The One Adventure They Could Never Have (3/9?)
Title: The One Adventure They Could Never Have (3/9?)
Author: glowsticklilz
Character/Pairing: Human!Ten/Rose.
Rating: PG-13 for now.
Summary: Rose and her new Doctor slowly adjust to their new life.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who is not mine. All I own are my words.
Author's Notes: Things start to look up from this point. There's still some angst, but the heavy stuff is mainly over. Enjoy.
Chapter One | Chapter Two
The Doctor found himself sitting on a bed staring out the window. After his conversation with Pete late last night, he had shown him to the spare room and given him a spare T-shirt to sleep in. The Doctor had taken it kindly, said good night and sat on the bed, the very same spot he was sitting in at that moment. He couldn't sleep, he was so used to not sleeping, that even if this new body - with it's single heart needed rest; it was more than he was willing to give it.
For the past 7 hours and 24 minutes he had been looking at the stars. It was a little hard given that the street light was covering many of them with it's vicious light. Though the ones he could see he marveled at. He named the distance constellations he could just make out - some of them were a little different in this universe, the only comfort that offered him was knowing that soon he would be able to go and explore the differences himself. His doubts lied with Rose though. He was unsure of whether she would want to come with him, giving how she didn't think of him as her Doctor. He knew for a fact that she would have travelled with his other self without question, after all she had crossed universes just to be with him again.
It was getting close to 8 in the morning, a time the Doctor thought reasonable to go downstairs and explore the house a little. The room he was in was very bland, plain white walls and white sheets; there was a framed photo of the sea, and a small black and white portrait of a single flower on the wall, very generic. It was a room without character, and he liked something to have character.
Stepping outside, he found himself in a long hallway, there were a few more closed doors to the right, and on the other side a landing to a wide staircase. Choosing to go down the stairs, the Doctor was in the lobby he remembered the Cybermen smashing through all those years ago. He knew the kitchen was to his right, so he instead went left. He found himself in what he guessed was the sitting room, two sets of sofas and a grand fireplace between them, it looked cosy and lived in. Walking to the small coffee table he saw several framed photos. One of them was of the whole Tyler household, Pete with his arm around Jackie, Jackie with her arm around him and Rose to the side holding Tony close to her. They seemed close, from what he could see last night, she only let her defenses down as soon as she saw her younger brother. The photo next to that was of Rose and Jackie. Jackie had a wide smile and so did Rose, but only one of the woman actually looked happy.
The Doctor could feel someone walking into the room just behind him, turning around he found one Jackie Tyler looking back. She was in a dressing gown and had hardly any make-up on, a look the Doctor had never seen before. She walked over to the coffee table and picked up the photo the Doctor had just observed.
"This was taken about two years ago," Jackie begun "Rose had just gotten her A Level results, two A's and a B, I was so proud of her."
The Doctor smiled, he was glad to hear she hadn't given up on life completely.
"She was just about to start her new job at Torchwood, working with her Dad doing all that alien stuff that she loves.." Jackie sighed "..but you can tell she's not really smiling." she finished putting the photo back down on top of the table and looking up at the Doctor. "I thought you'd be able to put a smile on her face," she half laughed "Guess I was wrong."
The Doctor was little angered that Jackie thought her daughters current state was down to him, as in the man he was now - not the other him; who in fact was the reason Rose was in her current state.
"Jackie, I'm not the one who left her here." He said a little defensively.
"Yeah, but your other friend did didn't he."
"And I am so sorry he did. In fact I'm so sorry I even exist! Why, without me, Rose would still be with him, and he'd have dropped you off here to be with your family, and Donna would be fine too!"
Oh god, Donna. He hadn't thought of what would have to happen to her, what probably already had happened to her. Once again he swallowed hard and took a deep breath, he really was finding his emotions getting in the way in this human form - another thing he'd have to get used to.
"Eh, eh what's going on in here then?" Pete walked into the room.
"Nothing, don't you worry darling..just sorting out some things it seems." Jackie replied not taking her eyes off of the Doctor.
"You told her yet?" Pete asked the Doctor.
"Told me what?!" Jackie turned to her husband, then back at him.
"He's got a bit of that TARDIS thing, said he can grow it, show Rose the stars again, she'd like that wouldn't she, make her smile, right?" Pete said quite desperately.
"You've got what?" Jackie half glared, maybe misunderstanding what she'd just been told.
The Doctor was a little taken aback, arguments and questioning, not exactly two of his most favourite things. He then saw that Jackie was still looking up at him. "The TARDIS, you know, my blue box."
"I know what it is. But what are you going to do with it?"
"I can grow another one."
"What, and take my daughter away again, back to the other universe?"
"No, I can't do that."
"Well, good then. You're here, she's here, and that box she loves so much. Good," Jackie paused, "This should be just fine then, right?"
"When are you gonna tell her?" Pete asked.
It was in that moment that the Doctor saw just how much Jackie and Pete cared for Rose. It must have been a tough few years, if his experience was anything to go by. There was so much hope riding on him, a responsibility he was little scared of, especially since their daughter was hardly up for even looking at him at the moment. He took another deep breath and answered.
"Soon."
~~~~~
Roughly 6 minutes later, Pete, Jackie and the Doctor had made their way to the kitchen. When walking in, the Doctor could smell bacon which made his stomach rumble, he realised that he had never eaten in this body, that must set a record somewhere, he thought. Rose's younger brother Tony was sitting at the table on a little booster seat. He had bowl of Cheerios in front of him, and was eating them quite happily until he looked up at the Doctor. The little boy looked a little stunned, as if he had made a discovery.
"Doctor! Doctor!" He shouted happily, waving his spoon.
The Doctor whipped out a smile, "Yeah that's me," he said "And who are you?"
"Tony." The boy smiled back.
His smile was so like Rose's, he too had a wide mouth and blonde hair, the Doctor also liked his space pajamas.
"Don't mind him, he's been told alot about you," Pete offered sitting down next to his son.
"Ain't that right Ton, your sister's told you lots of stories aint she?"
The young boy nodded back enthusiastically. "Like, the, the box and the stars and the werewolf!" Tony then proceeded to make his best roaring sound.
"That's his favourite." Jackie joined, setting a plate of bacon and eggs in front of the Doctor, which he thanked her for.
"I see, has Rose told you about the big flying bats too?" He asked popping a bit of bacon into his mouth.
"What the teacher ones?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Tony laughed, "Uncle Mickey told me that one."
The Doctor stopped chewing the piece of bacon that was in his mouth, remembering that Mickey had stayed in the other world, wondering why he saw that as a better option to here? He also noticed that Jackie stood up, sniffing and complaining about needing a tissue. Pete followed, the Doctor didn't know how close her and Mickey were. Which left him and Tony alone. The young boy was looking to the door his mother had escaped through trying to hide her cries, he then looked to the Doctor; a confused look across his face.
"Hey don't worry, mummy's just not feeling very well." He hoped that explanation would be of some comfort to the young boy, seeing that Tony was still looking for Jackie.
"Hey how about you tell me another story Rose told you?" The Doctor tried distraction, and it appeared to work, for the young boy was now smiling and looking up.
"Urm, err.."
"What about the Daleks? You know how much we love them." The young boy was interjected.
The Doctor looked to where the voice came from, and in the doorway stood Rose Tyler. All pink and yellow and in pajamas, her hair was a little scruffy, and she still had mascara stains over her eyes.
Tony made a fart noise with his tongue showing his disgust of what his big sister had just said, not understanding the sarcasm. This caused Rose to chuckle, something the Doctor hadn't seen for ages and she was smiling, really smiling.
"I'm only joking! You know they're just smelly pepper pots!" Rose smiled, heading over to her brother and lifting him into her arms, which made the young boy laugh. "His own words." Rose added looking to the Doctor, still with a smile on her face.
"I'm sure." He smiled back, keeping up with the playful mood.
Rose, sat down and held Tony on her lap. "So what else have you been telling the Doctor?"
She'd actually addressed him as the Doctor. Not 'him', but the Doctor, his name - well sort of.
"I said about the box and the stars and the werewolf."
"Oh he loves that one." Rose once again looked to the Doctor, and Tony was once again attempting his best roar sound.
The Doctor and Rose shared a look, holding each other's gaze, until they were interrupted.
"Morning sweetheart," Jackie said, kissing her daughter's cheek. "You feeling better?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Rose lied "Seriously!" She pressed even more after seeing the look her Mum was giving her.
Jackie seemed to be fresh faced again, whatever had happened earlier appeared to be resolved. Pete had returned to the room with his wife as well, making his way over to Rose and giving her a kiss on the top of her head and scuffing her hair a little. They shared a smile with a knowing glance.
"We'll talk later yeah?" Pete asked, Rose nodded in reply.
"Right well I'm just gonna stop off at the office, they'll wanna know about everything. Shouldn't be too long." Pete announced, kissing his wife and Tony and nodding towards the Doctor, he left the room.
Jackie went back to drinking her tea and reading the paper, and Rose seemed to be playing some sort of game with her brother which involved whispering into each other's ears, the Doctor after observing this simply went back to eating his bacon and eggs.
~~~~~
A short while later Jackie cleared the table and returned taking Tony up to his room to change him. The boy complained a little about being taken away from his older sister, though the promise of being taken to the park later seemed to settle him. So now the Doctor and Rose were left alone, in an uncomfortable silence.
"You and Tony seem close." the Doctor stated, breaking the ice.
"Yeah, I love him to bits," she smiled "He's the only one who keeps me sane."
"And you and Pete?"
"Yeah, we get on. I can't call him Dad, but he still is," she paused "Sorta weird like that."
There was another moment of awkward silence, the Doctor cleared his throat, knowing what he wanted to say, but wanting her to start.
"I heard you did your A Levels." he diverted once again
"Yeah I did, Philosophy, Physics and English Lit...got the B in Physics, that still goes a little over my head."
"Ah well, good for you." he smiled, he really was very proud of her.
Rose sat forward and held her hands, "Look, about last night."
"Right, yeah." The Doctor moved forward too, grateful she had brought it up.
"What I said, I.." she stopped to think, "..I'm not gonna say I didn't mean any of it, I mean, I'm still a little sore you know? But I want you to know that I don't think I'm alone anymore, and I'm sorry for saying that."
That did make him feel a little better. "Yeah, cause your not." He smiled "And I don't just mean me, I mean you've got your brother, your Mum and a parallel version of your Dad."
Rose sort of looked at him, tears fighting to build up again. "I know that, they've been here the whole time, putting up with me. Don't know how they did it?" she half laughed.
"Not too badly it seems." The Doctor added, a moment's silence passed between them.
"But all I wanted was you," she begun almost choking on her words, "And now I've got you, but I lost him." she clenched her jaw trying to fight the tears again.
Just when he thought he was making progress, "Look Rose, I don't want to replace him. I could leave.." he stuttered around his words, he really didn't want to, "Get a mortgage, some carpets.."
"..No." she cut him off. "I don't want you to leave like he did."
He looked at her, really looked at her. Her eyes were shining from the tears she was trying so hard to fight off, but she was deadly serious.
"I won't." he whispered
Rose then stood up, walked around the table her arms open slightly as she walked to him. He stood up, wrapped his arms around her and took her into a crushing hug. Staying like that for quite a while.
"I can't believe you're actually here." she said into his neck.
"Me neither." he grinned, squeezing her just a little bit.
Rose pulled from the hug first, smiling widely when she met his eyes again. "Alright well, I'm gonna get in the shower - look at the state of me."
The Doctor did look at the state of her, and thought her state was rather beautiful; but with him understanding human women a little better with help from his Donna side, he knew to just keep his mouth shut.
"I was thinking about making a screwdriver a little more sonic." He grinned.
"You can do that?"
"Course I can. A few extra materials from Torchwood would help though."
"Well I can help you with that." Rose offered with a cheeky smile - the kind he missed.
He smiled back as she turned and went up the stairs to shower. It was then that he decided he'd show Rose the coral that evening. Now he knew that she wanted him in some kind of way, it was of some comfort to him, and gave him that little bit of confidence he needed. He also hoped that he'd be receiving many more cheeky smiles from one Rose Tyler, maybe even with some tongue accompanying. Though for now he set out to find some paper so he could start the plans for his new screwdriver.
~~~~~
Chapter Four
Author: glowsticklilz
Character/Pairing: Human!Ten/Rose.
Rating: PG-13 for now.
Summary: Rose and her new Doctor slowly adjust to their new life.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who is not mine. All I own are my words.
Author's Notes: Things start to look up from this point. There's still some angst, but the heavy stuff is mainly over. Enjoy.
Chapter One | Chapter Two
The Doctor found himself sitting on a bed staring out the window. After his conversation with Pete late last night, he had shown him to the spare room and given him a spare T-shirt to sleep in. The Doctor had taken it kindly, said good night and sat on the bed, the very same spot he was sitting in at that moment. He couldn't sleep, he was so used to not sleeping, that even if this new body - with it's single heart needed rest; it was more than he was willing to give it.
For the past 7 hours and 24 minutes he had been looking at the stars. It was a little hard given that the street light was covering many of them with it's vicious light. Though the ones he could see he marveled at. He named the distance constellations he could just make out - some of them were a little different in this universe, the only comfort that offered him was knowing that soon he would be able to go and explore the differences himself. His doubts lied with Rose though. He was unsure of whether she would want to come with him, giving how she didn't think of him as her Doctor. He knew for a fact that she would have travelled with his other self without question, after all she had crossed universes just to be with him again.
It was getting close to 8 in the morning, a time the Doctor thought reasonable to go downstairs and explore the house a little. The room he was in was very bland, plain white walls and white sheets; there was a framed photo of the sea, and a small black and white portrait of a single flower on the wall, very generic. It was a room without character, and he liked something to have character.
Stepping outside, he found himself in a long hallway, there were a few more closed doors to the right, and on the other side a landing to a wide staircase. Choosing to go down the stairs, the Doctor was in the lobby he remembered the Cybermen smashing through all those years ago. He knew the kitchen was to his right, so he instead went left. He found himself in what he guessed was the sitting room, two sets of sofas and a grand fireplace between them, it looked cosy and lived in. Walking to the small coffee table he saw several framed photos. One of them was of the whole Tyler household, Pete with his arm around Jackie, Jackie with her arm around him and Rose to the side holding Tony close to her. They seemed close, from what he could see last night, she only let her defenses down as soon as she saw her younger brother. The photo next to that was of Rose and Jackie. Jackie had a wide smile and so did Rose, but only one of the woman actually looked happy.
The Doctor could feel someone walking into the room just behind him, turning around he found one Jackie Tyler looking back. She was in a dressing gown and had hardly any make-up on, a look the Doctor had never seen before. She walked over to the coffee table and picked up the photo the Doctor had just observed.
"This was taken about two years ago," Jackie begun "Rose had just gotten her A Level results, two A's and a B, I was so proud of her."
The Doctor smiled, he was glad to hear she hadn't given up on life completely.
"She was just about to start her new job at Torchwood, working with her Dad doing all that alien stuff that she loves.." Jackie sighed "..but you can tell she's not really smiling." she finished putting the photo back down on top of the table and looking up at the Doctor. "I thought you'd be able to put a smile on her face," she half laughed "Guess I was wrong."
The Doctor was little angered that Jackie thought her daughters current state was down to him, as in the man he was now - not the other him; who in fact was the reason Rose was in her current state.
"Jackie, I'm not the one who left her here." He said a little defensively.
"Yeah, but your other friend did didn't he."
"And I am so sorry he did. In fact I'm so sorry I even exist! Why, without me, Rose would still be with him, and he'd have dropped you off here to be with your family, and Donna would be fine too!"
Oh god, Donna. He hadn't thought of what would have to happen to her, what probably already had happened to her. Once again he swallowed hard and took a deep breath, he really was finding his emotions getting in the way in this human form - another thing he'd have to get used to.
"Eh, eh what's going on in here then?" Pete walked into the room.
"Nothing, don't you worry darling..just sorting out some things it seems." Jackie replied not taking her eyes off of the Doctor.
"You told her yet?" Pete asked the Doctor.
"Told me what?!" Jackie turned to her husband, then back at him.
"He's got a bit of that TARDIS thing, said he can grow it, show Rose the stars again, she'd like that wouldn't she, make her smile, right?" Pete said quite desperately.
"You've got what?" Jackie half glared, maybe misunderstanding what she'd just been told.
The Doctor was a little taken aback, arguments and questioning, not exactly two of his most favourite things. He then saw that Jackie was still looking up at him. "The TARDIS, you know, my blue box."
"I know what it is. But what are you going to do with it?"
"I can grow another one."
"What, and take my daughter away again, back to the other universe?"
"No, I can't do that."
"Well, good then. You're here, she's here, and that box she loves so much. Good," Jackie paused, "This should be just fine then, right?"
"When are you gonna tell her?" Pete asked.
It was in that moment that the Doctor saw just how much Jackie and Pete cared for Rose. It must have been a tough few years, if his experience was anything to go by. There was so much hope riding on him, a responsibility he was little scared of, especially since their daughter was hardly up for even looking at him at the moment. He took another deep breath and answered.
"Soon."
~~~~~
Roughly 6 minutes later, Pete, Jackie and the Doctor had made their way to the kitchen. When walking in, the Doctor could smell bacon which made his stomach rumble, he realised that he had never eaten in this body, that must set a record somewhere, he thought. Rose's younger brother Tony was sitting at the table on a little booster seat. He had bowl of Cheerios in front of him, and was eating them quite happily until he looked up at the Doctor. The little boy looked a little stunned, as if he had made a discovery.
"Doctor! Doctor!" He shouted happily, waving his spoon.
The Doctor whipped out a smile, "Yeah that's me," he said "And who are you?"
"Tony." The boy smiled back.
His smile was so like Rose's, he too had a wide mouth and blonde hair, the Doctor also liked his space pajamas.
"Don't mind him, he's been told alot about you," Pete offered sitting down next to his son.
"Ain't that right Ton, your sister's told you lots of stories aint she?"
The young boy nodded back enthusiastically. "Like, the, the box and the stars and the werewolf!" Tony then proceeded to make his best roaring sound.
"That's his favourite." Jackie joined, setting a plate of bacon and eggs in front of the Doctor, which he thanked her for.
"I see, has Rose told you about the big flying bats too?" He asked popping a bit of bacon into his mouth.
"What the teacher ones?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Tony laughed, "Uncle Mickey told me that one."
The Doctor stopped chewing the piece of bacon that was in his mouth, remembering that Mickey had stayed in the other world, wondering why he saw that as a better option to here? He also noticed that Jackie stood up, sniffing and complaining about needing a tissue. Pete followed, the Doctor didn't know how close her and Mickey were. Which left him and Tony alone. The young boy was looking to the door his mother had escaped through trying to hide her cries, he then looked to the Doctor; a confused look across his face.
"Hey don't worry, mummy's just not feeling very well." He hoped that explanation would be of some comfort to the young boy, seeing that Tony was still looking for Jackie.
"Hey how about you tell me another story Rose told you?" The Doctor tried distraction, and it appeared to work, for the young boy was now smiling and looking up.
"Urm, err.."
"What about the Daleks? You know how much we love them." The young boy was interjected.
The Doctor looked to where the voice came from, and in the doorway stood Rose Tyler. All pink and yellow and in pajamas, her hair was a little scruffy, and she still had mascara stains over her eyes.
Tony made a fart noise with his tongue showing his disgust of what his big sister had just said, not understanding the sarcasm. This caused Rose to chuckle, something the Doctor hadn't seen for ages and she was smiling, really smiling.
"I'm only joking! You know they're just smelly pepper pots!" Rose smiled, heading over to her brother and lifting him into her arms, which made the young boy laugh. "His own words." Rose added looking to the Doctor, still with a smile on her face.
"I'm sure." He smiled back, keeping up with the playful mood.
Rose, sat down and held Tony on her lap. "So what else have you been telling the Doctor?"
She'd actually addressed him as the Doctor. Not 'him', but the Doctor, his name - well sort of.
"I said about the box and the stars and the werewolf."
"Oh he loves that one." Rose once again looked to the Doctor, and Tony was once again attempting his best roar sound.
The Doctor and Rose shared a look, holding each other's gaze, until they were interrupted.
"Morning sweetheart," Jackie said, kissing her daughter's cheek. "You feeling better?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Rose lied "Seriously!" She pressed even more after seeing the look her Mum was giving her.
Jackie seemed to be fresh faced again, whatever had happened earlier appeared to be resolved. Pete had returned to the room with his wife as well, making his way over to Rose and giving her a kiss on the top of her head and scuffing her hair a little. They shared a smile with a knowing glance.
"We'll talk later yeah?" Pete asked, Rose nodded in reply.
"Right well I'm just gonna stop off at the office, they'll wanna know about everything. Shouldn't be too long." Pete announced, kissing his wife and Tony and nodding towards the Doctor, he left the room.
Jackie went back to drinking her tea and reading the paper, and Rose seemed to be playing some sort of game with her brother which involved whispering into each other's ears, the Doctor after observing this simply went back to eating his bacon and eggs.
~~~~~
A short while later Jackie cleared the table and returned taking Tony up to his room to change him. The boy complained a little about being taken away from his older sister, though the promise of being taken to the park later seemed to settle him. So now the Doctor and Rose were left alone, in an uncomfortable silence.
"You and Tony seem close." the Doctor stated, breaking the ice.
"Yeah, I love him to bits," she smiled "He's the only one who keeps me sane."
"And you and Pete?"
"Yeah, we get on. I can't call him Dad, but he still is," she paused "Sorta weird like that."
There was another moment of awkward silence, the Doctor cleared his throat, knowing what he wanted to say, but wanting her to start.
"I heard you did your A Levels." he diverted once again
"Yeah I did, Philosophy, Physics and English Lit...got the B in Physics, that still goes a little over my head."
"Ah well, good for you." he smiled, he really was very proud of her.
Rose sat forward and held her hands, "Look, about last night."
"Right, yeah." The Doctor moved forward too, grateful she had brought it up.
"What I said, I.." she stopped to think, "..I'm not gonna say I didn't mean any of it, I mean, I'm still a little sore you know? But I want you to know that I don't think I'm alone anymore, and I'm sorry for saying that."
That did make him feel a little better. "Yeah, cause your not." He smiled "And I don't just mean me, I mean you've got your brother, your Mum and a parallel version of your Dad."
Rose sort of looked at him, tears fighting to build up again. "I know that, they've been here the whole time, putting up with me. Don't know how they did it?" she half laughed.
"Not too badly it seems." The Doctor added, a moment's silence passed between them.
"But all I wanted was you," she begun almost choking on her words, "And now I've got you, but I lost him." she clenched her jaw trying to fight the tears again.
Just when he thought he was making progress, "Look Rose, I don't want to replace him. I could leave.." he stuttered around his words, he really didn't want to, "Get a mortgage, some carpets.."
"..No." she cut him off. "I don't want you to leave like he did."
He looked at her, really looked at her. Her eyes were shining from the tears she was trying so hard to fight off, but she was deadly serious.
"I won't." he whispered
Rose then stood up, walked around the table her arms open slightly as she walked to him. He stood up, wrapped his arms around her and took her into a crushing hug. Staying like that for quite a while.
"I can't believe you're actually here." she said into his neck.
"Me neither." he grinned, squeezing her just a little bit.
Rose pulled from the hug first, smiling widely when she met his eyes again. "Alright well, I'm gonna get in the shower - look at the state of me."
The Doctor did look at the state of her, and thought her state was rather beautiful; but with him understanding human women a little better with help from his Donna side, he knew to just keep his mouth shut.
"I was thinking about making a screwdriver a little more sonic." He grinned.
"You can do that?"
"Course I can. A few extra materials from Torchwood would help though."
"Well I can help you with that." Rose offered with a cheeky smile - the kind he missed.
He smiled back as she turned and went up the stairs to shower. It was then that he decided he'd show Rose the coral that evening. Now he knew that she wanted him in some kind of way, it was of some comfort to him, and gave him that little bit of confidence he needed. He also hoped that he'd be receiving many more cheeky smiles from one Rose Tyler, maybe even with some tongue accompanying. Though for now he set out to find some paper so he could start the plans for his new screwdriver.
~~~~~
Chapter Four