A/N: Okay, so this idea just wouldn't get out of my head. It's a very odd idea, but hopefully a good one.
Oh, and on a random note, to fuel my Doctor Who obsession further, I was SuperPoking on Facebook and then one of the new options is 'ride the TARDIS with...' You won't believe how estatic I was!
Anyway. Enjoy.
The Doctor couldn't tell what was wrong with the TARDIS.
Ever since he dropped Donna at her place for a visit, he hadn't been able to open her doors again. He had decided to work on the console, which had a circut that had shorted in their last adventure while Donna spent time talking to her mum and grandad. He knew that her mother would not appreciate the Doctor just stumbling in, and Donna said that she would try to explain to her mum--the abridged version, of course--of just who the Doctor was.
He began fishing in his pocket for the key, when a small grin flashed across his face. He had forgotten about this new trick, but it was the most exciting thing since he took the sonic screwdriver from the dusty shelf in his ninth regeneration.
He held out his arm, looking at the TARDIS doors with an intense gaze and projected as much of his telepathic power as he could muster.
Snap.
He waited, as he did at the library, but nothing happened.
He tried again. Still nothing.
Furrowing his eyebrows, he dug into his coat pocket yet again to take out the key. He walked up to the door, sliding the key into the lock, but it wouldn't go in all the way. He began to jiggle the key this way and that, until he gave up on the attempts.
He frowned, placing his hand on the door to see what was wrong. She wasn't responding, not even her usual hum. He couldn't pick up anything telepathically, except an odd emotion.
Anticipation.
"Come on," he cooed, petting the door. "What's wrong?"
There was a searing feeling in his hand, and with a startled gasp he dropped the key still in his left hand. He examined the hand, seeing a faint burn. The key was a bright golden colour.
"I don't know what you're trying to tell me!" he threw his hands up in frustration as he lent over to pick up the key.
He heard the noise of footsteps approaching, then. Donna.
"You might wanna go back to your mum's place for a bit. The TARDIS is acting funny. Never done this before, but I think she might be sick. It might be a while before I can--" He turned around, noticing that Donna wasn't saying anything.
It wasn't Donna standing at the end of the alley. It was a woman, a blond woman. One with brown eyes, familiar ones. She gasped, dropping the bag she was carrying.
"What?" the Doctor furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
The woman turned and ran.
"Wait!" he called after her.
He couldn't really see her that well, but he knew that stature anywhere. And the way that the sun flowed around her, it was as if she was glowing, and he knew where he had seen something like that before...
Could it really have been Rose?
"Really, mum, the Doctor's a good man," Donna defended as her mum put on the tea.
After her mum got over the whole 'It was the Doctor who ruined at the wedding' bit, she seemed to like him a little more. Now, of course, she was on about how he treated Donna while they were away.
"She's right, Sylvia," her grandad vouched. "I've met him and I know he takes care of her."
"But is it a proper job?" Donna's mother asked. "I mean, is he paying you right?"
Donna thought a little at this question as her mum poured the tea. She thought of the Ood, their freedom and their song. She thought of Caecilius' family being rescued and watching their city covered with ash but knowing that they were still alive. She thought of watching the Adipose being transported up into their ship. She thought of Jenny, the Doctor's daughter and how he had changed. Of meeting Agatha Christie, solving the age-old mystery.
She smiled. "Oh, yes, mum. It's very rewarding. But it's not the money, really. It's the sights and the people we meet and the adventures. Not so much the running, though."
"Running? I thought you looked a bit thinner than I last saw you. At least you're staying in shape. Thought you were on that Adipose diet like last time."
She didn't comment on the fact that Adipose was run by aliens. "No, mum. There's lots of running with the Doctor. It's all part of the job, I guess, though."
"Probably why he's so skinny," Sylvia went on. "I tell you, the skinnier the better. They only gain more weight when they get older--'cept you, dad--so hang on to your Doctor. I dunno, after all that travelling you might think you could settle down."
"Mum! We're not a couple, honestly. We travel together and that's it!" Donna protested.
"All right, all right," Sylvia held her hands out in protest, a small smile forming on her lips. She let the subject drop, and began talking about the local gossip. "So, did you hear the news about Tommy? Apparently he's found a new girl and she's moved in with him now. It's only been two months! And not only that, but Anna, you know, he's last girlfriend? She's been--"
Donna smiled, listening to her mum give the gossip. It was all so...surreal, listening to her. Listening to something that was the core of her mum's life, the people around and the changes in the daily life, while Donna was out everyday running from some horrible creature on an alien planet or dining with a purple Telafian or something.
She wondered what the Doctor was doing now.
The Doctor ran to the end of the alleyway, quickly examining the bag which the woman--Rose?--dropped. It was a large black bag filled with clothes. A travel bag he had often seen.
He ran out of the alley, carelessly bumping into a woman jogging and knocking her over.
"Oi!" shouted the woman. He got up, quickly apologizing before he ran again in the direction of the woman who most likely was Rose.
"Sorry!" he shouted again over his shoulder.
His trainers pounded on the ground as he caught sight of the familiar blond hair again, running through the street as fast as he was. She weaved through the people, as did he. She turned and he turned, running blocks and blocks.
"Well, mum, I best be going. The Doctor doesn't like staying in one place too long. He's like a little boy, that man."
She headed for the front door, her mum and grandad following. She turned back, hugging her grandad and then her mum.
"Well, then, just promise that you'll come visit more often. Or just call once in a while. You know, sometimes I try getting a hold of you and no one's ever seen you. It's like you vanished off the face of the Earth or something."
Donna shared a look with her grandad, hiding a small smile. "I'll call more often, mum. It just gets a little...busy sometimes. Can't really have a chat when you're running."
She smiled, turned back and left the house, walking out to the street.
It was at that precise moment when she turned and waved goodbye that she was knocked flat on the street by a blond woman.
"Hey! Watch where you're--" Donna started, but gasped in surprise. "Wait, I know you!"
But the woman was dashing off again.
Donna stood up, and almost got tackled by the Doctor. He grabbed her hand without breaking his step.
"What the--"
"Come on, after her!" the Doctor shouted.
Gripping his hand tighter, she hurried forward, trying to match his pace while at the same time trying to catch her breath from the girl and then the sudden running.
Maybe the running wasn't such a bad thing.
Three blocks south, two blocks east, two blocks north and one block west.
She had to be getting tired. It was impossible for a human to run so far and so fast and not get tired. After all, they only had one heart. If not for the fact that he had caught Donna later on, he knew she would've been tired by now.
But she turned the corner again, just enough to let the Doctor see the side of her face. Oh, it looked so much like Rose. But it was impossible, wasn't it?
He turned the corner then. He was a lot closer than before. He turned, looking at Donna. She seemed okay, confused, but not devoid of energy...
Wait. Why was he picking up four pairs of footsteps?
That shouldn't be right. This was an empty street. And who would be running?
He saw a flash of blue. Someone was after them. But who? Perhaps Mickey, or Jackie or...
He turned his head back forward, making sure he didn't loose her.
So, three blocks south, two blocks east, two blocks north and now two blocks west. Was it just him overthinking, or were the running in a great big circle?
As she turned to the right, he knew he wasn't imagining it. She was headed back toward the TARDIS.
And before he knew what was happening, she stopped, dead in her tracks at the point where she dropped her bag.
He almost ran into her, stopping just short of the alleyway entrance. She turned toward him, and he was greeted with the most beautiful sight since he returned to Gallifrey that last time.
Rose.
There she was, just how he remembered her. Her hair had grown a bit longer, the colour a bit tanner. She looked about the same age, perhaps just little under a year older since he saw her last on that dreaded beach.
Of course, none of that mattered at the moment.
"Rose Tyler," he could scarcely say. He felt tears threatening to surface, the grief he pushed to the far depths of his mind daring to overwhelm him.
Her shock and surprise brought him over the edge. In an instant he enveloped her in a tight embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her off the ground and spinning around.
"I thought I'd lost you--well, I did loose you--but I thought forever. But you're here. You're really here. How? Is Jackie and Pete and Mickey with you--and that's right, you said there's another Tyler! They all here? Can't wait to tell you everything that's happened since I last saw you. Adventures right after another. Met two extraordinary people--well, three, if you count Jack. Jack's back, you know! Working at Torchwood! Helped us fight the Master. Never told you about..."
It was then he realised that two tears were trailing down his face. And it was then that he also realised that she had not been hugging him back, rather she was stiff and tense as a board.
He released the embrace, pulling back to see her face. The shock and surprise were still there, but hidden behind wide and afraid and confused eyes. Wild eyes.
"Rose, what's wrong?" he asked, worry overcoming him.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice small and frightened.
"But...Rose, it's me. It's the Doctor. You remember me, the Doctor, right?" his eyes searched hers, but they were blank.
He felt her tense up again in his arms.
"Doctor..." her voice was small again, though there was a trace of recognition behind it, even if he imagined it.
But then her eyebrows furrowed in more confusion.
"Doctor who?"
And in that instant her eyes rolled up and closed, and with a dramatic exhale, her weight collapsed under her and she passed out. The Doctor caught her in his arms, lost in confusion and fear.
A/N: Okay, so this was originally going to be a one-shot. I have yet to write a one-shot and I really want to but the plot always seems to extend itself. Ah, the plot bunnies are attacking me. Damn the plunnies :p
So tell me how you like it. Anything. Like it, hate it, wanna just burn it with the rest of the terribly written fanfics? The purple button says it all.