Leap of Faith: Chapter Nineteen

[amberfocus]

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Title:  Leap of Faith (19/?)
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, 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 Nineteen: Detour

John kept the top down on the convertible until they approached the motorway. He pulled off the road for a moment and reached out to flick a button. A soft hum of electronics filled the car as the roof unfolded itself and slid forward, slipping securely back into place. When John was sure it was attached properly again they pulled back out onto the road and headed for the M4 motorway. Traffic wasn’t too awful and they made good time.

John glanced at Rose from time to time. She’d taken the scarf off of her hair and tied it around her neck in a fashion reminiscent of the late 50’s or early 60’s. Once or twice he caught her fingering it with a soft smile on her face. It delighted him that such a silly, last minute gift was making her so happy. They listened to the radio for a little while and chatted for a lot longer and John found himself wishing that his convertible was an automatic so that he could hold Rose’s hand on the straight portions of the drive.

About halfway to their destination their conversation was rudely interrupted when his stomach let out such a ridiculously loud growl that they both burst into laughter. “I guess I should have eaten before we left. Is there anywhere to eat around here?” he asked her. “You mentioned you’ve made the drive before.”

“Not really. The service stations usually have something, though. High priced sarnies and whatnot that aren’t very good. Oh, but there’s a fantastic pub near Yattendon if you can hold out a little while longer. It’s a bit off the beaten path, but it’s worth it. The food there is really good. It’s a little pricey, but Torchwood’s per diem is more than adequate. I’ve been there with Mickey and Jake a few times when there was an incident in Frilsham that kept us there a week. We stayed at a lovely B&B about a mile from the pub. They start serving meals at 6:30. We should get there right about the time they open.”

“Sounds good.”

“Just take the J12 exit.” Once they did Rose continued to direct him towards the pub.

“I hope I have this right. It was a couple years ago that we were here. If memory serves the drive should be…” She leaned forward waiting a moment, “Right there.” He turned into the old graveled drive.

“You sure this is the right place?” he asked. It looked like they were in the middle of nowhere, but sure enough the pub soon came into sight. It looked like a huge, old brick farmhouse and the grounds and gardens around it were extensive. It was not what normally came to mind when John thought of a pub. It looked more like a working farm, but for the parking area. The sign above the front doors, however, declared that they were indeed where Rose had thought they were.

They were greeted by a big black Labrador retriever, who met them as they got out of the car. The dog was called off by a friendly-looking woman who gave him a sharp whistle. He trotted obediently to her side and sat down wagging his tail. She said a cheery hello to them and they answered in kind. As they walked towards the pub’s entrance John took Rose’s hand and smiled when she laced her fingers through his.

The pub wasn’t too full yet having only just opened a few minutes earlier. The host asked them if they wanted the dining room or the bar, which had a different, less formal menu. Rose glanced at John and then said they’d prefer the bar. He led them past rectangular tables of highly polished pine and a large brick fireplace with a pot-bellied wood stove insert. The seating was an eclectic mix of Mission, Windsor, and Biedermeier chairs, all a little worn and rough around the edges. The white carpet looked so thick that John was tempted to take off his shoes and socks and bury his toes deeply in its plush depths.

Once they were seated in the bar a waitress came over and left them with some menus. The menu had so many delicious choices that it took them both quite a while to decide. In the end John ordered the ten ounce venison burger on a focaccia roll with a slab of mature cheddar, sautéed potatoes, and dressed salad leaves. Rose ordered the filled ciabatta roll with the Vicar’s Game home-cured ham with Pommery grain mustard.

The meal was delicious and he was very glad that Rose had known about the place. He certainly would never have found it without her. He was also glad that Rose had chosen something that was easy for her to eat left-handed, because he’d claimed a firm grasp on her right hand from the moment they’d given their menus back to the waitress. She seemed in no hurry to have it back.

When desert came, a hazelnut Black Forest brownie with amaretto cream for him and homemade cinnamon ice cream for her, he grudgingly relinquished her hand so she could use her spoon. “I’ll give it back when I’m done,” she told him as she tugged it free. Her smile was so soft and so sweet that all he could think about was crushing her to him and kissing those lips, searching for the taste of sweet cinnamon. He swallowed hard. Before the night was over, he desperately wanted to kiss her.

He just didn’t know if she’d be ready for it. He was well past believing that he didn’t want something deeper with her than friendship and more with her than just a casual shag. He could no longer deny that he wanted to start right now on the road to romance. John had been cautious these last few weeks getting to know Rose. He’d kept the pace slow, took his cues from her, and tried not to push for more. He didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to keep that up.

“You’re thinking hard,” Rose commented, rubbing her thumb along the back of his hand. He realized he’d lost track of the conversation. Her bowl was empty of ice cream and he still had half of his dessert to finish.

“I do that sometimes with this big old brain of mine,” he said. She laughed and he made short work of his brownie.

When the waitress arrived with the bill Rose handed her the Torchwood credit card. The woman’s eyebrows rose and she glanced at Rose. “I thought you looked familiar. You were here a couple years back. There’s not anything weird going on in Frilsham again, is there?”

“No,” Rose shook her head. “We’re just passing through on our way to Cardiff. He was starving,” she indicated John, “and I remembered how great the food was here.”

“Well, I’m happy to see you back so long as it means no strange purple creatures in the middle of the village square.”

“None that I know of,” Rose said with a laugh. The waitress took her leave and returned a moment later with the credit card receipt. Rose quickly signed for it and they both made a trip to the loo before they headed back out to the car.

“That was nice,” John said. “Good food, better company.”

Rose blushed a little and smiled. “I liked it, too.” He let her into her side of the car and then hurried back around to get in himself.

“How do I get back to the motorway?” he asked as he pulled out of the driveway. They were only a mile further on when a loud explosion seemed to come from underneath the vehicle and John began fighting with the steering wheel to maintain control.

“What happened?” Rose yelped as the convertible shimmied all over their lane.

“Dunno,” John responded grimly. “Think a tire blew.” He managed to manhandle the car safely to the shoulder of the road. For a moment they sat there letting the sudden adrenaline rush bleed out of their systems.

“You okay?” John asked.

“Yeah, fine,” she replied.

“I better check the damage,” he said. He could see by the way the car was leaning that it was the front tire on his side. He got out and looked at it. The tire looked like it had partially melted into the pavement. His expression must have been transparent, because Rose got out of the car.

“That bad?” she asked.

“Pretty bad,” he said. “I’d say we were lucky. I hope we didn’t dent the rim or we’re never going to get the spare on.”

Rose came over to look. “What’s that puddle on the ground?” she asked, staring at the shredded tire.

“Rubber.”

“But it’s liquid.”

“I know. Like I said, we’re pretty lucky.” He walked back to the boot of the car. “If this had happened on the motorway…” He shook his head and popped the lid.

“I don’t even want to think about it,” Rose said, following him to the back. John put their baggage on the ground then handed her the jack and the tire iron and hefted the spare out onto the road. “That doesn’t look like a normal tire.”

He put it on the ground and rolled it toward the front of the car. “It’s not. It’s a donut. There’s not room in the boot for a real spare. This one should get us far enough to get to a mechanic. There is some sort of mechanic within the next 50 miles, isn’t there?” he asked.

“Yeah, I think there’s one in Frilsham, but can’t we just drive to Cardiff?”

“Donut’s only good for 50 miles,” he said. “It’s enough to keep us from being stranded, but not to get all the way to Cardiff.”

“Can’t we chance it?” Rose asked.

“Not going to risk it with my car,” he said patting the fender affectionately.

“Just because Frilsham has a mechanic, doesn’t mean it has a tire center,” she said.

He knelt down on the ground and said, “Hand me the jack and the tire iron.” Rose did and he put the jack into place, and then pumped it up with the tire iron. Flipping the tire iron over, he pried off the hub cap and set it down. “I know there might not be a tire center, but a mechanic would know where the nearest one is, or might possibly be able to get a hold of one for us by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Rose asked.

“Here, hold this,” he said as he removed the first bolt. Rose took it. “Yeah, we’ll have to find accommodations. Or you can call Tosh and see if she can come get you and I’ll stay with my car.” He handed her another bolt.

“There’s a B&B in Frilsham,” Rose said. “The one I told you about, where Mickey and Jake and I stayed when there was that incident.”

“The one with the purple creatures in the middle of the village square?”

“That’s the one.” She took the next bolt he handed her. “It’s nice. The beds are really comfortable and the food was excellent.”

“You’re a bit of a foodie, aren’t you?” he asked.

“One of my vices,” Rose said. “Fortunately I do enough running for my life to burn off the calories.”

“I’d laugh, but I think you’re entirely too serious about that,” he said, handing her another bolt. “Just one more to go,” he said. A quick spin with the tire iron later, he gave her the fifth one and then pulled the remains of the tire off and set it to the side. “There’ll be no repairing that.” He picked up the donut and slid it into place.

“Bolt please,” he said and Rose handed them to him one by one until the spare was safely in place. He tapped the hub cap back into place, lowered the car and then stood up, brushing his knees off. “Done, neat as you please.”

“That didn’t take you long at all,” she said as he put the shredded tire in the boot, spread the picnic blanket over it to protect their luggage and then put the bags back inside.

“Nothing to it. Bit of elbow grease and she’s done. Now where’s this B&B?” he asked.

“Feels like I’ve been doing nothing but giving you directions since we got off the M4,” Rose said. “But it’s not far. You’ll just have to turn the car around, go back past the pub and it’s a mile on.” John made a U-turn and they headed back the way they’d come. Within five minutes they were pulling into the B&B.

John set the parking brake and then turned to look at Rose. He ran his hand through his hair and glanced at her nervously. She was chewing on her lower lip and her hands were clenched so tightly in her lap they’d turned white. “So…are you going to call Tosh to come get you? Or are you gonna stay with me?”

“I’m pretty wiped out,” she said finally. “The last thing I want to do is get back on the M4 and go to Cardiff tonight. But John…that doesn’t mean…”

“I wouldn’t presume that it did,” he said laying a hand softly on her shoulder.

She nodded and then reached for the door handle. They got out and walked up to the long path to the front door. They climbed up the steps and went inside. The front room was filled with comfortable, modern looking furniture and a small desk. A middle-aged woman sat there, idly flipping through a magazine with extreme boredom on her face. When she looked up she smiled widely.

“Miss Tyler!” she exclaimed in surprise. “It’s so lovely to see you again."

“Hello, Mrs. Sutton,” she said. “Do you happen to have a vacancy?”

“I do,” she said. “I hope this doesn’t mean another Fluberginy invasion.”

Rose laughed. “No, nothing like that. We’re on our way to Cardiff and Dr. Smith’s car got a flat. Apparently the spare won’t make it that far.”

“Oh, I can call Henry for you in the morning. He’ll be happy to open up for you,” Mrs. Sutton said.

“Thank you,” said Rose. “That would be wonderful. Now, what about the rooms?” she asked.

“Oh, I’ve only got the one, dear. It’s the family suite though so there’re two beds. Same room, I’m afraid. Will that be a problem?” she asked.

“No, that’ll be just fine,” Rose said. She pulled her wallet out of her purse and dug out the Torchwood credit card and handed it over. After they’d signed the requisite paperwork, Mrs. Sutton lifted a couple of keys off the wall and then gestured for them to follow her.

“We can go get your bags first, if you like.”

John nodded and they went back out to his vehicle and retrieved their luggage, before following Mrs. Sutton up to the second floor. “Breakfast will be on from seven to ten. Everything will be buffet style in warmers if you don’t show up before eight,” she said, addressing her comments to John because Rose knew the drill already. “This particular room has its own private bath, so no sharing with the folks down the hall.”

Mrs. Sutton paused in front of a white door carved heavily with twisting vines and flowers. She unlocked it with her master key ring and pushed it open. “There you are. If you need anything more I’ll be up until eleven.” She turned to John. “I’ll call Henry at seven if that’s not too early for you.”

“Sounds fine,” he said. Mrs. Sutton nodded and excused herself. Rose hauled her suitcase over to the bed nearest the window and plopped it on, while John shut the door and set his own bag aside and sat down on the bed. He was looking all around the room. “There’s no television,” he said.

“Mrs. Sutton doesn’t believe in them. There’s a game cupboard at the end of the hall if you need entertainment.” She fished around in her purse and then pulled out her mobile. “I’ll just call Tosh and let her know what’s going on.”

Her call was brief and as she paced in front of the window John watched her. She wasn’t particularly the most graceful of women, but she had a certain fluidity to her movements that reminded him somewhat of an athlete. Of course, she was a black belt so she was an athlete, but the way she walked put him in mind of someone with gymnastics training. Rose hung up and caught him staring at her and a slow blush colored her skin.

“I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a drink after the incident with the car,” Rose said.

“Is there a pub nearby?” he asked.

Rose nodded. “One within walking distance. It’s not anything so fancy as the other one, but it’ll do for a pint or two.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Just give me a minute to make myself presentable.”

“You don’t need it,” he said. “You’re already beautiful.”

She blushed again. “Yeah, well, what I meant was that I need to pee,” she said bluntly.

“Ah.” She brushed past him and into the bathroom. When she came out a minute later he took his own turn and when he came out he noticed that Rose had changed her hair by rolling the red scarf into a hair band. It also looked liked she’d messed with her makeup, at least putting on a darker lipstick with a shiny gloss. He licked his lips reflexively as he gazed at her mouth.

“Shall we?” she asked.

He smiled and opened the door, gesturing for her to go through before him. “Of course.”




The pub was one of those out of the way backwater places, but it still seemed to have a decent clientele. Soft music played on an old-fashioned Juke Box. A few couples swayed to the music, a few old men nursed their pints at the bar, and a couple of teenagers who didn’t look like they were old enough to be in there seemed to be daring each other to see who’d try to pull the wool over the waitress first and get an alcoholic beverage.

Rose and John claimed a table in the dimly lit room. It was round and someone had dug into the surface of it with a knife long ago. She traced the heart and the initials J.A. + S.D with her index finger. The waitress arrived to give them a drinks menu and Rose perused it for a bit. John had settled on a pint of dark ale and Rose decided on a something called a Lava Flow that had two kinds of rum, coconut, strawberries, banana, pineapple juice and coconut cream. When it came it had a little umbrella in the top.

Rose sipped it. “Oh, it’s good,” she said. “You want some?” She pushed the drink over to him and he tried it. He nodded his approval.

“Nice, sweet, but with a surprising kick in the arse. Suits you.”

Rose laughed. They chatted a bit and finished their drinks and then John asked her to dance. It was a slow song and there really wasn’t much dancing involved. It was more of an excuse to hold each other and sway a bit, but Rose didn’t mind. She snuggled her face against his chest, her ear searching for the thud of his heartbeat, still surprised despite her knowledge that he was human, that she didn’t hear the double thud thump that memory insisted should be there from a man who looked as he did.

John held one of his hands at the small of her back and the other sort of wandered up and down. Her hands were clasped around the back of his neck and his body felt so good against hers. She sighed in contentment and snuggled even closer as the music ended and a new song, this one slow, too, came on the juke box. She became aware after another moment that his attraction to her was very evidently making itself known. She eased her body back a bit, putting a little space between them.

When they returned to their table after a couple more rigorous songs had played, John ordered another pint and Rose got a virgin pineapple daiquiri. She didn’t think it would be a good idea for her to get drunk when she was sharing a room with John. Her defenses had been tumbling all day as it was and after the intimacy of the two slow dances they’d shared, her own desire was in conflict with her mind’s desire to take things slowly.

They nursed their drinks along, talking about what they thought might be going on in Cardiff. Rose was convinced it was aliens and tech, but John thought it was possible it was just really advanced tech. They argued a bit about it in a good-natured way and had come to no real conclusions by the time they’d finished. They danced a few more times and then at ten o’clock left the pub.

“I’ve had the most wonderful time tonight,” Rose said.

“Have you?” John asked reaching for her hand. She let him take it and she nodded at him.

“Yeah.” They started walking, exiting the car park and heading towards the B&B. “When I met you…I was scared of this,” she said.

“Scared of what?”

“Scared of getting closer to you.”

“Because I look like him.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah. I was afraid of getting my heart broken. But you’re nothing like him. Which means I got to like you on your own merits,” she said.

“And that’s a good thing?” he asked as they stopped outside the front door of the B&B.

She swung their hands and smiled at him. “Yeah. I’d say it is.

They went inside and headed up to their room. Once there, they took off their shoes and coats and John plopped down on the little sofa. Rose hesitated to join him. She was suddenly more nervous than she’d been in a long while. “Come sit with me, Rose,” John said patting the sofa beside him. Rose did, butterflies starting up a convention in her stomach. He took her hand again. “Rose, I really like spending time with you.”

“I like spending time with you, too.”

“I like you,” he said.

She gave him a lopsided smile. “I like you, too, believe it or not.”

“Oh, I believe it. The thing is, Rose, that…well, I—I’ve got feelings that maybe I ought not to be having for you because I’m not sure you’re ready to return them.”

“I…I don’t know if I am,” she said. “I just know that being with you makes me happy.”

“I want to kiss you,” he said bluntly.

“Kiss me?” she said trying not to sound startled at the idea. After all she’d been fantasizing about it for a few days now. It wasn’t completely unexpected.

“Yeah. It’s the only thing I could think about tonight. How much I just wanted to kiss you.”

“Oh,” she said thinking that over for a while. She decided to be brave. She raised her eyes to meet his. “Why haven’t you then?” she asked.

“I wasn’t sure it would be welcome.”

“John, surely you must know that I’m attracted to you,” she said. “I haven’t hidden it.”

“But I look like…you said I look like your dead lover,” he said.

“You do, but I thought we were past that. Maybe that was the attraction in the very beginning, but I know you now. The person that you are. You’re not him and I don’t think of you the same way. It’s different. I like you for you, John. For who you are and for how you make me feel,” she told him.

“And how’s that then? How do I make you feel?” he asked.

“Like I want you to kiss me, too,” she said shyly.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He stared at her like he was still unsure of the next step. “So then are we going to?” she asked him with an exasperated smile. “Or is this conversation purely hypothetical?”

He grinned at her. “Just a bit nervous. Been a while since I’ve kissed someone.”

“Me, too,” she said, “but I’m pretty sure it’ll come back to us.”

He reached out and stroked a strand of hair back from her face then cradled her jaw and leaned forward brushing his lips lightly against hers, once, twice, half a dozen times. On the seventh pass his lips firmed a bit, adding pressure and Rose felt her heart begin speeding up. She reached for him with her free hand, her fingers fisting in his shirt, pulling him a little closer. His hand moved from her jaw into her hair as he held her head in place.

Her tongue flicked out, catching the corner of his mouth and she gently sucked at his upper lip. He made a soft sound, halfway between a purr and a growl. She released the lip and when she flicked towards him again the tip of his tongue just lightly brushed her own. They pulled back just for a second before seeking again a repeat of the tiny little sweeping stroke. It was a tentative dance, tongues brushing and pulling back over and over until Rose thought she might go mad if he didn’t deepen the kiss.

He seemed to feel it, too, for his next stroke went into her mouth, slow and soft and long. Gently he circled her tongue, never pushing, never overwhelming, just exploring and searching out this new territory with caution and patience. Rose felt her stomach do a slow, tumbling turn and a flush of heat flooded upwards from her chest, to her neck and face. She was glad she was sitting because she was pretty sure her legs would have collapsed from under her just then if she hadn’t been. A slow and persistent desire to touch him, to be touched by him invaded her thoughts.

She broke the kiss and pulled back from him striving to catch her breath. “Wow,” he said and when she looked at him his eyes had gone so dark they appeared to be black. She stared at him mutely unable to form any coherent thoughts, let alone make words. Something primal within her was screaming at her to pull him back, to kiss him again, to touch his skin under his clothing, and to hold his body closer to her own.

“I should…I should probably stop,” he said.

Rose managed to find her voice. “You probably should,” she said slipping her hand back into his.

“Because if I kiss you again…”

“If you kiss me…”

“Things will probably go too fast,” he said.

“Probably,” Rose agreed.

They sat in silence for a long moment, just looking at each other and then Rose tugged him towards her and met his lips again. It was her turn to explore his mouth and as her tongue slid about his another wave of desire washed through her. She sought out every nook and cranny, swept her tongue across the roof of his mouth and delighted in the fact that it made him jerk in surprise. He took control of the kiss then, speeding it up, making it more aggressive as he drove it back into her mouth.

She felt his hand on her knee, felt it slowly slide up her body to her waist and then skip up to her shoulder. Gently he pushed her backwards onto the couch and her back hit the cushions. He followed her down, easing his body half beside her, half on top of her. Her arms went around him, tugging his shirt out of his trousers, her hands seeking out bare skin. He quivered under her touch and groaned.

Rose tore her mouth away to take a gasping breath and John’s lips found her neck. She tilted her head back, further exposing her throat. He laid kisses across it then sucked against the pulse point. She could feel her heart beating faster as his hand moved down her body, his fingers brushing lightly over the outside curve of her breast. She arched into him and said, “John,” in a soft, breathy voice. She could feel his desire for her against her thigh.

He brought his mouth back to hers, kissing her again, this time so deeply she felt he was trying to find her soul. She wanted him desperately in that moment, ached to make love with him, and despite knowing it was far too soon for such a thing, wished for it anyway. The feelings he was bringing up in her were extremely powerful and any confusion she might have had before this moment disappeared. He was not the Doctor, nor a Doctor replacement. He was John Smith, no more, no less, and she was falling in love with him.

The thought was like a bucket of cold water being dumped over her and she froze. Immediately noticing the change in her body John broke the kiss and propped himself up enough to look her in the eyes. “You all right? Did I do something wrong?” The sheer vulnerability in his eyes as he asked that question melted her heart.

“It’s all going so fast,” she said.

“Too fast?” he asked.

“I’m not ready to make love, John,” she said in a small voice.

He stroked the side of her face with gentle fingers. “I care about you very much, Rose. More than any woman I can remember having feelings about in a long time. But I’m not ready to make love to you, either.”

“You’re not?” she asked. “Feels like you are.”

“Well, of course my body is. My body was ready to shag you senseless against the nearest wall the day I met you. And to be honest, it still is, but that’s not...that’s not what I want right now. I know you, too, now, Rose, and I want so much more than that. I want you to be in love with me. I want you to not have any doubts at all. I want…all of it. I know you’re not there yet. I’m not there yet, but I can see us going there. At least…if it’s what you want.”

Rose swallowed hard. “Yeah. It’s what I want.”

“Okay. Then maybe…maybe we should stop…for now,” he said.

“Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, I think so.”

Slowly, reluctantly, they disentangled themselves from each other and prepared for bed. They didn’t speak again until after the light was out, and then only to whisper good-night, but Rose’s dreams were filled with John’s voice and his kisses, and for the first time in years, she couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for her.

Ch. 20: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/352575.html