For shuntoff

[huffpuffblonde]

It took three weeks to get to that beach, ten minutes to get a broken heart, five and a half hours to leave, three more weeks to get back home, and another month before she bothered to leave her bedroom. Two weeks after that she had an identity established, and started training at Torchwood. Sixteen days and she was a certified field agent. A year

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[shuntoff]

She was clever he'd give her that. She could keep up and to be quite honest she wasn't even all that frightened by it. Whatever was out there didn't have he running up and out of the building. She was confident and that was the most important part of all this right. Keeping calm int he face of danger. You couldn't panic when that kind of thing happened. You had to just keep moving and come up with that Earth saving plan on the move. It really was the only way to handle these types of situations.

"No. It's what I do. You're just a girl with busted toy." From what he had observed it was a nice piece of technology, but there was no way he was going to admit it. They were evolving down here, but it was still a very slow process. It would be sometime before they could admit to living in a world with aliens. Least that was his impression. He could be wrong, but it wasn't likely.

"But you're what? Come on then. Out with it!" He was impatient and curious. A very bad combination. "Rose." He repeated the name and looked her over. Parallel

[shuntoff]

The way she was looking at him was difficult. He felt like he was on display for her and that alone was hard to deal with. He bowed his head and toed the grating below. His arms seemed to tighten across his chest. Looking up at her became extremely difficult and something he just couldn't work out how to do. Instead he focused on the ground as she spoke. He didn't know what to say to her. Keep her on if he couldn't find her universe. Could he do that? Wouldn't that be a bit wrong of him? Taking from the other him because he got a bit lonely sometimes? Seemed selfish of him.

He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck and then his head popped up. His hand dropped and he nodded. "I'll get you through, but if we can't---we'll see." He didn't want to commit and then somehow down the line it got too difficult for him to handle. What would he say then? Sorry you have to leave now. He'd just be abandoning her. That didn't seem right. He wasn't big on abandoning people even if they were strangers

[huffpuffblonde]

For a terrifying moment, she thought he was going to say no. That she had nothing, and he'd shut her off the second they found out whether or not getting her home was even possible. She had to remind herself that this him was... different. Ages on, who knew how long he'd been alone? And there she came, flouncing into his life, just expecting a space in it, throwing her arms around his neck, inviting herself on board. She shouldn't. Tone it down, Rose.

And then he agreed, for the most part, and a smile tugged at her lips which she firmly restrained. It wasn't a guarantee, it was a 'we'll see', but the qualifying statement was at least good enough for her to know he was seriously considering it. "Oh, I dunno. Just a bit of a warning, but I'm at least half as nutters as you are. We make a pretty good team, you and me. You don't get tired of that after a few weeks. Stayed on with the other you for years. Would've done forever, if I hadn't..."

[shuntoff]

The stories she told weren't his. They didn't belong to him. They were different men. They had different circumstances that shaped them. From what she had told him he was a bit more tolerable in her world. He would have liked to have gotten a peek at himself just once, but that might not have been a good plan at all. Time and space. Wibbly wobbly stuff. Not always as stable as one would hope. He had her though. She could tell him. She could tell him of the life he had missed out on. As sad as he was about what he was deprived of he was more than a little curious about it all. Who wouldn't be? He was still the Doctor and curiosity did tend to get the better of him.

He nodded his head quickly and flipped a switch. "You'll get your forever." He didn't look back at her. He was busy, but not so much that he couldn't look back. He knew if he looked back that face would be filled with sadness. Sadness over missing the other him. Felt a bit wrong seeing her that bad off. Felt wrong. It suddenly occurred to him that one moment he was saying