Title: Just Me

Author: Angel Leviathan

Spoilers: None, I think.

Disclaimer: Doctor Who, characters, concept, etc, aren’t mine.

Notes: I know this seems very random, but several lines of it just wouldn’t leave me alone.

-

The Doctor frowned as the door to the TARDIS swung open, revealing the back of his companion, who nearly tripped over the first step as she backed her way inside, dropping her key with a curse. He checked the watch set to Earth GMT time, having not expected her to be back for hours. Visiting her Mum for the afternoon. Domestic. Wasn’t doing. Didn’t want another slap. Could’ve done with a cup of tea though. Though he hadn’t been expecting Rose to be back so soon, she had still been gone several hours, "Rose? What’s going on? What’re you doing?" he wandered across the room to meet her.

Having finally picked up her key, she turned to face him, almost dropping the small bag that held more personal items she’d gathered from home. Both palms and many of her fingers were covered in sections of hastily wrapped white cloth, areas that weren’t covered showing through as an angry red against her otherwise pale skin.

"What happened?" he questioned, wincing at her quiet hiss of pain as he reached for her hands.

"Mum wasn’t home," Rose answered, letting her bag slide off her arm and fall to the floor so he could look at both her hands.

"So you decided to leave her a nasty reminder to be in next time?" he chastised, frowning at the clumsy bandages wrapped round her right palm and most of her fingers, "Why didn’t you get back here sooner?"

"What?" she looked up at him, "Come racing back here so you finally have proof your little ape really is stupid? Can fight off the odd alien but can’t use a bloody toaster?"

The Doctor blinked and thought about snapping at her, instead opting to sigh, "A toaster?"

"New one. Metal covering. I mean, who in their right mind makes a damn toasted with a metal cover? Seriously. Think about it. Its like those stupid metal teapots with the metal handle. I was shoving it back into its place in the corner and didn’t think until my hands started to hurt. Took half the skin of my hands with it, piece of shit," she started to draw her hands back, grimacing again as the pain tingled through her fingertips when he didn’t let go.

"You went to a hospital?" he seemed quite hurt.

"No, I did this myself. Thought I might as well finish the job and look a right prat," Rose shrugged slightly.

He let her go, but picked her bag up off the floor and looped a gentle arm through hers as he guided her through the TARDIS control room, "Let’s get this sorted properly."
She stared at the floor, "…I’m sorry. I really am a right idiot. Travels through time and gets burnt on a toaster. I’m a smart kid," she muttered.

"You’re not stupid, Rose. You’re stupid for not coming back here when you did it, I’ll give you that though," he looked down at her, clearly still saddened by her behaviour, "…Why didn’t you come back here…?"

"Would you tell me if you’d just seriously damaged yourself using something designed to burn bread?"

"I burn myself on the TARDIS console half the time and grace the silence with much swearing, you’ve seen that. You burn your hands on a toaster and you won’t come back here to let me help you."

"…I didn’t want you to think I really was that stupid…" she whispered, letting him give her a gentle shove inside the Infirmary. Rose jumped up to sit on the main bed, trying to avoid using her hands to steady herself, holding them out in front of her, warily.

He busied himself by searching the various medical cabinets for more bandages and solution to treat her wounds, glad she couldn’t see his face, nor the hurt in his eyes, "…I don’t think you’re stupid, Rose. I think you’re brilliant. You’re a person, not a text book, not some idiot who thinks they can get through life if they just cram enough into their minds. I might rant and rave and tell you you’re stupid, but that’s not what I think, alright?" the Doctor finally turned back to face her, "Its the people who really are stupid who you don’t dare say it to."

She just gazed sadly across the room at him for several moments, "…But…I mean, I’ve got no A-Levels, barely passed my GCSE’s…I’m just a shop girl. I stock rails, work on a till, and its me you want to see the universe with you?"

He strode back across the room, abandoning the medical supplies. He leant over her, planting a hand on either side of her to lean closer, "Only you," he said softly, smiling, and kissed her once, briefly, before returning to the other side of the room.

Rose stared after him, touching her lips with the back of her hand for a moment, "…But…I’m just me…"

"Exactly," the Doctor sprayed her arms with a light mist, making her twitch as her hands suddenly went completely numb, cold, "And I’m just me."

"No, you’re not," she insisted, "You’re a Time Lord, you’ve got this wonderful ship and…" she trailed off, breaking into a smile as he gazed down at her, "you’re really just an ordinary bloke…"

"From the north, you know," he nodded, grinning, as he started to remove the bandages from her fingers.

"From the north," Rose repeated, laughing quietly.

He ran a scanner over her hands, "You wanna know something?"

"What?"

"There’s a reason I never use the toaster in the kitchen."

-

Fin