused was the Doctor on ensuring Rose did not fall, that he occasionally forgot to watch his own step and stumbled. Whenever this happened, Rose would catch and stable him. The third time this happened she giggled and chided him.

"People'd think I'm the one with superior eyesight, Doctor," she teased. "If you don't take care, well be stuck here, 'cause you'll break your leg, and I can't see to go anywhere until morning." Rose couldn't see the properly chastised look on his face, nor could she tell that he seemed to soften at her concern, a surprised tenderness flashing through his eyes.

"As you wish" were his only words. Rose's eyes sprang to where she estimated his were and cursed the darkness, desperate to know what meaning his words might have. Their journey continued through the inky forest and, after several minutes of uncomfortable musings on her part, Rose asked him a question.

"Doctor, do you ever watch movies?"

"Sure! I used to go to the Prezurian Film Festival once a decade or so," he enthused. Rose almost let it drop at that, except that, moments later, the Doctor pulled her to a halt. "Wait here," he murmured in her ear before letting her go. The chill air of the night rushed in to take his place at her side.

Without the aid of sight, Rose found herself depending more on sound for information and, in return, paying it more attention than was usual. There was the soft rustle of the Doctor's suit as he moved, a scrape and scuffle. Then, the Doctor's hands reappeared against her. One on either side, beneath her arms. Rose's breath caught at the unexpected contact. The Doctor lifted her maybe an inch and drew her close. The fact that he must be about two feet beneath her flitted across her thoughts, but was succeeded by such monumental observations like the way his breath puffed against her stomach and how her hips were pressed against his chest. He lowered her with a delicious slowness that set every nerve on fire where he brushed her skin. She heard his breath hitch; she felt his pulses race against her hands; she smelled his musk; she tasted the tang of his arousal when she breathed in. She was empowered by his reaction.

"What did they show at the Prezurian Film Festival?" Rose's voice was pitched low, husky.

"Oh, the classics. Well, they called them classics," the Doctor babbled in an effort not to seem affected. "They were Earth movies from the late twentieth century."

"They ever show anything American?" Rose continued to speak in seductive tones quite confident that his voice wasn't usually quite that high.

"A few." The Doctor was nearly squeaking, now.

"When I was a kid, I hated being named after a flower. But then I saw this one film, and I was just glad mum had had the sense to not name me Buttercup," she declared. When the Doctor's hearts skipped a beat, Rose knew she'd been right on the money. The Doctor stilled and regarded her, as she smirked in the starlight. He seriously considered swooping down and stealing that smirk, but he noticed a shiver run down Rose's spine as the wind picked up.

He resumed his place at her side and their trek began once more.

As they neared the cabin, Rose's mind retuned to Tankus' experiments. A 'shag or die' scenario seemed a bit extreme, but for some people, she supposed, it might be the only way to make them give into feelings rather than reason. The Doctor, for instance, might never choose to act on the attraction between them. She became more sure everyday of its mutuality. Once again, the Doctor fiddled with the environmental controls. Although she hadn't paid much attention the first time, Rose was fairly certain that he had raised the level of something. With any luck, it would break her out of this haze that smothered her inside the cabin. Tankus may not have had access to human physiology, but there was no telling how similar human and Komenian biochemistry was.

Almost as if it were grateful to be out of the dormancy it had been held in throughout the day, the lust Rose had been keeping in check leapt back into the mix with a vengeance the moment the front door closed behind her. Rose almost moaned as her knees grew unsteady and heat pooled between her thighs. It should be impossible to get this worked up with no stimuli, Rose mentally complained.

His hand wrapped around hers, the Doctor led Rose into the kitchen where she gratefully sank into a chair at the table, relieved at no longer having to focus on staying upright. She became aware of the Doctor chattering away, as it appeared he had been doing for some time.

"The most interesting aspect of his compound is that it somehow focused the biological drive of sex with emotional attachment. As most sentient life forms do, his compound was able to concentrate on one individual as the most desirable, though it's not necessarily the strongest or healthiest." By this point, Rose had been able to realize that the Doctor was marveling over Tankus' work. "Emotional compatibility has little to do with biology. Somehow his chemical increases the biological urge, but only as it relates to a specific subject, each different depending on who has been given the compound. For instance, if you had somehow come in contact with a version that is compatible with your physiology," Rose almost rolled her eyes at the irony inherent in that statement. "and weren't here with me, but rather with Mr. Mickey-"

"I'd be completely unaffected, yeah?" Rose tried to hurry the conversation along. It was only after the Doctor stared at her for several moments that Rose realized the ramifications of what she'd said.

"Are-" the Doctor licked his lips. "Are you affected now?" His voice was hesitant, but pleading. Rose realized that the ball was well and truly in her court. She could deny what her body was doing to her, and things would go on as they always had, or she could own up to the images that were, even now, tumbling through her brain.

As a response, Rose stood and walked around the table to him. Something like hope began to gleam in his eyes. She leaned down so that her face was level with his and rested a hand the counter just behind him, so that one arm was on either side of him, hemming him in, filling his nostrils with her scent, and sending his skin tingling with her presence. Leaning down so that their faces were on the same level, Rose knew that if he were to look straight ahead, he would be able to see down her shirt. He swallowed reflexively, and Rose was distracted by the movement of his Adam's apple…or whatever the Gallifreyan equivalent was. She dipped her face lower and quickly snagged a taste of his skin there. Her eyes snapped back up to his and she pressed her lips to his. The haze released its hold on her then, and she was glad to be able to fully experience the way his lips curled against hers just before he returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her down into his lap.

"I've wanted to do that since we came to this place," Rose told him when they broke apart.

"Only since then?" the Doctor prompted with a knowing smile.

"Well, I've wanted to practically since I met you, but it's been…I dunno, almost uncontrollable since we got here." Rose wasn't entirely aware of what she was saying since the Doctor was nuzzling the shell of her ear, but she was fairly certain that she had at least stayed on subject.

"I suppose I can turn it off then," the Doctor said, running his fingers along her spine.

"Turn what off?"

"The compound. I've been having the atmospheric controls pumping it in."

"Doctor, it doesn't work on humans."

"I may have visited him twenty years from now and given him the knowledge he needed of humans."

"Why?" The Doctor realized that not only had Rose stilled in his arms, but stiffened. His next sentence could, she seemed to be saying, go very badly for him, or very, very well.

"I needed to know how you felt," he explained in a rush. "I told you. It only works on someone you…care about." He tenderly brushed a strand of hair back from her face. "I can't do this if it doesn't mean anything. I don't think I'd survive it when you left if I'd let this happen." A smile had grown on Rose's face as he spoke.

"Ever heard of asking?" she teased

"Because that wouldn't be awkward at all," he groused. Rose drew a hand down along his collarbone, over his chest, grazing a nipple in the process, past his stomach and let her fingers barely touch the fabric of his pants where a tent had been pitched.

"I could decide to be angry," she told him severely. "I could walk out of here and then who'd be in an awkward position?" On the word 'awkward' Rose applied pressure with her wayward hand and rubbed along his erection.

"You win!" he gasped. "I'm a terrible person and deserve the harshest punishment for my crimes!"

"I may be able to oblige," Rose purred. She recaptured his lips and raised her hands so that one could lace through his hair while the other gripped the knot of his tie. It was gratifying that when she began to stand, he followed, keeping their contact intact. His tongue invaded her mouth with the confidence of a warlord surveying his spoils after a period of besiegement that has made him familiar with what is now finally his. He didn't need to coax Rose into returning the favor, because the moment his lips parted, she took the opportunity to explore.

Using his tie as a leash, she pulled him down the hall towards the bedroom. Rose stopped the Doctor with gentle pressure to his chest at the door to the bedroom.

"So…let me get this straight: if I don't shag you now, this chemical will not only eventually kill me, but apparently drive me mad in the meantime?" she asked, pointedly ignoring his smug grin. The Doctor shrugged, still smirking.

"No telling. Seeing as how Tankus knew my purposes, he might not have made it lethal. But since this is the first time it's been tested, who knows?" Rose would later swear that at this point, the Doctor actually leered. She would have smacked him for his cheek if it hadn't been so damn sexy. "Do you really want to risk it?" he continued. Breathless, Rose shook her head, and the Doctor triumphantly lowered his lips to hers.

Rose found herself pressed up against the door. She felt surrounded by the Doctor, a fact that was reassuring, comfortable, as close to relaxing as it could be while, at the same time, being entirely arousing. Her hands found their way beneath his jacket to dance over his shoulders and back, while one of his stroked the side of her neck and his other fumbled at the panel, seeking access. The door sprung open without warning and Rose nearly fell backwards, only saved by the Doctor's sudden grip wrapping around her and pulling her close, scarcely allowing room for breath. He walked her backwards, tentatively, until the backs of her knees hit the bed, his mouth never ceasing exploration. On this slow journey, Rose managed to divest him of his jacket and vest. The need that now coursed through her veins was entirely her own, sharpening each moment, far from the drug-induced haze that had clouded her body and thoughts for the past…was it only two days?

Rose knew that the Doctor had been far too busy to order the building to stop dosing her, but the chemical seemed to have released its hold when it determined that its goal was being realized. Or maybe it was just wearing off. Or maybe it was losing its potency. Or maybe it was just flawed. Rose had too many sensations and images bombarding her mind to pursue any of these lines of thought.

The Doctor's hands had trailed down to her hips and his thumbs were toying with the skin above her waistband, pushing her shirt up just a few inches. He drew his hands up from where they were resting, pushing the shirt as they rose ever higher. His fingers skittered along her ribs and made Rose squirm. The Doctor grasped the hem of her shirt and pulled it off. Rose sought the buttons of his shirt to even the playing field, but he seized her wrists and held her still, his eyes raking over her. With trembling fingers he unclipped the front-fastening, plain beige bra. The cups fell apart, and the Doctor pushed the straps down her arms until the garment fell to the ground behind her. He brought his lips to brush against the shell of her ear as he whispered.

"You embody perfection."

He watched appreciatively as a charming flush suffused Rose's face, neck and chest.

But the Doctor couldn't maintain this period of stillness for long. Gently, he pushed her down onto the bed and was pulled down with her by his tie. While he braced his weight on his hands in order to not crush her. Rose took advantage of the way he was holding himself almost immobile above her and finally rid his upper body of clothes. After a brief perusal of the newly revealed skin by her fingers, Rose raised herself on one elbow and took his nipple in her mouth. She grinned at the way he gasped as his arms buckled. With eyes as curious and abnormally large as a newly hatched owl, the Doctor blinked down at her.

"Minx," he growled before dipping his head and returning the favor she had bestowed on him. Rose's fingers clenched his shoulders as his tongue swirled around the dusky tip before expertly applying suction. Rose groaned as she rolled her hips up into his. The short pants the Doctor was reduced to were almost as satisfying as the speed with which he completed the task of undressing them both.

Rose had had enough of the slow. The last two years had been slow. The last two days had been slower still. So many times, she and the Doctor had come close to crossing that boundary, but one of them would always jump back from the "High Voltage" sign, afraid of a few sparks. She was fairly certain that they had now crossed the point of no return, but refused to risk it. She rolled the Doctor onto his back and straddled his hips sparing only the briefest second to both gauge his reaction-very pleasant surprise- and to memorize the sight of him panting below her, before lowering herself onto him. She breathed out as their hips met, a sigh that encompassed almost every emotion it is possible to have: contentment, love, relief, longing for this to never end, regret that it had taken so long, and fear that it might not last. From the look on his face, though, Rose knew she had achieved her end, though: there was no going back. The bridge had been burned, its ashes scattered by the wind.

It had been entirely too long for both of them. Rose felt as though every nerve had come alive. Pleasure dominated over the pain of being opened fully after being neglected for too long by any thing other than fingers and cold devices. She held herself still as her muscles spasmed before adjusting to this long forgotten sensation. The Doctor was very grateful for the moment to collect himself. Each twitch of her muscles caused his control to disappear. She was so much warmer that he'd expected, and the sight of her straddling him was one he hoped to see frequently. He hadn't thought he'd be able to be so passive so soon after the War. The few times his previous incarnation had taken empty solace in the bodies of others, he had always needed to be in control. The Doctor now knew how much Rose had succeeding in healing him until this moment when she was confidently asserting her power over him. This feeling of complete abandon let him experience what it was to be freed to sensation rather than trapped by his past.

Rose rocked her hips, causing the Doctor to buck up into her yielding warmth which was wetter than he'd believed it would be. She lifted herself off of him until his head was barely nestled in her opening and plunged back onto him.

Superior physiology be damned, the Doctor thought, this girl will be the death of me. He was straining for release, fighting through to euphoria, but fighting to hold it back. Rose's rhythm above him was growing more erratic, and he knew that she was close. He reached one hand up to her breast and pinched her nipple, rolling it between his fingers. She shuddered and faltered before regaining her pattern. His second hand snaked between their forms, and he pinched her clitoris without any preamble or pretense of gentleness. Rose screamed and came around him, the Doctor following seconds later. When she collapsed onto his chest he cradled her tenderly. Laying kisses to her brow, eyelids and cheeks, he brought her back to reality. A place that had never before seemed as glorious as it did in that moment.

"Just in case I wasn't clear, I love you." Rose murmured, rolling off of him so that they could curl around each other.

"Rose Tyler. You are more precious to me than anything in the universe, and I do love you. Never forget that." His eyes bored into hers, as though drilling the memory into her mind. Rose smiled and kissed him.

"I don't intend to." She was silent for a moment, but a thought soon occurred to her that needed to be voiced. "Can we send Tankus a gift basket or something? Or will they confiscate that at this prison?"

"All he would want is to know that we're happy." The Doctor informed her fondly, before his grin became lascivious. "Maybe we can send him a video."