Rose, by wildwinterwitch on TS • AO3 • LJ
Stranded on an alien world without the TARDIS, Rose and the Doctor have to find a way to live and hide the Doctor from The Family. But injured and in pain, Rose starts to to wish she could forget.
This is a story that begins near the end, with Rose and the Ninth Doctor living together, sleeping together, him bearded, and her suffering a fever following an injury that nearly killed her. The story unfolds in dual structure between what happened to bring them to this point, and the long night of the soul while the Doctor physically cares for her and they try to figure out if being together was a mistake that the Doctor could undo - at least for her.Â
A unique take on the Family of Blood - they’re in hiding, but the Doctor doesn’t use the Chameleon Arch. Instead, it’s intimacy with a human that keeps the Family away, and Rose will do anything to protect him. It’s protection, until it’s more. The Family is around, but it isn’t a story about the Family or what they did.
The first rec I ever saw for @wildwinterwitch described her work as having a “grown up feel” and I think about that phrase with each and every fic of hers I read. The world is richly created in few words. The mood is palpable, and the tenderness is overwhelming.Â
Her non-linear narrative is intriguing and beautifully crafted (of course, because it’s wildwinterwitch). We have the side by side contrast of the early days of unspoken affection to the later deep relationship, where the Doctor is all in and laying his heart out for Rose.Â
This characterization of the Nine is exactly what I look for, and I cannot recommend this story highly enough.Â