#veeman | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

darth-tella · 3 years

Text

Emergency Programme Five

Ten x Rose Teen Read on AO3

𝔼𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕪 ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕖 𝔽𝕚𝕧𝕖

Rose’s arms were trembling from the effort of dragging the Doctor’s limp, unconscious body through seemingly endless corridors. The Veemans seemed friendly enough at first, but of course, the Doctor had said something that angered their captain.

Rose thought his comment about the captain's jacket was innocent enough. It was a rather nice jacket after all; Rose would love to have one just like it. However, the compliment was not very well received; apparently the Veemans had a policy against them. Or perhaps the captain was just in a bad mood. The captain had drawn her pistol and had it trained on the Doctor quicker than Rose could blink.

Sensing that they needed to make a quick escape, Rose hit one of the bright yellow buttons that were placed in regular intervals along the walls. If she was interpreting the pictograms above them correctly, this was the fire suppression system. Her hunch was correct and a second later water came pouring from spouts in the walls and ceiling. The crew was sent into a panic and they all ran to their stations to try and shut it off, but the Doctor whipped out the sonic and he pressed it against the same button Rose had hit. The sonic exploded in his hand as he scrabbled the controls.

The captain fired her pistol and the Doctor crumpled to the floor.

For whatever reason, this newer version of the Doctor with his pinstripes and plimsolls was unusually prone to getting knocked out. He had this unstoppable gob and words didn’t seem to filter through his brain before exiting his mouth most of the time and it often got him in heaps of trouble.

Usually he was only out for a few moments. Sometimes he was awake the second his body hit the floor. Plus, the laser blast only hit him in the shoulder and not even straight on. Rose was certain it would have hit him dead in the chest if she hadn’t instinctively grabbed him by the front of his shirt and yanked him out of the way. The door which shut behind them - likely due to the Doctor scrambling the system.

Rose wouldn’t describe herself as an expert in alien weaponry or Time Lord anatomy, but she knew about stun rays. And even if the gun was set to ‘kill’, Rose was pretty certain there were no vital organs in that area of the Doctor’s body. But what if that wasn’t just a laser blast? What if they were able to transmit poisons or severe electric shocks that could stop a heart or two?

Rose tried to push these thoughts aside so she could better navigate her way through the ship, but one quick glance down at the Doctor only added fuel to that fire. This particular version of him already had very fair skin, but he was now looking white as a sheet.

She had to pick up the pace.

Ignoring all the protests her body made, Rose sped up her movements. The water had soaked through their clothes making them heavy. Rose was grateful the Doctor wasn’t wearing his large wool overcoat today. Still, he seemed to be wearing at least three shirts under his suit jacket. A laser bolt whipped past her head singeing her hair on it’s way past. She kept going.

As Rose rounded yet another corner, she heard the tell-tale creak of the TARDIS doors opening behind her. Rose summoned up every last bit of her energy and dragged the Doctor’s wet, limp body through the wooden police box doors that she kicked closed on her way past. Her arms felt like they were about to give out; the Doctor was deceptively heavy despite how skinny he was. Images of last Christmas flew through her mind as she gently laid the Doctor down onto the metal grating and collapsed in a wet heap beside him.

Thoughts started racing through Rose’s mind. Did he succumb to another healing coma? Was he about to start regenerating on her? Her hands were still shaking when she pressed her fingers against his neck.

A cold sense of dread came over her.

She couldn’t find either of his pulses.

The urge to panic was strong, but Rose somehow fought it. She gripped the grating below her and took a second to ground herself. She was inside the TARDIS. She was safe. The TARDIS had equipment she could use to help him. Rose grabbed the small first aid kit that was in a small cubby under the main console. There had to be something in there to help him.

Rose growled in frustration when all she found were bandages of varying sizes and other medical implements that would be of no discernible help at the moment. She stared into the box for a moment, her mind racing furiously. Could she somehow fashion the metal tongue depressors into one of those things doctors used to shock a person back to life?

The sonic! Surely that thing had a setting that could shock him! Wait, no. The Doctor burned the thing out frying the ship controls and it was now a twisted bit of metal and ceramic. The TARDIS would need another hour or more to construct a new one.

CPR! She knew how to do that. Might be somewhat different for someone with two hearts, but Rose had no other choice. She gasped in as much air into her lungs as she could and was just leaning over to start mouth to mouth resuscitation.

The air all left her in a rush and a cry of alarm when she spotted movement beside her. She turned her head to look and was stunned to see the Doctor standing here. Except this wasn’t another Doctor, but a hologram.

Her stomach dropped. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. The Doctor wasn’t dead! He couldn’t be! Rose wasn’t sure she could listen to a good-bye message from this Doctor too!

“This is Emergency Programme Five,” The hologram intoned.

“Okay, not the same Programme,” Rose muttered, unsure how she felt about it.

“Now Rose, listen to me as I haven’t got much time. If this message has been activated, I must have been shot with Vargol energy. Even a glancing blow can be fatal to a Time Lord. But the TARDIS is indicating I’m not quite dead yet so there’s still a chance of saving me. I’m willing to bet you grabbed the white med kit,” Rose glanced at the box she grabbed which was indeed the one the holographic Doctor was talking about, “unfortunately there’s nothing in there that can save me right now. And the TARDIS isn't detecting my sonic screwdriver either."

Rose bit back a scream of frustration. Even in holographic form he was still Captain Bloody Obvious.

“Now, I know that isn’t very encouraging news, but it’s not a critique on your ability to save me. What you need is the red box.”

Rose startled when a smaller red med box that she’d never seen before dropped from underneath the console with a loud bang.

“Quickly grab the device inside the box and follow the simple instructions.” The hologram took a deep breath in and continued in a much softer voice, “You’ve got this Rose. I believe in you. There’s no one else in the universe I trust more than you.” The hologram gave her an encouraging smile.

Bolstered by the praise, Rose snatched up the box and opened it, finding what appeared to be an Epi-Pen inside. Rose had seen one of these before when one of her workmates accidentally bit into a peanut butter sandwich and had a terrible reaction and had to be whisked away to hospital. The markings on the device were all written in interconnected circles and lines that Rose recognized as the Doctor’s native language, but the accompanying diagrams were simple to follow. She yanked off the green safety cap and jabbed the mauve end into the Doctor’s thigh.

The next several seconds felt like hours to Rose. She heard the hiss of the medication flowing out of the device and the click of the needle retracting. More seconds ticked by without any change.

“Don’t you dare do this to me, Doctor!” Rose sobbed, the earlier panic resurfacing again.

The Doctor suddenly sat bolt upright gasping for breath. Rose tossed the medical device away and quickly steadied him.

"Shh, it's okay." Rose soothed, easing his head onto her lap. The Doctor’s eyes darted around wildly, his pupils blown wide open. Rose just held him while he tried to get his bearings, gently carding her fingers through his hair. Eventually his breathing evened out and his eyes slipped closed. He lay still for a moment.

Most of the adrenaline in Rose's body had receded, but she still had enough energy to lightly thump the Doctor’s chest. He flinched.

"Oi! What was that for?" His voice was a bit raspy.

"You scared me. I nearly lost you. If it hadn’t been for Emergency Programme Five I…”

The Doctor’s eyes slipped closed again.

“Five? Oh, that’s a nasty one.” he shuddered, and Rose wasn’t sure if it was him remembering the recording he made for the programme or the medicine she just gave him. She ran her fingers through his hair once more in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. The Doctor sighed and leaned into her touch. “It’s not as bad as Emergency Programme Sixteen, though. That one is if --”

“Doctor, stop talking.” Rose interrupted, “I thought you just died on me. I don’t need to know how many other ways…” the words got lodged in her throat as Rose suddenly started to choke back tears. The Doctor slowly sat himself up and pulled her into his arms.

“No, no, no, no, no! Rose, you didn’t let me finish.” She pulled out of the hug, looking at him incredulously. Was this moron even listening to her? Did that Vag… whatever energy scramble what little brain cells he had left? The git even had a smile on his face as he struggled to his feet and started to work the console. Another hologram popped into view.

“This is Emergency Programme Sixteen. Alright, first of all, don’t panic! Okay, maybe panic a little, as this is truly an emergency. Rose, we are completely and utterly buggered and the situation is completely dire. We’re out of milk.”

Rose just stared at the flickering hologram that stood there with a wide-eyed, panicked expression on its face.

“How the hell is that a life or death situation?” Rose asked as she got to her feet and stomped over to the flesh and blood Doctor, just barely resisting the urge to knock him unconscious once more.

“Well… last time we ran out you gave me this, this glare that I thought would make me regenerate on the spot! You, Rose Tyler, are scarier than your mother when there’s no milk for your tea or cereal.” The Doctor shuddered again and this time it seemed to catch him off guard. As Rose took a closer look at him she could tell just how much he was leaning on the console for balance, but he was still smiling at her. It wasn’t his full megawatt smile, she could still see the pain behind his eyes. Still, Rose smiled back.

“You knobhead,” she shook her head at him affectionately. “Are you alright, though?”

The Doctor opened his mouth and closed it again. Rose suspected his usual “I’m always alright” was just at the tip of his tongue; but he seemed to swallow that down.

“I will be,” he answered softly, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder before taking her hand, “That was a much closer call than normal. Vargol energy it, uh…” he trailed off. Suddenly looking down at the console and started pressing buttons and turning knobs that Rose knew didn’t do much besides keep his hands occupied while he was deep in thought.

“Would you have regenerated?” The Doctor stilled at Rose’s question. Silence stretched on for several seconds as he seemed to struggle for words once again.

“No.”

The single syllable filled Rose with dread as the reality of the situation fully hit her.

“What if that energy hit me?” The question was out of her mouth before she could think twice. The Doctor looked at her gravely.

“It would have instantly killed you.”

Rose had experienced many near misses in her time travelling with the Doctor. But somehow this one, knowing that this adventure could have ended with one or both of them dying… it hit her harder than she expected. Perhaps it was because the Doctor had died once already since she met him but came back as the man standing in front of her. He seemed so indestructible. Now she knew for sure he wasn’t. There were things out there that could kill him for good.

Rose desperately tried to keep her composure but the extreme jumble of emotions flowing through her made that impossible. She wasn’t even sure if she was about to start laughing or burst into tears.

She wasn’t sure who moved first, but she suddenly found herself wrapped in a tight hug. The Doctor clung to her as tightly as she clung to him. Hearing the Doctor’s hearts beating under her ear began to calm her. She felt him press his lips to her hair over and over again. Rose tilted her head to look up at him, but her eyes fluttered closed when he kissed her forehead, her cheeks and nose, then finally her lips.

That was different.

Good different.

The kiss was quick and light just like all the others the Doctor peppered across her face, but he kept his forehead pressed to hers, his lips just mere millimeters away from hers. Rose closed the distance again catching his bottom lip between hers. This spurred him into action and a moment later Rose found herself lifted up onto the console as he began to kiss her in earnest. She couldn’t stop the low moan she made when the tip of his tongue traced across the seam of her lips and she opened her mouth eagerly for him. The fantasies Rose had about snogging the Doctor all paled in comparison to the real thing. His clever tongue teased and explored every corner of the inside of her mouth. If she wasn’t already sitting she was sure her legs would have given out by now.

But it all abruptly ended as the Doctor shuddered violently once more. Rose locked her arms and legs around him to help keep him steady.

“Sorry,” he panted in her ear, “side effect of the shot you gave me.”

“We’re also still soaking wet,” Rose giggled.

“Thanks to your quick thinking,” he winked at her. “We should still probably get out of these wet clothes,” This time it was Rose who shuddered as one of the Doctor’s hands had wormed its way under her t-shirt and brushed his fingers over the bare skin of her lower back.

“Need help with that?” Rose leaned back and gave him that tongue touched grin. But her concern was also genuine as the Doctor continued to tremble in her arms.

“I’m going to need to sleep for a few hours to fully recover,” the Doctor smiled self-deprecatingly, “so I imagine it’s not going to be as sexy as you’re thinking.” He playfully tilted his pelvis into hers, and Rose didn’t feel anything that resembled arousal on his part. Still, Rose’s jaw dropped. The Doctor seemed to sober up a bit and looked at her with the same expression she saw on the hologram he summoned earlier.

“I didn’t mean to… the shot you gave me must’ve lowered my inhibitions a bit! I mean I normally stop myself from acting on or saying these sorts of things, no matter how much I want… cos I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself from feeling... I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries you had in place or any--” The Doctor was rambling, his face getting redder by the second. Rose silenced him by pressing her lips to his.

“I’ve wanted this too.” she smiled at him.

“Really?” His voice was still several octaves higher than normal.

“So you think I would have gone through all this trouble to save your life if you didn’t mean something to me?”

“Well, you do have a track record of being wonderfully resourceful and heroic. And you have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve met before. Well, metaphorically at least. I once knew this --”

Rose employed her new favourite method of shutting him up again.

“Don’t get me wrong, Rose, you coming to my rescue, saving me from the brink of permanent death,” the Doctor pressed his lips to hers in the sweetest kiss Rose ever had in her life, “it just makes me realise just how much I…” words failed him again.

“I love you, too.” Rose supplied the words the Doctor couldn’t seem to find and he smiled gratefully at her before kissing her again. Another shudder ripped through him.

“Right, time to get you to bed.” Rose pushed at his shoulders to get him to back up a step and she hopped off the console.

“Better get the TARDIS into the Vortex first.” The Doctor reached for the controls, but Rose could see he was slower and more clumsy than usual. Rose felt a hum at the back of her mind, one that she knew came from the TARDIS. Rose found herself reaching for the controls herself and within moments they were whisked away into the Vortex. The Doctor stared at her in awe.

“I can’t believe you just did that.”

“Me neither,” Rose pressed her hand against the glass casing of the Time Rotor and the Doctor smiled in understanding.

“Right, bed!” Rose pointed at the Doctor.

“Are you going to tuck me in?” He smirked at her.

“If I have to,” Rose affected a exasperated sigh as she took the Doctor by the arm and started leading him deeper into the ship. Before long they came upon a door that Rose had only seen a handful of times but never actually entered: the Doctor’s bedroom. The large wooden door opened for them. The room was massive, but it looked like the Doctor only really used a small portion of it. There was what looked like a desk, but it was hard to tell because it was covered in books and loose papers and cobbled together gadgets. A couple of his ties and one of his oxfords were haphazardly tossed over the back of the chair. Rose giggled at the sight of his wardrobe where five identical brown suits were hung up alongside different shirts. And was that a blue one? Oh, she had to see him in that!

Rose thought she might have to rifle through the drawers to find him some pyjamas, but her eyes landed on the bed. Resting on top of the deep blue duvet were two sets of matching silk pyjamas next to a pile of soft looking towels. The TARDIS’s hum entered Rose’s mind once more, this time sounding quite amused with Herself.

This wouldn’t be the first time her and the Doctor ever had to share a sleeping space. Usually though it was on some far flung planet or prison cell. There was the odd occasion where he did stay in her room sitting atop her duvet until she fell asleep, but he was always gone when Rose woke up.

But the idea of sharing the Doctor’s bed felt the most intimate. This was his personal space where guests were rarely invited. Even Rose had never been in here and she was his best mate - perhaps even more.

Rose tried to quiet down the butterflies as she stepped up onto the raised platform the bed was on. She just barely caught the Doctor as he tripped up the step and got him sitting on the bench at the foot of the bed.

“Jokes aside, Rose, I do really need your help,” The Doctor sighed sounding completely spent, “I’m about to lapse into a healing coma. It’ll probably last around twelve hours or so.”

“Right, better get you comfy then.” Rose knelt down and started working on undoing the laces of his trainers as he grabbed one of the towels and started on drying his hair. With his shoes and socks done, Rose helped him struggle out of his jacket and shirts.

“Seriously, why so many shirts?” she groaned. The Doctor shrugged.

“Couldn’t decide on which one to wear, so just put them all on.” Rose shook her head fondly at him as she helped him into his pyjama top. Thankfully it had buttons so it was easy to slip his arms through and do it up.

Now for the tricky bit. The Doctor even looked a bit red in the face at the prospect of him getting changed out of his trousers and pants.

“Are they soaked right through?” Rose asked timidly.

“‘Fraid so,” the Doctor nodded, “right down to my undercrackers. Hold on, maybe…” He grabbed the towel he’d been drying his hair with and draped it across his lap covering nearly down to his knees. He undid the clasp and zip and with great care and effort pulled the whole lot down past his bum while keeping the towel in place. “Okay, now grab the cuffs and pull.” Rose followed his instructions while he clung onto the towel, hoping everything would come off in one go. Rose had to bite down a laugh when she saw that he had been wearing banana print undies. She tossed them into the corner where the rest of his clothes ended up.

“Reminds me of when mum and I had to dress you after you regenerated,” Rose sighed, “never knew old you was a boxers man until then.” The Doctor chuckled but Rose saw the flush blossoming on his cheeks and down his neck.

“Often thought about my underoos, then?”

“Jack and I sometimes speculated when you weren’t around. He thought you would wear thongs.”

“Course he did…” The Doctor shuddered again.

Right, no more procrastinating. Rose grabbed the pyjama bottoms and bunched them up like she did when she put on stockings. She carefully got his feet through and started pulling them up. The Doctor met her halfway and together they finished getting him dressed, although Rose averted her eyes out of courtesy when they got to his hips.

Another shudder ripped through the Doctor’s body and Rose could tell he was just moments away from collapsing on her. She quickly walked to the head of the bed and turned down the covers and got the pillows in place before returning to where the Doctor was sitting.

“Up you get.” She offered him her hands and the he stood up on wobbly legs. He shuffled the short distance and flopped onto the bed and Rose helped get his feet under the covers before pulling them up to just under his chin.

“There you are. All snug as a bug.” Rose couldn’t help but ruffle his hair and the Doctor smiled up at her.

“Will you stay?” He asked. The question cracked Rose’s chest right open. He sounded so vulnerable. How could she say no, especially given everything that happened that day. Plus, Rose was exhausted and the Doctor’s bed could easily fit the both of them with plenty of room to spare and the TARDIS had laid out a set of pyjamas for her as well. Rose leaned over and kissed the Doctor’s forehead.

“I’ll be right back.”

Rose located the Doctor’s en-suite and quickly dried her hair and changed into the wonderfully soft pyjamas. She also laughed when she saw a package of makeup remover wipes sitting amongst the myriad of hair products scattered on the countertop. Most of her makeup had washed away already, but it still felt refreshing on her face. Rose then noticed a brand new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste sitting next to the sink. The Doctor once told her because of something different about the enamel on his teeth that he actually never needed to brush them.

There was only reason it was in here then. Rose patted the wall and she heard the TARDIS hum contentedly in her mind.

“Thanks.” Rose knew she probably didn’t need to say it out loud, but she’d developed a habit of speaking to Her. Sometimes she wondered what kind of voice the TARDIS would have if the Time Lords had given Her one.

Rose finished up her bedtime routine also borrowing one of the Doctor’s many hair brushes (and oh, she was definitely swiping this brush from him) and tying her hair into a loose ponytail before returning to the Doctor. She expected him to be asleep by now, but he cracked his eyes open as she approached.

As soon as she was under the covers the Doctor wrapped his arms around her. Hugging him was always wonderful, but in this setting, in his bed…

“Thanks for today.” His voice was slightly slurred with exhaustion, but Rose could hear the sincerity in his voice. He touched the side of her face and shuffled a bit closer and kissed her softly.

“Anytime.” Rose smiled at him, but he was already fast asleep. The sound of the Doctor’s steady breathing lulled her to sleep not long after.

An untold number of hours later, Rose was woken up from a sound sleep by the Doctor’s urgent voice.

“This is Emergency Programme Sixteen.”

#dt writes #doctor who #fanfic #my fic #ten x rose #prompt fic #doctor x rose

16 notes · View notes