"Rose Tyler," a voice said from across the yard before chuckling. "Aren't you the little modern girl keeping your last name?"

Rose looked up from where she was playing with her children, Evelyn and James. "Can I help you?"

"Do you really want to?" the man asked, stepping up to the fence. His gaze fell on the children and Rose instinctively moved in front of them.

"Who are you?"

"Where's the Doctor?" the man asked, ignoring her question. His dark coat fluttered in the breeze and Rose knew he had to be boiling under the black suit he had on beneath.

"I'm not telling you until I know who you are," Rose said, narrowing her eyes. She walked over to the fence, not wanting him to have a reason to come closer to the children.

"Harold Saxon," he replied, grinning charmingly as he held out a hand to shake. Rose cautiously took it and wasn't very surprised when he pulled her close. She was, however, surprised at the way he took her chin in his hand and tipped her head from side to side, studying her.

"Oi!" she snapped, trying to wrench out of his grip. "Let go!"

"He's human, isn't he?" Saxon asked.

"What?" Rose growled, still held to the fence by one leather-clad glove.

"The Doctor. He wouldn't have children with you otherwise."

"And why's that?" Rose's sinking feeling grew. How did this man know so much, and where was the Doctor? He had run to the store but he couldn't return fast enough.

"They'd be sterile. Even if species are genetically similar enough to mate their offspring would be sterile. The Doctor wouldn't want that."

"How would you know what he wanted?" Rose asked. "Tell me who you are, and I don't mean just your name."

"I don't know this Doctor," Saxon said, releasing her hand with a shrug. "I only know the original. This universe isn't my home."

"But…" Rose trailed off and her eyes grew wide. "You're from home?"

"Your original universe, not your home planet. Mine's gone."

"Where are you from?" Rose asked with a frown.

Saxon smiled. "Gallifrey."

"You're a Time Lord!" Rose gasped. "But that's impossible! The Doctor's the only one left!"

"Not quite," the man's smile turned bitter. "He didn't tell you about me, did he? Oh, we've met recently. I brought about the end of his run with Martha Jones."

"He'd mention another Time Lord. He misses them," Rose protested.

"He wouldn't tell you about me. Do you know who I am?"

"Not Saxon, then." Rose frowned before shaking her head again. "Look, I don't care. Why are you here?"

The Time Lord looked at her thoughtfully before replying. "We grew up together."

"What?" Rose asked, startled.

"The Doctor and I. We graduated from the Academy together. We had our whole lives planned out. Traveling forever…" His look sharpened, settling squarely on her. "What makes you so important, Rose Tyler? Why would he fall in love with you?"

"Get off my property," Rose grit out, glaring at him. "Go away and never come back."

"Why, so you can pretend this never happened?" he sneered. "You don't even believe I'm a Time Lord do you?"

"Don't have a stethoscope on me, sorry." He only began to smile in response, and Rose began to back away nervously. He leaned forward and grabbed her across the fence until she was pressed up against it and he took her head in his hands.

"There are other ways of telling if I'm a Time Lord," he murmured across her lips before kissing him. He tasted ancient and young, of distant worlds and an endless horizon. He tasted like the Doctor used to before he became human. Rose pushed him away quickly, smacking him across the face,

"What ever issues you have with the Doctor in the other universe you can deal with it there!" she shouted. "Leave me and my family bloody well alone!"

"Rose? I heard you shouting. Anything wrong?" the Doctor called, turning the corner around the street. He saw the Master and shock rippled across his face. He dropped the grocery bags and bolted over, tearing the Master away from the fence.

"You," he growled as he held the Master by his coat, eyes flashing. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Seeing the domestic life the real Doctor overlooked," the Master replied pleasantly before glancing over at their two children who had stopped their game to watch the adults. "I can see why. Not very pretty little crotch droppings, are they?"

Rose gasped in anger as the Doctor sent him sprawling with a punch, ignoring the pain in his knuckles.

"I'll kill you, Master," he warned. "Come back and I will kill you."

The Master carefully got up from the ground. "Why come back? I've seen all I need to."

Rose reached for the Doctor's hand as the Master turned and began to walk down the road.

"Doctor…?" she whispered under her breath.

"He's leaving, Rose," the Doctor assured her. "There's nothing for him here."

As if he heard them, the Master turned around again. He shouted across the road "Best of wishes in the years ahead!" before turning a corner and disappearing from their sight. Distantly they head the sound of a TARDIS dematerializing,

"Did he do anything?" the Doctor asked. Rose thought briefly of the kiss, of how it reminded her of the other Doctor. The Time Lord Doctor.

"No," she replied as the Doctor drew her into a tight hug. She clung to his back and blinked back tears. She didn't know who the Master was but she knew he wasn't up to any good.

"He's probably gone. There's nothing for him here. He'll return to the other universe," the Doctor promised.

"Yeah, yeah," Rose nodded distractedly before she glanced at the abandoned bags. "You might want to pick those up. James'll have nightmares if he doesn't have milk tonight."

The Doctor smiled softly and nodded before he turned around to retrieve the bags. Rose bit her lips and drummed her fingers against the wood of the fence. She still had the feeling something was wrong.

"Who was that, Mummy?" Evelyn asked, tugging on Rose's shirt.

"No one, sweetie," Rose replied, bending down to kiss her on the head. As Evelyn ran off to play with James she leaned against the fence, feeling slightly better. Her fingers continued to tap against the fence. She looked down at them, thinking the pattern was almost like a drumbeat. She watched the Doctor unpack the bags through the kitchen window and laughed as her children tumbled around in the glass and put the strange man out of her mind.

He was gone. He couldn't ruin their perfect life.

Her fingers absentmindedly continued to tap against her thigh.