A/N: Good lord this part has been like pulling teeth… first page written the day after I posted the last part… and then came Primeval and I swear it's not my fault - Abby had my muse at gunpoint and refused to let her go. In the honour of tonight's absolutely FABULOUS episode of Series 6 (loved the Doctor's Wife.. Just loved it), Abby has kindly seen to the return of my muse for a quick moment in time. No, this is not the final part. Yes, there will be a final part - possibly the next one! And yes, I promise it won't be quite as long between this update and the next. :D

Disclaimer: I so obviously don't own Doctor Who; I just like to borrow the characters and mutate their inner voices. Please don't sue, my house is small, my car is useless and my dogs are pains in the arse, but they're all I have.

Scientific Method

Part 6: Inconclusive Results

By: Danae Bowen

As she opened her eyes on a beautiful London Sunday morning, Rose Tyler realized that she wasn't as young as she used to be. In her teenaged years, Rose could drink most people under the table and barely felt it the next morning, today, however, her head throbbed painfully and she found herself immensely grateful for the glass of cool water waiting by her bedside.

She crossed the small flat to the washroom, and lifted off the little black dress that she'd slept in, making a mental note to ask her mum to have it laundered and dropped around Sharine's in the next week. She turned on the water to the shower, and as she was stepping into the warm steam she caught sight of the dark marks on her legs. Three distinct finger prints and a thumb print on each thigh, plus the half moon of a fingernail where the last digit failed to bruise. She winced at the purpling spots, and struggled to remember exactly what she'd gotten herself into the night before.

She tried to relax herself standing under the hot spray, lathering her hair, letting her muscles loosen, hoping the heat would ease the pounding in her head. She found it odd that she wasn't more... twitchy. When she was young and something like this had happened, a random bloke in a random club got too grabby and left her uncomfortable, she'd always come awake the next morning with a crawling feeling going down her spine, a mixture of a little guilt and a load of self loathing at having put herself in such a position. This morning, however, she found herself comfortable, almost calm. Odd that.

She climbed back out of the shower and wrapped her towel around her body, loving her mum for the over sized piece of terry cloth that covered her softly. She towel dried off her hair, pulling a brush through the golden tresses as she wandered out into the hall, frowning as she heard her mum chattering away happily from the living room. Without thinking, Rose moved into the living room, about to chastise her mum about the volume of her voice before realizing that sitting somewhat uncomfortably across from Jackie was the Doctor, a forced expression of amused attentiveness curling his lips.

"Oh," Rose whispered, her face taking on a deer in the headlights look as she suddenly remembered the events of the night before in their completion, right up to the gentle kiss with which the Doctor had awarded her as he tucked her in to her small bed.

"'Morning, sweetheart," Jackie trilled, "Look who's come back, bit more than ten seconds, I suppose, but we weren't counting, now, were we?"

Rose swallowed heavily, her lips half twitching into a smile, her eyes regaining their excited sparkle as she swallowed her surprise and lifted an eyebrow at the Doctor.

"Better late than never, right, Rose?" he offered her a wink before looking pointedly at the door.

She grinned, her tongue poking out between her teeth as she leaned against the doorframe and twirled a piece of her damp hair around a finger. "And if I'm not ready to come home, Doctor, what happens then? Seems to me that you have a promise to keep."

The Doctor matched her teasing grin and got to his feet, closing the distance between them and brushing a stray lock of hair from her shoulder. His fingers lingered on the soft skin he found beneath his fingers, cooling the warm flesh with his gentle touch. "The promise was for a dance, Rose, do you really want to dance in front of your mum?" He winked at her startled expression, turning the tables on the challenge Rose had laid before him.

Jackie frowned at them, clearing her throat. "Don't you think you should get dressed, Rose? It's hardly appropriate for you to be standing in the living room in a towel. The Doctor'll wait, won't you, Doctor?"

He chuckled softly, winking at his startled young companion. "I've waited this long, Jackie, I don't suppose a few minutes more will do us any harm."

The giggle that passed Rose's lips was uncontrollable as she flew down the hallway and into her room. Clothes flew haphazardly as she struggled to find clean jeans and that pretty purple top she'd picked up yesterday before going to the bar. She pulled it over her body, turning to cast herself a quick admiring look in the mirror. The shirt hugged her chest just so, accentuating the curve of her breasts so deeply even she was impressed for a moment. Her grin was large and unstoppable, joy encompassing every atom of her being as she grabbed her bag left at her bedroom door and rushed back out into the lounge.

"I don't suppose you'll be 'round any time soon, darling?" Jackie asked, sadly, even as Rose pressed her lips to her mum's cheek.

The younger woman chuckled, "Reckon you'd have had enough of me moping around the last few days. Do you really want me back so soon?"

Jackie laughed and held her close, grateful to see Rose's normally sunny disposition back in place. "Anytime, sweetheart." She paused. "But call first, especially if you're coming at night."

Rose's eyes rolled even as she gave her mother a final kiss goodbye and turned towards the door. As they made their way out into the courtyard, the Doctor took Rose's hand, squeezing it lightly. "You're in good spirits for someone that should be distinctly hung over," he grinned at her.

"Yeah, well, I learned how to shake off hangovers by the time I was seventeen." She giggled.

"I don't want to know," he grinned.

"But.."

He shook his head, "Nope, really don't want to know, Rose."

She leaned into his arm, resting her head against his shoulder as they walked. "Never young then, were ya? Never had a rebellious stage? Never had a little fun?"

He turned in the street to face her, lifting an eyebrow. "Some would say my entire life has been a rebellious stage." He gestured around himself, intoning all of London and the world in a single flick of his wrist. "And all of this is fun. Don't you think?"

"You know I do." She whispered seriously.

They grew silent as they finished the short trek to the TARDIS, Rose dropping her bag against the center console as she ran her fingers over the cool metal in a loving brush.

"Tea first and then talk? Or talk then tea?"

Her brown eyes took on a deer in the headlights look as she replayed the events of the last few weeks in her mind. First unintentionally and then with absolute intention to break down the Doctor through seduction. She blushed bright red and glanced at the door to the hallway that lead to the relative safety of her room.

"Ah, ah," he shook his head. "No running away, Rose Tyler. You put all of this in motion, and the time's come to own up to it." He hopped up on a railing, and peered at her unerringly. "So, want to tell me what all this has been about?"

Swallowing heavily, Rose cocked her head to the side before shaking her head. "Actually, Doctor, that's probably the last thing on earth I want to do right now."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Really? I would have thought..."

She laughed. "And you'd've been very wrong." She paused. "There is one thing I'd like to do, though, 'course that's if you're up for it."

He paused, hesitating only a moment before reaching a hand out to her. "Rose Tyler, I hardly think you'll quite find a day where a tiny human being could find something I'm not "up for"."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"You really think so, do ya?"

He snorted indelicately. "I know so, thank you."

"Then how about a kiss, Doctor?"

"See there you go with all the build up, when all you're asking for is... wait what?"

She laughed lightly, raising a hand to gently brush a finger along his jaw line, her dark eyes lit with a soft glow. "A kiss, Doctor. I'm sure if you check any of the dictionaries in your library, you'll find the definition to be quite simple. A brush of lips between two people, giving the indication of emotion." She leaned in closer, her breath mingling with his own. "So? Are you up for it, Doctor, or has this tiny human being finally found your limit?"

Unable to help himself, the Doctor's eyes began to sparkle, the corners of his lips pulling up in a genuine grin as he leaned against the railing. His fingers tightened around hers, pulling her towards him, against him, forcing his hearts to beat out of time as he carefully mulled over his next words. They were on a precipice, he and Rose, having torn down all but the thinnest of walls placed for protection. In thirty seconds everything would change, whether for good or bad depended on finding exactly the right thing to say.

He thought to say something serious, a vow to her that her happiness was currently his ultimate goal, that the universe would always take the back burner to the radiance that was Rose Tyler. He thought to say something funny, break the tension, force them back a step so that they could regroup and think this through just a wee bit longer. He thought, he thought, he thought; he thought that he thought for hours, expecting his muscles to protest their position, expecting Rose to protest her captivity in his arms, expecting the universe to have carried on while he rode his train of thought through the depths of madness to which he'd been driven by this simple human child. In reality, mere seconds passed before his lips parted, his tongue dancing out to chase away the sudden dryness that attempted to steal away the words playing at his lips.

Her words echoed through his mind for an infinitesimal moment longer, "has this tiny human being finally found your limit?" and for the first moment since the destruction of Gallifrey, his mind quietened. All that remained in the silence were the steady beats of three hearts - the two in his chest, and the one she had laid easily at his feet.

"Haven't you just, Rose?" And the words were perfect. "Haven't you just?"

He never saw the hurt cross her eyes, or the confusion on her face as he closed the last miniscule bit of distance between them, his lips a warm pressure against hers before she had a chance to react.

~~~TBC