He set the coordinates for 2005 London. Grimly, he flipped levers and pushed buttons as the TARDIS wheezed and groaned. He tripped walking out of the door, not quite used to the new appendages yet. The Doctor gazed out at the crowds numbly. They were all just walking past him. They just ignored him, like they didn't know the terrible things that had just happened. They looked right through him, as if they didn't know that children burned, that civilizations fell. All at his hands. Looking at his hands, he noticed that his fingers were longer now. He was all new, and he hated having to get used to a new body, a new face, new tastes. He looked down at his clothing and realized the rags he wore in his last body were awfully, well, ragged. He looked back at the TARDIS. She was mad at him, he could tell. He pushed on the handle, turned the key, and sonicked the lock, but the doors would not open.
The Doctor spotted a department store across the street, and walked to the ATM outside, removing some money from the machine. Walking into the store, he spotted a dark green jumper and black jeans. He picked them up and took it to the counter. He paid for the jeans, and thanked the cashier, whose name tag read 'Shareen'.
"Here, take this." she said, sliding a flyer across the counter towards him. "My mate's havin a concert tonight, and she really needs the publicity. Her music is really soothing, and by the looks of you, you could do with some relaxing." She said kindly.
He nodded in thanks, then turned around and walked out of the store, looking at the flyer. It showed two elegant hands, with fingers placed on the strings of a cello. He sighed.
"Well- oh, great, Northern," he said to himself sarcastically. "Well, no harm done. Not as if I have anything else to do." He muttered grumpily. He checked his wrist for the time. Two hours until seven p.m., the time listed on the flyer. He decided to walk to the theater, knowing he would get there about an hour and fifteen minutes early. He walked along the busy sidewalks, making his way through the bustling crowds of London. He got to the theater and looked up at the sign.
"Bad Wolf Theatre." He read. The doors had opened and a small amount of people were mingling in the lobby. The doctor looked around, and seeing nothing interesting, he sonicked a door marked 'Employees only' and walked through.
The first room he encountered was full of costumes, from Victorian dresses to animal costumes. He saw a leather jacket, rather worn, but still sturdy, and pulled it on. Examining himself in a short mirror from the neck down, he approved of his appearance then left the room before he even realized he hadn't seen his new face yet.
He had walked down the hallway a bit further when he spotted an open door and heard music coming from the room. He leaned against the door, and listened for a moment before his eyes landed on the person the voice was coming from. The Doctor had never believed in angels before, but in that moment, he knew that he was looking at what had to be one. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, human or not. She had a halo of blonde hair floating in curls , and the deepest brown eyes he had ever seen. She noticed him but continued to play and sing, looking him in the eyes.
"So, reel me in, my precious girl, Come on, take me home. 'Cause my body's tired of travelling
And my heart don't wish to roam." she finished, smiling at the stranger in her doorway.
"You have a lovely voice." He said, trying to hide his starstruck expression. "Are you singing tonight?"
"Oh, no." She laughed. That smile was something he sorely needed to see after what had transpired before he changed. "I'm only playing the cello." She looked down at her instrument. "What are you doing back here?"
"Me? Oh, i just had to repair a stage light. Was heading out now, but after hearing that, I might just have to buy myself a ticket and watch the show." He said, grinning.
"Oh, well, don't waste your money." The woman said. "Here, take this." She handed him a piece of paper.
"Oh, box seat, wonderful." he said, looking down at the ticket. "I look forward to hearing you. Thank you, Miss..."
"Tyler." She said, holding out her hand to shake. "Rose Tyler."
He shook her hand, then headed back to the lobby, passing a mirror on the way and stopping to look at his new face, which had the silliest grin plastered on it. He composed himself, not knowing what had gotten into him.
He walked back out the door marked 'Employees only', and wandered around the lobby until he saw a staircase marked 'Box Seats'. The attendant took his ticket and looked at it, then raised his eyebrows. "A ticket from Miss Tyler herself? She doesn't just give these to anyone. Are you a close friend? I've never seen you before."
"No, I just met her."
"Wow. I've been trying to get her attention for months and she just gives a random stranger a box seat ticket? What does a guy have to do?" The Doctor rolled his eyes and walked up the stairs. When he got to the top he looked around the corner at the five seats, three empty. He sat down in an empty chair as far as possible from the other two people.
"What are you doing here?" The woman asked. "Friends and family only, mister!"
"Jackie, rude." The young man next to her scolded gently.
"Don't worry, I have a ticket. Miss Tyler gave me one."
"She did? Why? How do you know each other? Who are you?" The man asked.
"Yes, because I wanted to see the show, we met fifteen minutes ago backstage, The Doctor."
The man looked confused and tried to sort out the Doctor's answers and make some sense of them. "Doctor Who?"
"Just the Doctor."
"Mickey Smith." He shook the Doctor's hand. "I'm Rose Tyler's boyfriend." He emphasized the last word heavily, giving the Doctor a very stern look.
"And I'm Jackie Tyler, her mum. My daughter is taken, but I'm not." She tilted her head and batted her eyelashes as Mickey groaned.
"Um, no." The Doctor said, raising his eyebrows. Jackie scoffed at his indifference and turned away to look at the curtains cutting the stage off from the audience's view.
Mickey tugged on Jackie's sleeve. "When does this thing get started anyways? There's a game on tonight and I don't want to miss it."
"Mickey!" Jackie cried. "A game is not as important as Rose's concert."
"Jackie, she plays every week! I've heard these songs a million times! Does she even know I don't like the cello?"
Jackie's eyes grew wide in horror as the Doctor cut in. "I love the cello." he said, smirking.
"Oh, shut up! Why are you even up here anyways-"
"Mickey, shh! It's starting!" Jackie reprimanded. Mickey slumped back in his seat as the curtain opened on a cello and a chair under a single spotlight. Another spotlight shone on the wings, then Rose Tyler stepped onto the stage. The Doctor could have sworn both of his hearts stopped in that moment. An off the shoulder gown in a familiar shade of dark blue swept across the floor as she made her way to center stage. She sat down as she picked up the bow and placed it across the strings. The bow pulled across the strings and music started to make its way up to the seat the Doctor was in. It was a beautiful tune, elegant, light and sweet, and he felt it personified all the things he already knew about Rose, capturing her beauty perfectly.
Jackie leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Wrote that one herself, she did. Writes all her own music. She doesn't have a name for it but the rest of the music world calls it Rose's Theme. Famous and only nineteen." Jackie sighed proudly.
The Doctor smiled as he turned his attention back to Rose's fingers flying across the neck of the cello. He didn't stop smiling for the rest of the concert until the last song. It was so sad. He turned in the program he had picked up and looked for the title. "Doomsday." He read softly. Strange name, he thought. Someone so happy writing a song like this.
When the song had ended he stood up with everyone else and clapped. The Doctor didn't stop thinking about Rose for the rest of the night. He was trying to come up with a way to see her again as he walked out of the building out of the building when he realized something was wrong. He slipped through the doors leading backstage and walked down the halls, looking for signs of any strange activity. He opened a door, and saw Rose being cornered by wardrobe mannequins wearing all kinds of different clothing. Doctor was glad she had changed out of her gown into street clothes. A dress would have been hard to move in once he grabbed her hand and whispered "Run!"
AN: The song Rose sings when she first meets the Doctor is Love Don't Roam from the episode The Runaway Bride.