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Summary: Possible missing scene and alternate ending from GitF. We assume that Rose was left behind by the Doctor, and that she hadn't wanted him to go to Reinette. What if this wasn't the case?

Promises and Betrayals

They were currently stuck on a partially wrecked ship in the 51st century trying to find a way through to the past to save the life of the King's mistress. Unfortunately it wasn't going so well... Every idea that Rose or Mickey had, the Doctor shot down.

"We'll go in the TARDIS!" Rose had started.

"We can't go in the TARDIS, we're part of events now."

"Can't we just smash through?" Mickey had tried.

"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We'd need a truck."

"We don't have a truck!"

"I KNOW we don't have a truck!" The Doctor all but shouted, irate at his inability to follow the clockwork robots.

"We've got to try something!" Rose replied, urging him to think of something.

"No, smash the glass, smash the time window. There'd be no way back." The Doctor turned back to whatever he was doing to some wires with the sonic screwdriver.

Rose watched through the 'mirror' that was a window this side, a window into the past, as 'Madame de Pompadour' calmed the hysterical guests, instilling them to have some dignity. She glanced over at the Doctor as he rushed about frantically trying to find a way to reach the woman they could see but not help. "That wouldn't stop you," she replied, knowing that the Doctor would have no qualms about trapping himself in the past if it meant he could save Reinette.

The Doctor didn't reply, just shot her a look and went back to what he was doing.

"It's because of us, isn't it?" Rose asked. "If you go, you'll be trapped. But it's not you you're worried about, it's me and Mickey, stuck here without you."

Again the Doctor said nothing, and this time he didn't even look at her. But Rose knew that she was right. Without him, there was no hope of either her or Mickey being able to fly the TARDIS. They'd be stuck on a space ship, several galaxies and thousands of years away from home, with no way back. But after all the things she seen, Rose knew that this was how things were with the Doctor. This was how they had always been and how they always would be. He'd taught her that if you could help someone, then you did. You didn't just take no for an answer, you took a stand and found a way to change things for the better. Since that time, the Doctor had changed, and Rose was still getting used to the new him. After all, there was no way that the old him would have saved them the way this one had earlier. Rose tried to imagine the Doctor as he was before swanning in singing and pretending to be drunk to confuse the droids. But she just couldn't picture it. He wasn't the same man anymore. However, the part about helping people, that was one of the things that hadn't changed. And the way he protected her, that was the other thing that hadn't changed.

"I could save the world, but lose you."

She remembered his words when he'd thought she could be hurt by his actions. They'd been trapped in Downing Street, with Slitheen about to destroy the world, and he'd hesitated. He'd hesitated to save the whole world, because there was the risk that she could be hurt. And here he was again, hesitating to save someone, because if he did, he might not be able to get back to her.

"Doctor?" she prompted him.

The Doctor still refused to look at her, continuing to flip switches on various controls. "I promised your mother I'd always bring you back home," he replied, before finally looking her straight in the eyes. "I promised you, that I wouldn't leave you behind," he added, "I won't betray you like that." He went back to what he was doing, hoping to find another way to save Reinette.

It had only been a day or two ago that he'd made that promise to her. On their last adventure, Rose had met Sarah Jane, and in her she'd really got a glimpse of the Doctor's life. She'd always known there must have been others travelling with him before she'd met him. And she'd known that he just didn't talk about them. But in meeting one of them, someone he'd just left behind... It had really hit home for Rose that she couldn't hold onto this man, however hard she tried. It was just in his nature to keep moving, to keep moving and never look back.

However, she also remembered the promise she'd delivered to Reinette not 5 minutes ago. The Doctor had promised that he would come and stop the robots. And as Rose watched the French courtesans brave words through the window, she knew that she was still waiting for him. Reinette was holding true to her words, she was keeping the robots talking, she was delaying them, waiting... waiting for the Doctor. And unless they did something, then she would die waiting.

"You promised her too, remember?" Rose reminded him, "Not 5 minutes ago, I went there and told her that you promised you'd be there. Are you going to betray her?" She gestured to the time window.

The Doctor scrubbed a hand through his hair and down his face, also looking through to the ballroom in Versailles. Turning back to Rose he said with a voice that neared desperation, "What else can I do?"

Rose barely hesitated. She knew what the Doctor needed to do, and what his gut was probably urging him to do. He couldn't just sit by and watch Reinette die. All he needed was her acceptance of what had to happen here. "You promised her you'd be there," She said, carefully concealing the break in her voice, "So go, be there."

Completely turning his attention from anything but her, the Doctor came and stood right in front of her. "But what about you?" he asked, his eyes boring into her. "And Mickey?" he added, almost as an afterthought, which she supposed it was.

Rose glanced at Mickey, who hadn't been privy to most of their conversation. "Don't worry about us," she decided. "It's her that needs you right now," she gestured to Reinette.

The Doctor still hesitated. "I believe in you, Doctor," Rose added. And it wasn't a lie.

With no further argument, the Doctor climbed onto Arthur's back and steered him round so that they had a run up to the time window. Rose shot him one last small smile, knowing that there was a chance that she would never see him again. But as the Doctor rode at, and crashed through the window without a word, she didn't despair. Even as the time window closed and the minutes began to pass, she still didn't despair. All she allowed herself was one tear, because it was true what she'd said. She believed in the Doctor. He would find a way back to them, and she would wait a lifetime for that to happen if she had to.

Sure enough, five and a half hours later, Rose and Mickey were rewarded for their wait by a wheezing of familiar engines. They looked around at the TARDIS in confusion, but it remained where it was, unmoving. And as they watched, another TARDIS materialised right next to it, a familiar figure stepping out. It was the Doctor.

He took a step towards them, and as quickly as it had appeared, the second TARDIS faded away again. The Doctor, seeing their obviously confused faces, said, "Oh that? I hitched a lift with myself!" He pulled at his ear, "It took a while though. I am a surprisingly difficult man to find, even when I know where I am... was... will be... oh, you know."

"Doctor?" Rose could scarcely believe that it was really him.

"Well I promised I wouldn't leave you behind, didn't I?" the Doctor returned, and grinned at her.

Rose didn't wait for any further confirmation, but just ran into his waiting arms. She closed her eyes for a moment as she hugged him, probably squeezing him tighter than she ever had before; just to be sure he was really there. She'd almost been expecting to have to wait weeks, months or even years to find him again. And she'd even been open to the possibility that he would never make it back, thereby stranding her and Mickey for the rest of their lives.

Finally pulling away from him and looking more closely at him though, Rose realised that what he'd done had not been as easy as he made out. Maybe he'd succeeded in getting a lift back here... from himself (that was a little too weird for her to think about). But he'd said it had taken 'a while', a period of time that Rose now knew he'd glossed over. She knew this because he'd told her he didn't age. And yet as she looked at him, she could see that he had. There were a few more wrinkles around his eyes than she remembered from a few hours ago and a few grey hairs peppering his dark hair at his temples. The changes weren't great, and from any distance they'd be almost imperceptible. But she could see them. So while she was fairly certain he hadn't lived through the whole last 3000 years, she also knew that he'd been waiting for a lot longer than she and Mickey had.

Mickey hadn't noticed the changed, he was too glad at the realisation that now they could get off this ship. He just shook the Doctor's hand, grin on his face, and boarded the TARDIS.

The Doctor turned back to her and asked, "How long did you wait?"

"5 and a half hours."

"Great," the Doctor replied, grin in place, "always wait 5 and a half hours."

But as he made to follow Mickey into the TARDIS, Rose caught his arm. "What about you?" she asked, almost afraid of what the answer would be. "How long did it take you to get back here?"

The Doctor smiled at her. It was a warm smile that melted her insides, one that was a lot gentler than his usual excited grin. "A bit longer," he replied softly, and then he gave a gentle tug on her hand. "Come on," he encouraged, leading her inside.

Rose knew he was trying to let her down gently, and that he didn't want her to know what it had taken him to get back to her. But she didn't mind. Someday he'd tell her. Only when he was ready, and when he was sure that she was. Not before. And that was ok.

A/N: I was watching Girl in the Fireplace the other day, and I noticed that when the Doctor says about there being no way to get there, Rose gives him a look that practically says, "Go and save her already!" (well... to me it does anyway). Anyways, I just had to write this, and I would have posted it yesterday, but then I got distracted with it being my birthday... mwa ha!

So, What does everyone think... 'The Doctor's Daughter' coming up on Saturday... yay! to a daughter or AAAAHHH! to a daughter! Also... is she an actual daughter or a genetic experiment...?

Please review!