AN: Hello! And welcome to my Doctor Who fanfiction! The story will be 10 duplicatexRose mostly, but will feature some 10xRose. The story will mostly go chronologically, but it will jump behind in some chapters. I don't own Doctor Who, or any of the character/sets/props. The BBC does that.

Chapter 1- Beginnings

He had left her, again.

Rose should be surprised, but then again, should she? The Doctor had a reason for leaving her here with his duplicate self. She had to make him better, like her Doctor. It was her responsibility, and what a big burden to leave on her already fragile shoulders. She felt a crushing sadness deep in her chest, but then she felt something. Like someone was squeezing her hand.

Rose glanced down to see the Doctor's duplicate holding her hand. This must be hard for him, too. After all, the Doctor had told them both he was leaving them here. Rejects of the last Time Lord in existence, but at least they had each other for company. At least this time, she had someone to hold her and pick up the pieces. No more overwhelming loneliness, because no matter how hard her mother tried, she just didn't understand. She had never travelled among the stars or other planets. She had never experienced the breathtaking adventure of simply being in the Doctor's company. That was what she longed for the most.

Rose met the duplicate's eyes for the first time. They were the same eyes. Her Doctor was in there, mixed in with bits of Donna Noble. A woman Rose did not know very well, but if she travelled with the Doctor she must have been an amazing one. The question now was: How much like the Doctor was he? They would have plenty of time later to work it out, she supposed. For now, she might as well pretend. The Doctor gave her a chance. Domestics with him, like she always wanted. And this, this was the only way he could give it to her.

The truth was, the Doctor would have stopped travelling if he could just be with Rose. Hold her in his arms and never let her out of his sight again. She had seen that plain as day on his face while he was running towards her back in the other universe. But he couldn't. He had a whole other universe that needed him, and she could not be selfish. Even if the Doctor wanted to stay, she knew she couldn't keep him. So, maybe it was better this way. A human Doctor to grow old with. To spend her forever with. Still, she couldn't help but wish for two hearts instead of one.

"Rose?" the duplicate whispered tentatively. Oh Gods, he even sounded like him. Of course he did. "Should we call Pete?"

Rose thought to herself for a moment. Yes, should they call Pete? Should they just leave everything behind and start brand new? She smiled lightly at him and replied, "Yeah, let's do just that. And then we'll have a nice cuppa when we get there, yeah?"

The duplicate seemed relieved that Rose agreed to leave this spot so quickly. He nodded and took the cell phone from Rose's pocket without another thought. He quickly pressed the button to dial Pete and waited for the other man to pick up.

Rose watched him walk a few paces away from her towards the surf and talk quietly on the phone. She ran her fingers through her hair and sat down on the sand while she waited.

The duplicate didn't say anything when he hung up. He silently handed the phone to Rose and sat next to her on the sand. Rose broke the silence first.

"What should I call ya? Doctor or somethin' else?"

The duplicate pulled his mouth into a thin line. "If you don't mind, John Smith, eh?" He cracked one of his wide grins at Rose, and she couldn't help but smile.

"John Smith it is then," she said and leaned her head on his shoulder.

...

When they arrived at Pete's mansion, Rose and the duplicate, no John, she reminded herself, walked into the kitchen. She quickly set about pulling out the kettle and filling it with water. Only when that task was done did she allow herself to turn around and really study John. He had the sideburns and the nice hair and the eyes and the crinkles around his eyes from smiling a lot and the mouth and the lanky frame and the tallness and the clothes of her Doctor, but there was something slightly off in the way he did things, and you could only catch it if you were really looking.

John wasn't looking at her, he was studying his hands thoroughly. Well, that was something he definitely got from the Doctor, Rose grinned. He had the same fascination with his hands, especially after he regenerated.

"Are you not expectin' to 'ave two or somethin'?" she joked. She startled him and he jumped two feet off the chair.

"Weeeell, I was. I was only wondering, because ya know, I was created from the regeneration energy stored in the jar with my hand, and you never know if the hand didn't make it into the process somehow. I go through this process when I rengen-" John stopped in the middle of his rant. "I don't regenerate. Oi, it's going to be difficult learning to establish. And I see I picked up that gob of his, eh?" he cracked another grin in Rose's direction.

The kettle whistled and Rose turned her back for a moment to place the tea bags in the top. She swirled the bags around, watching the water slowly darken in color to make tea. She took down two mugs and poured the hot liquid into them. She carefully mixed two teaspoons of sugar and just a dash of milk into the teas and carried the mugs to the table.

"Drink up," she smiled and placed a steaming cup in front of John.

He stared at it for a moment and took a sip. He made a face. "Err, Rose, I take one teaspoon in my tea."

"Right, that's another difference," Rose mumbled.

John raised his mug nonetheless. "To beginnings!" he exclaimed.

"Beginnings," Rose nodded and clinked their mugs together.