Leap of Faith: Chapter Twenty

[amberfocus]

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Title:  Leap of Faith (20/?)
Author:  amberfocus
Characters/Pairings:  John Smith (alt!Nine)/Rose Tyler, Toshiko Sato, Jake Simmonds, Mickey Smith, Ianto Jones, Jackie Tyler/Pete Tyler, Tony Tyler, various original characters
Genre:  Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe
Rating:  Adult
Betas:  amyo67, jeprdyfrndly
Summary:  Hiding from the Family of Blood, the alt!Ninth Doctor turns himself into John Smith via the chameleon arch and with his companion Toshiko Sato, takes a job at Torchwood.  He clashes with everyone he meets and Rose Tyler, the beautiful young director of Torchwood Field Operative Training and the daughter of his boss, is no exception.  AU after season 2.

Previous Chapters:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/327895.html

Chapter Twenty: Interlude

John woke to the beeping of his watch alarm. He grabbed it hastily, shutting it off and glancing across the room to where Rose lay sleeping in the other bed. It didn’t seem to have disturbed her. He turned on his side, observing her for a moment. Enough light strayed through the cracks in the blinds to allow the early morning sunshine to show her clearly. She seemed to shine just for a moment, an echo of golden light outlining her body and calling to him with a strange sort of familiarity that made him ache somewhere in the back of his mind. He blinked rapidly and the illusion faded and she was simply Rose again, not some lost goddess of history.

She was sprawled on her stomach on top of the blankets, her left arm and knee sort of clutching a pillow. Even in a graceless heap she still managed to cause his breath to hitch in his chest and damn it all if he wasn’t jealous of that pillow. The pajama shorts and camisole top she was wearing left a lot more skin on display than he was used to seeing from Rose. He’d glimpsed it briefly the night before when she’d come out of the bathroom and got into bed, but he hadn’t thought it appropriate for him to stare.

It probably wasn’t appropriate now either, to be watching her sleep like this, but he couldn’t look away. She was unguarded in sleep and it was something he’d seen very little of; Rose with her guard down. True, her defenses had been falling more and more often lately and he hoped that their kissing the night before had been a permanent dropping of the drawbridge over the moat that ran around the castle of her heart. Oh, hell, had he really just thought that? When had he turned into a flowery romantic idiot?

His hands twitched, clearly having minds of their own, as they itched to touch her. Probably about the time Rose had begun to soften towards him. He sighed. He couldn’t touch her. Not yet. Not the way he wanted to. He wasn’t going to screw this up by pouncing on her, no matter what his traitorous instincts were screaming for him to do. John rose from his bed on quiet cat feet, quickly making up the bed and gathering the clothes he’d laid out the night before, and moved silently to the bathroom. He took a shower, determinedly not thinking about the innocently sleeping blonde in the other room or what it had been like to finally kiss her. The point was to make his morning erection go away and not to make it worse.

Not that he hadn’t spent his fair share of mornings using her image to make it go away in a far more pleasurable way, but she’d never been in the next room at the time. He didn’t feel guilty about it, but using that aspect of his fantasy life felt wrong when Rose was right there. Damn, he wanted her. Stupid hormones, he was not going to give in to this and risk her hearing him masturbating. No, he simply had to force himself not to think about her, not to focus on how vulnerable and desirable she had looked in her clumsy heap.

He tried to think of unpleasant things and finally settled on Rose’s mother and her reaction to Rose dating him. Well, not dating exactly. Sure, they’d gone out to eat a couple of times and they’d spent that day together in the park hanging out, but they hadn’t really done anything that could be defined as a date. Not even going to the pub the night before for drinks and dancing had been a date. They’d just been blowing off steam even if it had ended in kissing. He’d have to remedy that while they were staying in Cardiff. Maybe they could go see a film or a play or a concert; something that definitely would end in more kissing.

As his mind tried to take off on that track again, he firmly returned it to thoughts of Jackie Tyler. The woman was being difficult about his friendship with Rose and he could tell that it had really taken Rose by surprise. She’d backed down off of him when he’d told her to butt out, but she’d still been picking at Rose about it. Rose had been more hurt than she let on. She might think she was hiding it, but her emotions were obvious every time it got brought up. It must be hard to not have been raised by the woman and to come into their relationship with so many expectations that could never be met like they might have had the chance to be if Jackie had been given the opportunity to raise her daughter. It was clear that Rose just wanted to be accepted for who she was and not forced to live up to some false idea of what a Tyler should be.

He wondered if the Tylers would ever accept him in her life as someone good enough for Rose. He’d run into people with money before and too often they treated everyone who did not have that kind of money as if they were somehow less important than others. He hated the vibe he got off Jackie, as if she thought Rose could do better. Not that it mattered. He’d meant every word of it when he’d warned Jackie off. He’d do what it took to keep Rose in his life. If that meant getting in between her and her mother, so be it. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but he wasn’t giving up Rose and the sooner Jackie realized that, the better. Rose was…well, not his, but she was going to be. That much was clear.

He wondered at just what moment it was that he’d become so possessive. Not that he hadn’t been a possessive person before he had met Rose. He had his moments often enough with Josie, and he certainly hadn’t wanted to share Tosh with Rose. He’d fought it tooth and nail. Of course, he’d been rewarded rather handsomely by backing off and allowing Rose in to Tosh’s life. It had been that very backing off that had brought Rose front and center into his life. So there was something that could be said for sharing. Just…not on Jackie Tyler’s terms.

He turned off the water and dried himself off, dressing quickly and going back out into the bedroom to put on his shoes and socks. He sat down on the edge of his bed and his eyes once again fell on Rose. She’d rolled over on her back and one of the straps on her camisole had fallen down her shoulder. Her hair was splayed across the pillow and one hand was stretched out in his direction, as if she’d been reaching for him in her sleep. All he wanted to do was crawl onto the bed beside her and pull her into his arms, snog her senseless and maybe forget all about his noble words of the night before about waiting until they were in love before they made love.

She was just so beautiful. She shifted again and her pajama shorts rode up higher on her thigh. He groaned and Rose stirred. He bit down on his lower lip to keep himself from making anymore noises or disturbing her further. She had looked so tired last night and as hard as she worked she deserved a morning to sleep in once in a while. He sighed and finished putting on his shoes and socks then stood up and shrugged into his jacket. Reluctantly, he left the suite and went downstairs. Mrs. Sutton was in the dining room and when he entered she said, “I called Old Henry. He’ll be here in about twenty minutes. Coffee’s over there if you need it,” she pointed to a pump thermos. “Did you want breakfast now or when you get back?”

“Now,” John said and went to fix his coffee. While he sat down at the table Mrs. Sutton disappeared for a few minutes and when she returned plopped a plate down in front of him filled with pancakes, eggs, bacon, ham, potatoes and toast. It was more of a platter really. He hadn’t eaten like that in…well, he wasn’t sure how long it had been. Maybe back when he was a teenager and his mother started every morning off about like this. He’d never really bothered to learn too much cooking himself. He could get by if he had to, but he’d been dining on his fair share of frozen meals and takeaway since moving to London.

Mrs. Sutton left and returned with a plate with far less food on it and set it down across from him. She took a seat. “Even though I start serving early, the other guests won’t be up for another hour or so,” she said, “so I’ll join you now. What about Miss Tyler? Will she be making an appearance?”

“I left her in bed,” he said through a mouthful of food, covering his mouth to keep from being rude. “She was exhausted.” Mrs. Sutton smirked and he realized she’d misinterpreted his words. He tried changing the subject. “This is fantastic. You’re an excellent cook.”

Mrs. Sutton smiled at him. “You flatter me.”

“Nah,” he said. “Not one for flattery, me.”

“No. No, guess you wouldn’t be if you’re with Rose,” the woman mused.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked curiously.

“Well, she’s a straight-forward girl. No nonsense. What you see is what you get. Works hard, gets the job done well, and won’t thank you to fawn all over her about it,” Mrs. Sutton said. “You seem like that sort as well. It makes sense to me that the type of man she’d choose would be similar.”

“I think you misunderstand our relationship. Rose and I are colleagues, Mrs. Sutton. We’ve been assigned a case together.” The last thing he wanted was for people to think he and Rose were shacking up somewhere when they were supposed to be on the way to their assignment. If the paparazzi got wind of that it wouldn’t matter that they were in the back of beyond. They’d get tracked down and the photographers would have a field day and it wouldn’t be the type of situation that Rose could control like that day in the park. Besides, what they were to each other was no one’s business.

“Then why do you look at her like she’s—?” the old woman began knowingly.

“I can’t help how you choose to interpret the situation,” he said tucking his head down and shoveling food into his mouth instead of encouraging the conversation to continue.

The woman was not to be deterred. “Rose is a wonderful young woman. You’d be hard pressed to find someone better.”

“I’m not looking,” he grumbled. And he wasn’t looking. Not for someone better. Rose was the best and if he was going to do this at all it was going to be with the best, but the nosy innkeeper did not need that information, thank you very much.

The bell over the front door rang and John felt extreme relief when Mrs. Sutton went to see who had entered the B&B. She came back a moment later with a little old man. He looked to be in his late 70’s and was a full foot shorter than John. He removed his hat and a thick shock of brilliant white hair sprang free. His skin was weather roughened and tanned dark by the sun. Thin and wiry, his green eyes and toothy white smile stood out brilliantly against his complexion.

“Dr. Smith, this is Old Henry. Old Henry, Dr. Smith.” John stood up hastily to take the proffered hand. The little old man had a strong grip, his age belying his strength.

“John, please,” John said, instantly at ease with the man.

Henry nodded. “Will do,” he said.

“You had anything to eat yet, Old Henry?” Mrs. Sutton asked.

“Not when I knew I was coming here,” he said turning a charming smile on Mrs. Sutton, who blushed and hastily went and dished him up a plate of food.

“Why does she call you Old Henry?” the Doctor asked, curious despite himself. It had the weight of an old nickname and not just something to do with the man’s age. “Aside from the obvious, I mean.”

“Because my son hated being called junior and I didn’t care much for senior. So I’m Old Henry and he’s Young Henry, even if he is approaching sixty himself. Where’s Miss Rose?” he asked peering about the room like he thought she might be hiding behind the china cabinet. “Mrs. Sutton said you were together.”

“She’s still sleeping,” John said. “I thought she needed it so I didn’t wake her.”

The man looked crestfallen. “I was hoping to see her.”

“Well, I’m sure she’ll be up by the time you get back,” Mrs. Sutton said soothingly. “How’s Young Henry doing?” she asked. “I heard about his leg.”

“It’s about mended. Another week and the cast comes off and then he’ll have to start building his strength back up again. I’ll tell him you were asking about him.” The man finished his food and pushed his plate away. “You ready to go?” he asked John. John nodded and rose to his feet. He said good-bye to Mrs. Sutton and followed the little old man outside.

They walked around to the parking area on the side of the house. Old Henry whistled when John led him up to the Frisson convertible. “Ain’t seen one of these up close before,” he said running an appreciative hand over the fender, his fingers stroking the red paint lovingly. He squatted down and looked at the good rear tire, searching out the serial number, and then he stood up and pulled a spiral book from his pocket. He flipped it open and did a search for the number.

“I don’t have one of these in, but Paul Shorey in the next village over carries this kind of specialty tire. How far did you drive on the donut?” he asked.

“Just a couple of miles,” John said.

“All right. Then I don’t need to tow you. It’ll make it nine miles just fine.” He put his hand on the handle of the passenger side door and waited for John to unlock it. A moment later they were on their way.




Rose sighed softly and opened her eyes. The sunlight hit her squarely in the face and she rolled over with a groan at the assault on her vision. She turned so she was no longer facing the window. From the state of her linens she’d been tossing and turning a fair bit. As she struggled out of the sheets, which she’d tangled around her feet, she noticed that John’s bed was empty and had been neatly made up. A tiny twinge of disappointment filled her. He must have decided to let her sleep in. Which could mean he was being sweet or it could mean he didn’t want to face up to what they’d done last night, but either way it meant she wasn’t waking up to his smile.

She hoped it was the former; that he was being sweet and letting her get a bit more shuteye. She didn’t want him avoiding what they were becoming. She didn’t think her heart could handle it if he backed away from their fledging romance. It had taken her a long time to warm up to him, let alone trust him enough to kiss him the way she had last night. If her trust had been misplaced it would devastate her. She hadn’t wanted to fall for him. She’d fought so hard against it. This couldn’t be the same carefree, easy commitments of her teenage years. Nor could it be what she’d had with the Doctor. It was something new, something harder, but something equally worthwhile.

Rose hadn’t asked the universe for much since she’d lost the Doctor. She certainly hadn’t asked for a man like John, or any man, to come into her life again and make her stomach do flip flops and her heart dance the tango. But he had and it was and it did. And he felt it, too. After the last couple of weeks and their conversation last night she knew that. So why did an empty bed beside hers make her feel so…uncertain? This was why she didn’t date. It shook her confidence. Of course John was different from any man who’d shown an interest in her since coming to this universe, but she was still taking such an incredible risk by opening herself up to him.

It would be worth it if he really felt the same way as she did and if she made herself look at things objectively it was clear that he did. Well, no point in stewing over it all. What was done was done and what was would be. She stood up and made up her bed even though it was completely unnecessary. It was just one of the things that had become ingrained in her living on a ship for so long. It seemed like John had the same habit and wondered if he had any military background. Well, he’d worked for UNIT, so he obviously did. Probably where he got it from then, she decided.

She got up and rooted through her bag for a clean outfit and then took the lot to the bathroom with her. Glancing at her watch she saw that it was ten o’clock. She’d really slept late. She set the watch carefully on the edge of the sink. It had been a gift from Mickey on her twenty-third birthday and she was ridiculously fond of it, even if it was a silly pink plastic thing with a kitten face that meowed the hours if you left the alarm on.

After a shower she dressed in jeans and a purple t-shirt and then headed out to the main room. John was there laying on his bed and reading a book. On the night stand beside her bed was a plate of food. He looked up from the novel and his eyes lit up as he smiled at her. Every doubt she’d been having instantly vanished. “Morning. Mrs. Sutton said you never came down and she was about to clear up breakfast,” he said. “She said I could bring you something up just so long as we got the dishes back down to the kitchen afterwards. Did you sleep well?”

“I did, thanks. I didn’t realize how far behind I was on my sleep debt. It was sweet of you to let me sleep in,” she said.

He nodded. “Not a problem.”

She picked up the plate off her night stand and moved with it over to the sofa they’d snogged on the night before, setting it down on the coffee table. “Is the car all taken care of?” she asked.

“Yeah, good as new. We can move on to Cardiff when you’re done eating,” he said. “Old Henry sends his regards. He was sad to miss you.”

Rose laughed. “It’s just as well. Old Henry is one hell of a flirt.”

John blinked at her nonplussed. “A flirt?”

“Yep. He’s incorrigible. Even at his age. So it’s just as well I wasn’t there. You got to know him on your own terms and not as the confident old man hitting on your—on me,” Rose said quickly correcting herself.

“Seriously? He flirts with you?” He didn’t even seem to notice what she’d nearly said; instead his voice was so heavy with disbelief that Rose frowned.

“Men do flirt with me, you know. In some circles I’m quite a catch.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it, but isn’t he way too old for you?” John asked.

“Some people might say the same thing about you,” Rose pointed out, but her accompanying grin made it clear she was not one of them.

“Touché,” John said and when his eyes drifted down to her mouth she felt her body give a little involuntary jerk of desire.

Focus on something else, she told herself. Like Old Henry. “But yes, he is way too old for me despite my penchant for older men. Anyway he’s not serious about it. At least I don’t think he is. He just enjoys flirting with—.”

“With the prettiest of young things?” John interrupted.

“Well, I was gonna just say me,” she said blushing in pleasure that John thought she was pretty.

Her stomach growled so loudly it startled both of them and John laughed. “You better start eating before your stomach turns itself inside out.”

Rose nodded her agreement and tucked into her breakfast while John talked about the conversation he’d had with Old Henry. “He told me all about the Fluberginy invasion. That must have been something to see,” he said. “Soft, cuddly, little purple aliens that fit in the palm of your hand and—.”

“And had very big teeth,” said Rose. “And all they could digest was liquids. Fortunately they were completely vegetarian. Brought back memories of reading Bunnicula when I was a child,” Rose said.

“Bunnicula?” John asked

“A children’s story about a vampire bunny rabbit. He bit the vegetables and sucked the juices out of them, draining them of all moisture and turning them white. It’s what I first thought when we were trying to figure out what was going on. I wasn’t far off the mark, as it turned out,” Rose said. “Scared the daylights out of the town for a few days, but they turned out to be mostly harmless.”

“Mostly?”

“Well, Old Man Rutner had a heart attack when he found a swarm of them under his front porch and flushed them out into daylight. They didn’t…really like daylight. They didn’t react well. But it’s how we found out they only liked vegetation and not, um…blood.”

“So they really were some type of…of vegetarian vampire?” John asked, his eyebrows rising high.

“No, they were nocturnal herbanavores. They got loose when a hydroponic supply ship for the Panopsi broke up in the stratosphere. The Panopsi made it to escape pods but, those little guys didn’t. Fortunately they have air bladders they can inflate when frightened and they can generate a personal energy field to repel heat or cold so they didn’t burn up. They floated down to Earth all right.”

“Interesting creatures.”

“More so than some,” she said.

“How’d you take care of them?”

“We pied pipered them,” she said before remembering that that fairytale didn’t exist in this world.

“What’s that?”

“Umm…they liked music, especially flute music so we got a piper to come up and play and they followed him into a really big lorry and Torchwood relocated them until the Panopsi rescue ship arrived."

“What’s that got to do with pies?” John asked confused.

“What?”

“Pied piper, you said.”

“Nothing to do with pies.” Rose took a last huge bite of her pancakes and before John could ask again she stood up with her plate and said, “I best get these down to the kitchen.” She fled the room hoping that he wouldn’t question her on it again. She hated it when she slipped up like that. Normally she could recover gracefully, but for some reason her mind had drawn a complete blank this time.

Mrs. Sutton was nowhere to be seen and so Rose put her dishes directly in the dishwasher. When she returned up the stairs she saw the innkeeper coming out of a bedroom with dirty linens. “Oh, there you are, Miss Tyler. I just wanted to let you know that there’s no rush to vacate your room. The people coming in tonight won’t be here until late, so if you want to extend your check out past noon feel free to. Just so long as you’re out by four.”

“Okay.”

Rose made small talk for a moment with the woman and then when one of the other guests came up the stairs and began talking to Mrs. Sutton, Rose slipped away back to her room. John had packed all of his things up while she’d gone downstairs and was sprawled on the bed again with his book. Rose moved to pack up her own things.

“I suppose we should get on the road,” said John looking at his watch.

“I guess,” Rose said. “Though Mrs. Sutton said there was no hurry on vacating if you wanted to hang out for a bit longer.” The words came out very fast and Rose felt her cheeks flaming.

“And do what?” John asked. “I think we’ve pretty much seen what there is to see in this town.”

“Yeah, I think we have.” She finished packing her bag and plopped it down by the front door. She turned to look at him then. She’d been able to keep her emotions at bay while she’d eaten breakfast but seeing his long, lanky frame stretched out like that on the bed made her want to snuggle up close to him. “I guess…I guess we should just go.”

She walked back over to the nightstand, checking inside the drawer to make sure she hadn’t left anything inside it. She hadn’t. She turned around. “You ready?” she asked.

John reached out and snagged her wrist, pulling her off balance. She tumbled onto the bed beside him. “Or we could just kiss for a while,” he said invitingly. Rose bit her lower lip nervously and then looked up at his eyes before skittering away from his gaze. She stared at his mouth for so long that John took it as rejection. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—.” He wasn’t able to finish that sentence as Rose closed the distance between their two bodies and met his mouth with her own.

Ch. 21: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/353194.html

Comments

[ninefiend.livejournal.com]

I just want to say that I enjoyed this even though I haven't read any of the rest of the story yet. I will though, when I am more awake. And I really liked the pied piper and bunny stuff, it made me laugh.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm glad you did. I hope by now you've had a chance to read the story in its proper order and enjoyed it, too. *grins*