Seventeen Seconds by Sian

Synopsis: Where did the Doctor go when he left at the end of Rose?
Characters: The Doctor (ten), Rose
Episode/Spoilers: Anything at all is fair game
Rating: PG (but surprisingly for me, no angst)

Rose was eating cornflakes, while the Doctor buttered some toast and ate a banana. It was a normal domestic scene; like you'd find in any house - or time traveling spaceship.

"You remember when we first met?" Rose asked.

"Living shop dummies chasing us through a department store. You thought it was a student prank," the Doctor replied.

"What else was I supposed to think? I didn't know aliens even existed, let alone that they could control plastic. Anyway," Rose shook her head. "When we first met, I looked you up on the internet."

She had his attention now. "You did? What did you find?"

"A bloke who ran a website. I got Mickey to take me to meet him. He had files and pictures of you in his garden shed."

"Pictures of me in his garden shed? That isn't at all odd. So this bloke, was he, how can I put this, normal?"

"A little obsessed, bit of a nutter actually. Thing is, they were pictures of the old you. But they were of things we never did."

"Things I did alone? Places I never took you. Oh no!" the Doctor laughed.

"Shut up! You said you'd only just regenerated when we met in the shop."

"Couple of days or so, yes. What were they of?"

"Kennedy's assassination, a volcano somewhere, the Titanic."

"That's what I did between you saying you didn't want to go with me, and me coming back for you."

"You were gone 17 seconds."

"Rose Tyler! All this time time traveling and you can't work that out," the Doctor admonished.

Rose could work it out, she'd worked it out the moment she'd spoken. "How long were you gone really?"

"Oh let's see. Couple of weeks to find the TARDIS after Krakatoa blew. Took a while to get back from New York to Southampton when Titanic sunk. I was lucky to be rescued there..."

"Why would you choose to sail on a ship, you knew was going to sink?"

The Doctor shrugged, "I wasn't in a very good place at the time."

"Southampton?"

The Doctor gave her a questioning look. "Emotionally. Anyway, I got rescued."

"And if you hadn't?"

"I'd have regenerated. Now there's an unpleasant thought, regenerating while clinging to an iceberg. Mind you, would have attracted the attention of the boats I suppose." The Doctor frowned, "People kept insisting I must have worked in the engine room. So now if you look up records of Titanic survivors, there'll be a fireman called John Smith. I had to work my passage back to Southampton," he complained. "Took a week. Me, shoveling coal in the engine room of a ship, for a week!"

Rose smiled at the Doctor's indignant tone. "Bet you had 'em all organised by the end."

"I did make some suggestions on how they could improve efficiency," he agreed. "Certainly not catch me sailing on a ship I know's going to sink again."

"Glad to hear it. Still say it was a stupid thing to do."

"It was an adventure! Pretty stupid one I grant you, but an adventure anyway." The Doctor looked at her and grinned, "Wasn't much fun on my own though, I missed you."

"Ah thanks. But, and don't take this the wrong way, not a chance I would have got on Titanic with you."

"Yeah you would," he said.

Rose knew he was right - she would have got on the unsinkable ship with him, knowing full well it was going to sink. "We'd have been camped near a lifeboat. Better still, we'd have taken the TARDIS on board."

"Leaving her in Southampton was a bit of an oversight on my part," he agreed.

"Hang on though, in the picture you were in sort of Victorian clothes, not the leather jacket."

"That was before I met you. The Daniels, nice family. Got them to change to a different ship, bought their tickets off them. Seemed a shame not use one."

"Saving the family was nice, but using their ticket..."

"Yes, stupid, we've covered that."

Rose grinned. "What else did you do?"

"Watched the next millennium celebrations around the Earth. Visited a couple of other planets. Went to Dallas, but didn't know I was in any photographs. So what was this bloke's theory about me?"

"He thought it was either a title passed down the generations or you were an alien, an immortal alien."

"No wonder you thought he was a crank."

"Poor sod has no idea how close to being right he was."

"And best to keep it that way."

"Wonder if his website's still around?" Rose asked.

"Nah. I gave Mickey a disc with a virus on it that would wipe all mention of me."

"That was back then. But last Christmas, the prime minister went on national television and asked for you to come and help."

"She did? She actually asked for me by name?"

"Yeah."

"Good job I woke up then."

"Thanks to my mum's flask of tea. Very British," Rose laughed. "So where we going today?"

"You choose."

"Anywhere?"

"Oh this'll probably be a mistake but, yeah okay, anywhere."

"Shopping."

"Shopping?"

"There's a planet you and Jack used to go on about. Every region has enormous markets. Can't remember what is was called. Agi... something?"

"Agraolia? In the Proclorixragium system. Biggest markets in the universe?"

"Could be."

"Jack got lost for three days in the armaments market, had to be rescued by triplets - a man and two women."

Rose nodded, "Spent another three days showing them his gratitude!" she laughed. "Can we go?"

"Your wish is my command and there's a couple of books I've been meaning to buy. What you shopping for?"

"It's my mum's birthday tomorrow."

"Ahh, knew there had to be a catch. So when we leave the splendours of Agraolia, we have to go and visit Jackie?"

"Yes."

"You know, nine hundred years traveling and I don't think I've ever been this domestic." He stood up and put their dishes in the dishwasher. "You go and get dressed, I'll send us to the Proclorixragium system."

END