...Watched Journey's End. Had a repressed cry while denying I wasn't actually crying. I just had a horrible headache. I wasn't crying about Donna or the Doctor or DoctorDonna. I really wasn't. But I was stuck on something that 10 said. "That's me when we first met." ... And my muse got this little thing in my head and wouldn't leave me alone about it. So here it is. The truth behind 10.5.
The Doctor looked up at the grating from the under part of the TARDIS , chewing on the end of his sonic screwdriver, watching Jack and Martha walk above him. He wanted to be left alone. Rose had just come back. Now she was going to leave again. He would have to send Donna away. That would be hard. She was a good friend and she didn't fancy him.
Steps echoed behind him and he turned slightly to face his smirking double. The Doctor felt his eyes narrow in a glare. "What do you want? Come here to gloat?"
His copy laughed, rocking back and forth on his feet. "No. No need for it." A northern accent filled his ears and the Doctor clenched his fist. "Watching you boil under the surface is more than enough. And knowing that Rose will be with me forever. Well, that's enough for me." The copy was exactly the same, except for one tiny little difference. His copy had blue eyes.
"Maybe she'll want to stay with here."
This new Doctor snorted. "Yeah right. You know I won't be able to be left alone. I'm too dangerous." He smiled. "I'm luckier than you'll ever be. My sickness will ensure my happiness for the rest of my very human life. Me and Rose." a dark smile crossed his face. "Together. Flesh. To. Flesh." With each word he stepped closer until they were nose to nose. "And its killing you. Knowing that she will finally have the Doctor she truly loves. No longer the cheap pretty boy replacement. But the real thing."
He resisted the urge to punch this previous regeneration in the face. "You have my habits. And my body."
"Well, have to take the rough with the smooth. Like the hair honestly and I'm sure the oral fixation will be fun. The love of all things shiny is certainly new." The Ninth Doctor checked his elder body. "You really are a beanpole though aren't you." Scrunching his nose he noted the slim body and shoulders. "I'm gonna need to get a new jacket and jeans. My old ones are too big for this body. And the hyperness I will learn to deal with."
Ten clenched his jaw. "Well I'm so sorry that its not to your liking." He violently tugged at wires. The TARDIS sparked at the sudden move, angrily letting him know that those were the wrong ones.
Nine affectionately patted her. "I'm going to miss you old girl. Way more than I'm going to miss Mr. Pretty Boy here." The TARDIS gave a hum in reply and Nine gave her a hug as Ten muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like "Traitor."
The TARDIS let out a little hum and Nine stroked her. "Don't you worry about Rose. I will take perfect care of her. Always have. Stretching his arms above his head the Doctor yawned. "Well, I'm going to go and find my jacket. You know where it is?"
Ten looked away, unable to look at his previous self in his body as he mumbled "Its in her room. Under her bed."
Nine stood frozen flabbergasted. "She kept it. She really kept it." Ten loathed the grin that spread over his face. Unrestrained happiness. "She kept my jacket." He walked back the way he came, no doubt going to walk the familiar path to Rose's room. "She kept my jacket."
Ten watched him walk away. After he was gone he slammed a wrench into the side on the paneling in anger over and over until his anger was spent. Placing his head on the cool metal of his home he felt the warm comforting glow of the TARDIS in his mind. She told him that he had so many things going for him. He wasn't as broken as his previous regeneration. People were drawn to him not repelled. He wasn't scary and was rather good looking. Nine needed Rose. He couldn't live without her. If the Daleks had killed Rose, Nine would have destroyed everything in his path coating his path with death and blood. Rose made him better, made him sane. Ten, despite all his love, could live without Rose. He had done so for three years (it was technically two but really the-year-that-never-happened actually happened).
Nine could never do what he did.
Ten looked at his ship, knowing she was right. "You always know what to say." He thought for something that he could do for Rose. Something special, just for her.
Ping! A light bulb went off in his head. That was just the thing to do before he brought them home.
Nine looked at the light yellow walls of Rose's room. He loved this room. All funky frames and pretty colours. "If I was a leather jacket where would I hide?" Bending by the bed he saw a corner of brown leather from under of the mattress. She kept it so close to her. And that was what made him different from Ten. He may have been an old daft man but he would always be her Doctor. And this proved it.
"What are you doing in here?"
Nine jumped and looked behind him Jackie glaring at him. "Nothing. I'm just..."
"Being some sort of alien pervert if I know you."
He felt his face and neck flush with a mix of embarrassment and anger. "I'm not a pervert!"
Donna scoffed from in the hall as Jackie turned to look at her. "Not a pervert my ass. I saw you coming out of this room tons of times."
Nine paled and sputtered. Jackie raised an eyebrow and turned to him. "I always knew you were a pervert."
Donna nodded. "I think all Space Boys are perverts. Jack certainly is."
That was the line. "Don't compare me to that bloody ominsexual! I was just in here to find my jacket!" He reached down and yanked his jacket from underneath the mattress, holding it up to show them. "I wasn't being a pervert. I wasn't doing anything wrong. I just wanted my coat." Pulling it on he pushed past them. Stopping halfway down the hall he glared at Jackie. "And I don't want to hear anything about perverts from a woman who hit on her daughters ... whatever we are."
The Doctor ran down the hall avoiding the shoe that she threw. "We had a deal to never speak of that again!"
"Now before we can drop you off at home. We have one last stop." Ten pushed buttons in a seemingly random pattern. "Donna. Pull the doohickey over there."
Rose leaned over his shoulder, tongue poking out from in between her teeth. "Where are we going Doctor?"
He smiled at her. One last adventure to a place he always promised her. "Barcelona."
"Dogs with no noses!" Three voices cried out as one. Rose did a little jump and clapped her hands, Donna laughed as she thought about them and Nine smiled at how happy Rose was.
"What are you nutters all talking about?" Jackie looked at them. "'Dogs with no noses.' What utter nonsense."
"Jackie." The Doctor snapped. "Its impolite to stare."
"They don't have any noses." She whispered to him in a hushed tone.
"Yeah. So? Look at you. They probably think your weird. All pink and yellow." He dodged a punch and dashed ahead to join the others.
Nine held Rose's hand in his. "So what do you think?"
"I'm glad I finally got to see it." Rose swung her hand and gave him a smile that made that now silly single human heart quicken its pace. "We never got around to coming here, did we?"
"We're here now aren't we."
Rose went to reply when she felt someone grab her free hand. She spun her head and saw Ten looking flustered and rather scared. "Run! Your mother is trying to kill me!"
The three of them ran in a random direction and Rose couldn't help but love the way their hands felt in hers.
Ten decided to take them to the newest club on Barcelona. One last chance to show Rose the he could dance. As well as Donna. That woman refused to believe he could dance.
The type of music kept skipping around, going from hip hop to swing to techno. Ten only danced to the techno because he just looked silly dancing to hip hop and swing was Nine's territory.... He also danced to Elvis and Beatles.
Rose looked at him, all glowing and beautiful. He was going to miss her so badly. His eyes followed her body and realized that Cassandra was probably right. It was like a bouncy castle.
The music did a sudden shift and his other self stepped away from the wall. "Rose." Nine offered her his hand. "I believe we never got to finish this one."
Rose raised an eyebrow until she heard the song. Moonlight Serenade. With an apologetic smile and a promise to dance the next one with Ten she let Nine pull her into the dance that had been interrupted by them being transported onto a ship.
They swayed in silence until she spoke. "Your breaking your own rule you know."
"What rule?"
Her tongue poked out between her teeth as she smiled. "No pretty boys allowed. And look at you now. You are a pretty boy." She laughed at his shocked expression. "Did you really think you could fool me Doctor?"
He sighed, allowing his accent to slip back in. "How'd you figure me out?"
"The little things. The way that you walk. They way you talk to the TARDIS. The way you flinch when my mother walks into a room."
He grinned. "Well, you can't blame me for that can you? It really hurt." She burst into laughter, tossing her head back. "I'm being perfectly serious. Never in my whole life before that have I been slapped by someones mother."
"You dropped me off a year late."
He rolled his eyes. "Will I ever hear the end of that?"
"Not likely." Rose's smile changed from teasing to a mixture of sad and loving at the same time. "But I'm happy to have you back."
Nine felt his heart skip several beats and he pulled her closer to him. "Happy to be back. Before I could only watch while that boy makes mistakes and maybe give him a bad headache but now," He played with some of her blond hair. "I can fix all the mistakes he's made and we can start over again together. Also with this body people won't keep wondering 'Hey, whats that old big eared man doing with the hot blond?'"
"They never said that."
"Yes they did! I heard them! Sometimes they would even point." He chuckled as she laughed openly. Once she stopped laughing he brought his forehead close to hers, pressing it against her own. "I missed hearing you laugh."
A tap interrupted their little moment and Nine glared at the person. Ten smiled at him and looked down at Rose. "Mind if I cut in? You two have been dancing for several songs."
Deciding to stop the fight before it started Rose kissed Nine's cheek gently. "Don't worry. Its you after all." She held Ten's hand and smiled warmly at the two of them. "I'm not going anywhere."
As they stood on the beach, Rose standing between them Nine watched as his newest regeneration say words that he knew were killing him. "It doesn't need to be said."
Rose turned to him. "And you? What did you say?"
He leaned down and whispered into her ear. "Rose Tyler. You are fantastic and I love you." She stared at him than grabbed him and pulled him close in a deep kiss. Oh this was heaven. Rose in his arms and within a decade they would have a TARDIS. He didn't notice Ten and Donna leave.
As they left he knew Rose was hurt. He had always had a habit of deciding what was best for them. It always ended up hurting them. But he was here for Rose. They get better together.
There will be more of them in Pete's world. I've got a whole bunch of stories in my notebooks but it will be good. Constructive criticism is always welcome and alerts and favorites are good too.