Disclaimer; We own neither Doctor Who or Inception

Rose woke up, disorientated, on the TARDIS floor. She raised her head to see the Doctor pull a lever on the TARDIS' control panel as it thrummed.

"What happened?" She asked, confused.

"Don't you remember?" He replied, glancing at her. Please tell me you remember.

"It's like…" She thought hard, "There was this…singing,"

"That's right, I sang a song and the Daleks' ran away!" The Doctor joked, although Rose could tell there was something wrong. I guess her mind needs time to cope.

"I was at home," She rubbed her forehead as she thought hard. "No, I was in the TARDIS and…there was this light. I can't remember anything else." She noticed him looking at his hand, a somber look on his face.

"Rose Tyler," He said, looking at her. He exhaled sharply, smiling. This is it. "I was going to take you to so many places. Barcelona! Not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona. You'd love it, fantastic place. They've got dogs with no noses! Imagine how many times you a day you end up telling that joke and it's still funny!" His laugh was bordering on manic now, and Rose looked at him curiously. How am I supposed to tell her?

"Then why can't we go?" She asked.

"Maybe you will, and maybe I will, but not like this." He looked at the monitor, still smiling falsely.

"You're not making sense," Rose told him, standing up.

"I might never make sense again. I might have two heads, or no head! Imagine me with no head! And don't say that's an improvement," When he looked at her again, his expression was serious. "But, it's a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you're gonna end up as."

The Doctor clutched his stomach, grunting as a burst of light shot from all over his body. Rose stepped forward with a cry of 'Doctor!'

"Stay away!" He warned her, his face contorted in pain.

"Tell me what's going on," She said urgently.

"I absorbed all of the energy of the Time Vortex and no-one's meant to do that." His voice was still light and cheery. "Every cell in my body's dying,"

"Can't you do something?" Rose asked desperately.

"Yeah, I'm doin' it now," He replied, "Time Lords have this little trick, sort of a way of cheating death. Except, it means I'm gonna change and I'm not gonna see you again. At least not like this, not with this daft old face," He said, chuckling slightly. Why did I not tell her before?

"And before I go-,"

"Don't say that!" Rose said, cutting over him. Maybe if he didn't talk, if he didn't say those awful words, then it wouldn't be true, and the Doctor would be okay. He'd tell her he was joking, laugh at her horrified expression, give her a hug and they'd whizz off in the TARDIS to a new planet. They could go to Barcelona, like he'd suggested.

"Rose," He said her name with such softness that it made her want to cry. "Before I go I just want to tell you that you were fantastic, absolutely fantastic," He cocked his head, smirking. I will miss you so much. "And d'you know what? So was I!" Rose smiled slowly, as if his grin was infectious. Suddenly his arms and legs stiffened and a great yellow light burst from his head and hands. Please let me become someone she will love. Rose had to cover her eyes the intensity was so great. When her eyes adjusted she slowly lowered her arm to see brown hair sprout from the Doctor's scalp as the light disappeared and there was a new man where the Doctor had been standing. He was thinner, with brown hair that seemed to have a mind of its own, with brown eyes to match.

"Hello oka- Ooh, new teeth. That's always weird," He didn't even seem to notice that Rose was practically cowering against one of the pillars, "So, where was I," He looked at her and grinned. "Oh yeah, Barcelona," He skipped over to the TARDIS' control panel and pressed a few buttons, pulling the odd lever. Just keep moving.

"Tuesday, October, 5006 on the way to Barcelona!" Rose thought she should say something to this strange man. That they should maybe wait for the Doctor, where ever he'd gone. She felt slightly angry that he'd left her with this over-excited man and not even told her where he'd gone. She didn't want to say anything however, because it could provoke him.

"Now then, what do I look like?" He asked before thrusting his hand in the air to stop her saying anything.

"No, no, no, no no no, no, no, no, no. No. Don't tell me. Let's see... two legs, two arms, two hands..." He rotated his wrist. "Slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle," He observed before shoving his hands through his hair, "Hair! I'm not bald, ooh, big hair!" He slid his hands down the sides of his head. "Sideburns, I've got sideburns!" He cried delightedly. His now even more messed up hair made him seem more erratic. "Little bit thinner..." He slapped his stomach. "That's weird. Give me time, I'll get used to it," He looked up at her, serious for the first time since his appearance. "I... have got... a mole. I can feel it. Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole." He grinned again. "That's all right. Love the mole!" He turned towards her fully. "Go on then, tell me. What do you think?" He ignored the doubt that began to appear when he realized Rose hadn't spoken a single word. Please like me. It's still me. Rose...please...

"Who are you?" She asked timidly. He looked at her like she was the crazy one.

"I'm the Doctor," Rose shook her head in disbelief.

"Please Rose, believe me. I need you to believe me." The Doctor thought in anguish.

"No, where is he?" Her voice grew stronger, more confident. "Where's the Doctor? What've you done to him?" She accused.

"You saw me, I changed. Right in front of you," He pointed to the space behind him.

Rose...

The doubt she was expressing broke his hearts. Please...I'm still me.

"I saw him sort of…explode. And then you replaced him, like a…" She struggled to find the words. "A teleport, or a transmit, or a body swap or something," She walked forwards, pushing him gently on the chest. He bobbed on his feet. "You're not fooling me; I've seen all sorts of things. Nanogenes, Gelth, Slitheen," He said nothing, just stared at her and she gasped. "Oh, my God, are you Slitheen?" She asked. Oh my fantastic Rose...

"I'm not a Slitheen," He told her.

"Send him back, I'm warning you, send the Doctor back right now!"

"Rose, it's me. Honestly, it's me, I was dying. To save my own life I changed my body, every single cell but still me," He pleaded with her, willing his voice not to break.

Oh Rassilion Rose...please...believe me.

"You can't be," She said, her voice breaking slightly.

Stabs of pain went through both of his hearts. He buried his pain behind sealed doors.

Ok...one last chance...

"Then how could I remember this?" He stepped forward, and for some reason Rose didn't step back, or run away screaming, although, she was in the TARDIS, so she had no idea where she'd end up if she did. The TARDIS may be bigger on the inside, but it wouldn't take this man that claimed he was the Doctor long to catch her.

"Then how can I remember this?" His voice turned low and husky as he looked deep into her eyes, trying to hide the pain from his own. "The very first word I ever said to you, trapped in that cellar, surrounded by shop-window dummies. Ooh, such a long time ago, I took your hand," His fingers weaved through hers as he took her small hand in hers. "I took your hand, and I said one word. Just one word," Rose felt her heartbeat increase until she thought it would beat right out of her chest.

"I said, 'Run!'" There was a fire in his eyes, one that Rose had seen in the Doctor's eyes, and that made her sure that this man really was him.

"Doctor," She said, raising a hand to his face.

Oh thank Rassilion

"Hello," He said. She breathed in the leather, and his new smell. It smelled like spice, time, space and something she couldn't put a name to.

He pulled away and ran around the Tardis.

"Everything is going to be fine!" He thought, his hope rising.

"Oh, we never stopped, did we; all across the universe, running, running, running. And that one time we had to hop. D'you remember, hopping for our lives? Yeah? Remember hopping for your life? Yeah? Hop, where they… no?" He stopped hopping after he noticed that she remained far away from him.

"Rose? What's wrong?" He thought, fear and doubt creeping into his mind; it clenched his hearts painfully.

"Can you change back?" She asked.

The Doctor barely held back a flinch from the knife she dug into his hearts.

"Do you want me to?" He looked disappointed.

She doesn't like me...she doesn't want me...

"Yeah" She trailed off, still staring at him. "Can you?"

"No," He said, choking a bit on the emotions he was holding back.

"I'm going to lose her..." he thought, pain and fear and doubt spreading through his body.

"So, do you want to leave?" He asked and he hoped that she would say no as his hearts sank faster into their old, cold cell.

"Do you want me to leave?" He shook his head.

"No!" He said quickly, "But…it's your choice, if you want to go home."

Rose...say no...stay with me, I need you.

"She's going to say yes and you know it." A dark voice echoed in his head.

He barely held back the fresh wave of tears that hit him. He turned his focus back to Rose.

"Back to Mum and Mickey?" she asked consideration in her eyes.

The knives dug deeper as he read the unsaid 'and away from you?'

"Ok, cancel Barcelona. Putting in Earth, Powell Estates...uh...December 24th, consider it a Christmas gift," he said, stepping back and holding his chest, hoping that it would help ease the pain in his hearts.

There was a soft thud and Rose looked out the doors before running to her room to pack.

This is it...she's leaving...but...she promised forever...

He clenched his eyes shut, willing the tears not to fall. He'd rather be put through the time war again then face this pain.

You're an idiot. You should have never fallen in love.

Yes, you don't deserve love or happiness. You killed your own kind and others in the galaxy.

Stop...

What? Can't handle the truth that no one wants you? No one needs you?

His thoughts were broken when Rose walked through the door carrying a back pack and two luggage bags. He stared at the floor as pain rushed through his body. His knuckles turned white and his face contorted into pain. Rose ignored him and walked out of the door. As soon as he heard the door click shut he fell onto the floor and pulled his legs to his chest. He wrapped his arms around them and buried his face into his knees. His body shook with sobs.

She didn't want me...

No one wants you.

She left...

They all do.

What did I do wrong?

You were created! You destroyed your home and others that were in the way! You didn't keep your emotions locked away! You fell in love! You don't deserve happiness!

More sobs shook the Doctor and the Tardis hummed, concerned for her friend. She opened her mental link with the Doctor but pulled back when the raw emotion of pain, fear, and doubt flooded the connection. She could tell that he was diving deeper into his mind, hoping to run from the pain. The Tardis stood by and watched him drive himself into a coma. His body fell to the right but remained in a loose ball. Tear stains were spread across his face. The Tardis hummed, hoping that she would get her call.