It had taken him a while to work it out, the mechanics of what he was planning, without causing significant damage to the walls of the universe. But, as anyone who knew him would know, when The Doctor set his mind on something, he found a way to do it. And ever since Demon's Run, it had been nagging at the back of his mind.
The TARDIS landed abruptly, with a bump, and The Doctor nearly toppled over onto the grated floor of the control room. With a start, he remembered all the times he had, and thought it was fitting with who he was going to see.
He had parked the TARDIS on a street corner, under a lamppost. Directly across the street was the house he'd been looking for. With a small smile he walked across and rang the doorbell quickly before he lost his nerve.
A man with messy brown hair and sideburns answered the door, and The Doctor felt his lips curve into a grin of their own accord.
"Hello!" he said brightly, with a waggle of his eyebrows, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides restlessly, rising up on the balls of his feet just to plop back down again. "It's me! Well, technically it's you. But not really you, because we're completely different now. But still the same, of course!"
"Doctor!" The Metacrisis blinked, barely believing his eyes. "How—What are you doing here?"
"Well, it's a bit of a story really, and a rather long one at that. Might I come in?" The Doctor was standing on his toes now, trying to look over the Metacrisis' shoulder for a peek inside the house.
The Metacrisis wordlessly stood aside to allow the Doctor entrance, and closed the door behind him eyeing him curiously, and just a little suspiciously.
"Who was at the door, love?"
Time seemed to slow in the seconds that it took for Rose to come around the corner from the kitchen, and if The Doctor wasn't 100% sure of his calculations, he might have guessed it was his very presence that was causing it. Her blonde hair bounced and fell around her face, her eyes on a dish cloth wiping what appeared to be flour from her hands. When she finally looked up her eyes shone and she smiled so brightly the Doctor nearly staggered back a bit. But her smile faded to a curious bewilderment when she laid eyes upon the man in the tweed jacket and bow-tie.
"It seems the Doctor's making house calls." said the Metacrisis with a smirk, eyes never leaving the new Doctor.
"Doctor," Rose smiled warmly. "Come in, I'll put the kettle on."
The Metacrisis led the Doctor to the sitting room, and sat himself on the sofa. The Doctor chose the armchair across from him. Neither said a word, the Metacrisis merely watching the Doctor intently. The Doctor smiled awkwardly, drumming his hands on the arm of the chair, looking around the room. There were pictures everywhere, which shouldn't have surprised him, but did just a little. He'd never really had a use for photographs—everything he wanted to see he saw in person and everything he wanted to remember, well, he would probably end up not wanting to remember. But here in this house, this version of the Doctor seemed to adore them, and he knew it was due to Rose's influence. Here he saw pictures of the two of them all over the world, and he definitely thought he recognized a few familiar alien planets as well. He smiled. Rose Tyler travelling again in the TARDIS, as she should be.
Rose joined them then with three steaming cups of tea. She set them on the table and sat on the sofa next to the Metacrisis, wiping her hands on her jeans and smiling. The Doctor looked at them both then, together, and noticed a picture on the wall above them. Rose, in a white dress and veil, clearly laughing heartily and looking at the camera. The Metacrisis stood next to her, in a crisp black tuxedo, smiling just as wide but looking only at her. Before he could stop himself his eyes glanced down to their hands, and noticed the glint of gold on both ring fingers.
"You got married," he said softly.
Rose smiled and nodded. "Almost three years ago, now."
"Three years?" The Doctor replied, surprisedly. "Blimey, I do get the timing off, don't I? It's been three years since we last saw each other?"
"No, it's been a little over four." The Metacrisis corrected. "Didn't want to rush things, did we?"
"No, of course not." The Doctor agreed, closing his eyes and feeling his cheeks flush. He had known this would be difficult, but hadn't sufficiently prepared for how awkward it would be. Opening his eyes again, he adopted his famous "let's power through the hard times with unending enthusiasm" persona and grinned at the pair sitting before him.
"So," he said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "How's the TARDIS growing for you?"
"She's mature enough now for some intergalactic travelling." said the Metacrisis, gushing just a little bit, and The Doctor smiled inwardly. "I don't feel completely safe about taking her into the time vortex just yet, so we've been travelling around the present—just a few times a month."
"Ah. Well then, I guess that brings us to the reason for my visit. My friends, who I'm travelling with now, they're really wonderful. From Leadworth. Well, Rory is, Amy's Scottish." The Doctor paused, and shook his head a bit. "Well you see I met Amy the night I regenerated. I—you—we put it off a bit longer than perhaps we should have, and well we blew up the TARDIS, and I crash landed in her backyard."
"Hang on, you haven't destroyed your TARDIS and now've come to take ours, have you?" said Rose with a smirk.
"No, Rose Tyler, my TARDIS can—thankfully—handle whatever comes our way, and your TARDIS is your TARDIS. No, what I mean is that I crash landed in Amy's backyard when she was seven. When the TARDIS repaired itself, I went on a quick test trip, and when I came back for her, she was twenty-one. And engaged. To Rory."
"Wow, you really are bad with the timing!"
"Watch it," he said, pointing a finger at her. "That was a rough night for us both. But what I mean to say is, we travelled like that for a while. But eventually they did go back, and get married. But, as it turns out, they spent their wedding night on the TARDIS, and well… Amy got pregnant. Now, this is what I really came to discuss with you. And trust me, I really, really, don't mean to pry into your personal lives, but I really need to warn you of what could happen. Amy and Rory's daughter was conceived on the TARDIS, while in the time vortex, and it seems that the exposure… affected her."
"Affected her?" said the Metacrisis, seriously. "Affected her how?"
"Well it seems that she's sort of—well—a Time Lord."
"That's impossible." The Metacrisis replied, instantly.
The Doctor sighed, he felt older than he knew this body would let him look. "If I hadn't seen her regenerate with my own eyes, I would be inclined to agree with you."
"Incredible," The Metacrisis whispered, and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, rubbing his slightly stubbled chin. "I would have loved to have met her, this impossible Time Lord child."
The Doctor chuckled. "Actually, you have."
"What? Who?"
"It's River." said The Doctor fondly, his eyes unfocused. "River Song. Remember?"
"In the library, with Donna?" Rose asked.
"Yes!" The Doctor replied, proud of himself for filling Rose in on their time apart. She deserved to know. She deserved to know his entire past, and everything about him.
The Metacrisis' eyes shone with wondrous excitement. "Really? River?"
"Mhmm. I've seen her a few times since then. Always in the wrong order, of course."
"Of course," he agreed, smiling.
"The Doctor told me she knew your name." said Rose, quietly. She was referring to the Metacrisis. The Doctor was proud she still called him 'Doctor', but hoped she wasn't alluding to a point of tension between the three of them.
The Doctor nodded. "We got married." he blurted. "Sort of, I mean. Paradoxical alternate timeline caused by changing a fixed point in time that ceased to exist right after the ceremony, so technically I don't know if that still counts, but hey, fitting for two time travellers, eh?"
The Doctor grinned awkwardly, avoiding Rose's eyes.
"Did you bind your hands?" she asked.
The Doctor looked up at her then, and saw that she was smiling at him tenderly. "Yes," he whispered.
Rose grinned, and took the Metacrisis' hand. "Us too."
"So you do know?" The Doctor asked excitedly, and Rose nodded.
"Good." he said. "I'd always wanted for you to know."
The Doctor smiled at the both of them for a few moments, feeling better than he had in months. Years even, technically, with all the travelling he'd done recently on his own. He stood up then, and the couple before him did the same.
"I'm so happy for the both of you," he said, genuinely.
"Thank you, Doctor." said Rose, and hugged him tightly. When they broke apart, the Metacrisis smiled and shook the Doctor's hand.
"Well, I'd better be off. Places to go, people to see, planets to save, you both know how it is. I'm on a sort of farewell tour, and I don't want to be late. I'm supposed to be making my first ever social visit to a friend of mine in exactly ten minutes, two years ago, so I mustn't delay any further, I'm afraid."
The Doctor smiled, but caught the Metacrisis' eyes, and knew he understood the use of the term "farewell tour" even if Rose had missed it.
"Good luck," he said meaningfully, and The Doctor nodded his thanks.
The Doctor placed his hand on the doorknob and opened the door a crack, leaving the couple with one last smile, and walked outside. Wiggling his fingers, he looked up at the darkened sky, at this parallel Earth's stars, imagining all the places Rose's Doctor would take her. Where he would have taken her. Eyes widening, he popped his head back inside the door, and saw them both turn back around.
"Oh, and one more thing. Here!" He plucked a sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket and threw it lightly towards them, where the Metacrisis caught it. "Brand new TARDIS, brand new sonic screwdriver. I've been kicking myself ever since Bad Wolf Bay that I forgot to give you one. You really should have reminded me."
The Metacrisis blinked, and smiled. "You gave me Rose. I wasn't complaining."
The Doctor nodded. "And really, be careful in that TARDIS. Trust me, raising children is difficult enough without being worried they'll regenerate on you and you have to potty train them all over again."
The Metacrisis laughed. "I know, I remember. I'm looking forward to ours being human."
"Goodbye Doctor," he said at last.
"Goodbye Doctor," the Metacrisis agreed.
The Doctor closed the door again, plucking his own sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket, tossing it lightly into the air and catching it again, walking across the street to where he'd left his TARDIS.
Unlocking the door, and stepping into the familiar control room. He programmed the coordinates to visit his old friend Craig. Glancing up at the monitor he saw the picture of himself, and that daunting date at Lake Silencio. With a deep breath he pulled the lever, ready for whatever awaited him in London this time