Title: Blurred Edges

Rating: T

Summary: It was an accident – a chance encounter within their minds as they lay in mirrored states. But it will have far reaching consequences, as two realities come crashing into one another. Ten/Rose.

This fic it set in the same semi-universe as my other fics Breath of Life, Golden Death and (maybe) Memories. There will probably be references to events in those in later chapters so yeh (not to be pimping out my fics or anything... :D).

R&R is blessed to the Muse, and enjoy!

Blurred Edges

Prologue - Dreaming

Her voice whispered in his mind, as it always did when he slept.

Sometimes it was soft and loving, sometimes pained and full of fear. There were no sentences, no speeches, no phrases, no idioms, no metaphors. Just his name, whispered by her lips, in either agony or ecstasy. So his sleeps were few and far between – he couldn't stand hearing her in his mind, after all this time. He couldn't stand the reaffirmation of the knowledge that he had lost her forever.

He had only cried for her once, and that had only been a single tear. But the pain was always there, heavy in his soul and his hearts.

He had loved her, and he had lost her.

A bitter smile touched his lips as he slept. Whoever said 'it is better to have loved and lost'… That was one Earth adage that haunted him during the long sleeps when she whispered words of love and adoration to him, because he could bear testament to how unfailingly wrong those words were.

Oh God, I miss her.

Tonight his dreams were strangely lucid. Very often they were meaningless swirls of colour and emotion, interspersed with nightmarish memories from his nine-hundred years, all layered over with her sweet voice. But tonight…

Tonight he could see her.

Her lips curved into a smile as he watched her. "I've missed you, my Doctor." The movements of her full lips were out of sync with her words, as if he was viewing her through water.

"I've missed you too."

She nodded knowingly, a bittersweet smile dancing around her lips. "I know."

He couldn't take his eyes away from her. "How are you?"

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Torchwood's okay. Busy."

He smiled. "Good to know." His smile faltered, just a little. "Are you happy?"

Her smile slipped, too. "Not really. Content, I guess. My life's good, compared to lots of people." Fingers came up and brushed blonde locks out of her eyes. "But I'm not happy." A bitter smile. "You?"

"Same."

"Got a new assistant yet?" she asked, her tone light but her eyes brimming with pain.

"Yeah," he answered, throat thick with guilt. "Her name's Martha. You'd like her."

Her smile slipped, and even in the dream he felt her pain. "Are you and her…"

"No!" he hastened. "I'd never."

"Doctor…" She looked melancholy. "You don't have to lie to me. I won't mind."

"Oh…" He stepped forward, taking her hands in his. "I promise. She could never replace you."

She smiled, just slightly. "I want to believe you."

"Then do."

Anger flashed in her eyes and she dragged her hands away from him. "How can I?! You left me! Abandoned me!"

"But—"

"You left me for Sarah-Jane! For Madame Pompadour! You left me in another universe!"

"Hey!" He caught her hands again, pulling her into his crushing embrace. "Damnit, Rose, I love you."

And he kissed her.

He knew that this was just a dream, and that this was his own consciousness giving him what he wanted, but he still felt a rush and a shudder as she kissed back, her dream-hands sliding up his neck and into his hair.

He broke the kiss and hugged her close to him. "And I know this is just in my mind," he whispered fiercely, "but I don't care. Damnit, Rose, I need you."

"Doctor…"

But then she wavered, and her body flickered in and out of existence. "Rose?" he asked, panicked.

"Doctor! What's happening to you?!"

"What's happening to you?!" he retorted, hearts beating a furiously pained tattoo in his chest.

And she vanished, surprise and fear and love written across her exquisite features.

"Rose!" he screamed into the silence of his mind.

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And awoke.

His hearts were still pounding, and the sheet stuck to his naked body. He screwed his eyes shut; fighting to erase the image of her scared and pained face that was imprinted on his mind. He let out a fierce, tight sigh. "Rose."

Someone stirred beside him, dragging the sheet off his waist and around themselves. " 'S too early," a sleepy voice mumbled. "Turn off th' lights…"

The Doctor froze. Memories of what had happened began to trickle back, and he paled. Oh God… No…

"Martha?" he asked softly, although he knew the answer already. "What are you doing in my bed?"

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