-1Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
Credentials
The denial was stretched thin across her face, wrapping itself around every word that followed.
"Yeah, I can't. I've gotta go find my mum, and… someone's got to look after this stupid lump." She gave the trembling 'man' wrapped around her waist a playful thump and laughed. "so…"
Silence hung in the air. He couldn't quite believe that she had turned him down, but didn't let it register on his face. At least, he hoped he didn't. Some of his faces were better at hiding their emotions than others. Five was useless, while Seven was pretty damn good. This face was pretty new, so any poker-face abilities were yet to be discovered.
"Okay."
She didn't say anything. Looked like Nine had a pretty incomprehensible face.
"See you around."
Eyes still locked onto hers, he backed into the TARDIS and closed the door, only allowing his view to drop once he was sure he was enclosed in shadow. With a light jog in his step, the Doctor went to the controls and started up his beloved vehicle. He didn't set a course, he simply let it slip into the Time Vortex. It would give him some time to think.
He wasn't sure why he had offered in the first place. When he first met her he had been certain he didn't want her around. Well, sort of. She intrigued him more than anything else.
"They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you."
She didn't reply at all, simply staring back at him with those thoughtful brown eyes.
"Do you believe me?"
"No."
"But you're still listening."
There weren't many balanced, rational human beings who would let such a statement go so easily, least of all someone so young. Yet she had been there with him all the way, listening to him go on about anti-plastic and Nestene consciousnessnessness…ess.
And all the while looking at him with a mix of belief, fear and, more than once, outright anger.
He was fairly sure he knew how to win her over. In fact, he was certain. Just a few words, and she would hop on the TARDIS and he would show her the wonders of the universe. Not that he particularly wanted to. No, not at all. This version of him didn't like companions. Much better to be by himself.
That being said, he nodded and decided to do something he had never done for a travelling companion before.
He supposed her birth would be a good place to start, so after accessing Rose Tyler on the UNIT database (good old Buffalo, never failed), he set the TARDIS and went on his way.
The hospital didn't particularly impress him, but after seeing the Ultra-Hospitals of Temble Six with their Hyper-Ambulances, not much was really going to measure up.
Outside the delivery room, the Doctor waited, leaning against the wall with hands firmly entrenched in jacket pockets. He had only met the mother for a few seconds, but he had no idea she could create such a howl. Hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with her often.
The large doors down the white corridor flew open, and a more than slightly concerned looking man with thinning ginger hair and a rumpled grey suit burst through. He looked to the Doctor, the strange man in the leather coat barely registering as he hurtled past him and into the waiting room.
That would be the dad, then. The Doctor hadn't met him back in 2005. He wondered what had become of him.
After waiting for a few hours (the little shop was really quite a nice diversion; he came to the conclusion there should be more of them in hospitals), he was walking down a corridor with a large window on his right overlooking an army of babies.
He would have found the concept of an army of babies amusing if not for that one time on Stemplox Four…
The Doctor shook the memory away and used keen eyesight to find Rose Tyler's cot. Well. She seemed quiet enough. That was a good sign. A good companion always knew when to shut up.
On to the next stop.
He decided five years was enough, and ended up at an outdoor playground. It looked familiar, and he remembered it was the same place he had spoken to Rose Tyler about the turn of the Earth.
Even though roughly fifteen years younger, he instantly recognised the useless boyfriend wandering around the jungle gym, toddling after someone swinging their way along the bars at a speed far too hazardous for their health.
The Doctor smiled as he recognised a five year old Rose Tyler, fearless as the nineteen year old who swung over a pit of sentient lava to save his life. The grin faltered somewhat as a larger boy, obviously used to getting his own way, thundered over to Ricky (was it Ricky? Could have been Tricky or something along those lines, he wasn't sure) and knocked him over. The boy's shoulder hit a metal bar on the side of the jungle gym, and the Doctor winced.
He considered taking some kind of action (although what he would do was beyond him) when the blonde bundle of pure energy that was Rose Tyler dropped to the ground and started shouting at the older boy quite vehemently. Although the words were lost to the wind blowing through the trees above him, the meaning was incredibly clear.
Good. Companions should never be afraid to stand up for people.
When the boy just shook his head and laughed, Rose Tyler gave him a solid push in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards onto his sizeable rear-end. The Doctor's grin multiplied by about a hundred as the boy wailed and retreated from the battleground. Rose Tyler turned and attended to her fallen… well, he supposed they were too young to be boyfriend and girlfriend just yet.
Satisfied, he went back to the TARDIS, and decided another seven years should cover it.
He ended up landing on Boxing Day, something he rarely saw, if he was honest. The last time was probably back at UNIT with Liz or Jo. He didn't understand it then, and was pretty much indifferent to the whole thing now. The Doctor found that he was suddenly weary of family matters. Domestics felt quite undesirable. He supposed it was understandable, considering what he been through before his regeneration. One could hardly blame his psyche for wanting him to prevent any further attachments.
And yet, here he was, thick black boots entrenched in the snow as he watched intrepid explorer Rose Tyler on her brand new red bicycle, pedalling for all she was worth. The wheels sloshed mightily through icy puddles, and every time it looked as though the bike would tip over on the smooth ground, a quick tug of the handlebars one way or the other would prevent disaster.
Agility and daring. Both good companion traits.
One more journey, and that would be the deciding factor. Four more years seemed like a fair number, and the TARDIS embedded itself on the same spot of Rose Tyler's estate, except this time, in 2002. Stepping onto the grass, he was acutely aware of something coming down on his head at speed. He stepped to the side as an electric guitar cracked against the side of the TARDIS and tumbled to the grass beside him.
Eyebrows raked halfway up his wrinkled forehead, the Doctor looked up and found the door to the Tyler residence wide open. Rather than risk a hasty regeneration from some random piece of furniture crashing down on his head, the Doctor made his way into the building and climbed the stairs, heading for the balcony-walkway that led to all the flats.
"Rose, darling, don't-"
"Y'know what, mum?"
That was her. The pitch was that little bit higher, but it was definitely her. And she had been crying.
"I think, after everything Jimmy Stone did, I've got the right to throw some of his stuff out of the window, don't you?"
"What if you hit someone? They could sue you for-"
"Would you just shut up?" Her voice cracked. "Please… just shut up…"
Her voice devolved into sobs, and her mother's once hard voice softened considerably as she (presumably) sat down next to her daughter and embraced her.
"It's all right, darling. We'll sort you out. Mickey said he'd come over later. Won't that be nice?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes. Yes, that ape was just what someone needed after heavy emotional trauma.
But still, the Doctor took note of the name Jimmy Stone. If Rose ever brought it up, he would make it a point to listen. Or at the very least help her get some kind of petty revenge. Nothing too severe - he was a responsible Time Lord, after all - but still, something to ease the old wounds.
And this showed him something else. She was passionate. Yet another highly sought after quality in a companion. His mind made up, the Doctor retreated to the TARDIS and returned to a few seconds after he had left the nineteen year old Rose Tyler and her 'boyfriend'.
Barely a second wasted, he whipped open the door and thrust his head out casually. They certainly hadn't got far. They had both turned around to look at him.
"By the way, did I mention?" He smiled as he spoke, knowing the effect the words would have. "It also travels in time."
After waiting a moment to gauge her reaction (which was subtle at best), the Doctor leant back and walked back up to the control panel. He watched the final exchange through the monitor.
"Thanks," she said, leaving a befuddled Ricky staring right back at her.
"Thanks for what?"
The smile was almost evident as she thought of her answer. "Exactly…"
And after a single, brief kiss, she turned and ran to the TARDIS, winning smile beaming as she went.
Rose Tyler, the Doctor's companion. Although he realised as he watched her slam close the door behind her, he could probably get away with thinking of her as Rose now. Because after checking her references, the Doctor knew that Rose Tyler had all the right credentials.
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(A/N: I'm worried that last line came across as a bit too rumpy-pumpy, but if Stephen Moffat can get away with all the dancing metaphors, I guess 'credentials' is okay.
Tell me what you think!)