Rose Tyler is a lonely, lonely girl. She's right under his nose, but can he find her? She won't go to him this time. She's tried that, several times. This time, though...she waits. She's got plenty of time, after all. And apparently, he does have a solution, even if it wasn't what anyone would have expected.


To Chase the Wind

Winter


The place was in the middle of nowhere, in America, because you just couldn't get the kind of isolation she wanted in small, relatively crowded old England. Deep inside what would someday become the DeSoto Natl. Forest, in a little cottage, Rose Tyler waited. She had any number of things she shouldn't have had, in this age, behind the thick, high stone walls that surrounded all of her homes, the one in England that would become legendarily impregnable (unless you had a TARDIS...and it had to be the right one) and the big, fifty acre stretch of cleared land she called her 'yard'. She actually owned several hundred acres, but the rest were forested. Then again, since humans hadn't yet evolved to sapiens, she shouldn't have been there either.

Some of the devices hummed, some clicked constantly which was annoying, however needed they were and so were kept in an outbuilding instead of her home because of that...most had blinking lights and were, at the very least, very odd and complicated in appearance though rather simple to service. They did different things, she had several that worked together to stabilize the local weather patterns so it rained or snowed when it ought to and was bright and clear the rest of the time. Three kept the average temperature inside the massive stone walls at a comfortable 85F, rain or shine...snow melted into rain at the top of the projected field. She had a lot of deer shelters which looked to the deer like shallow cavelets where they could get out of the wet and wind...when the forests around her were shoulder deep in snow, the does brought their youngsters into the green meadows of her yard through a special gate where they were keyed into the force-field and ate the herbs and grasses in them. More kept unauthorized aliens from spotting her including most Time Lords, four more, one on each wall, kept other humans from noticing her, another four...one on each corner of the walls kept her from being seen by fliers, ship, aircraft or predators made no difference. Almost all her devices were used to hide herself in eras where she had no business to be.

However, one shone like a beacon to one particular ship: It was buried in the ground under the house, where there was also a small rift, under a room made just for the Doctor to land the TARDIS in, if he ever noticed that she had quite a few things she shouldn't have...had them and used them...and came to investigate her, them and that beacon.

None were off limits for her, after all...they were just out of place in this era. So she kept herself hidden away and used her off-world or other universe things to grow her food plants and tend the hungry wildlife's needs, enjoying her friends amongst the deer the most. She knew most of the fawns...and so in hunting season, just after the rut, she put up a dampening field that reduced the fights between bucks and welcomed them in...and she put up a permanent force field to keep other humans from noticing that there was a patch of forest that they stopped being able to enter. It was a rather large area, though and that had, surprisingly found her watching Jack on one of the monitors, trying to figure a way in. She still had his personal signature though and keyed him in, and the next time he passed what had been a force fielded open gate, he got in. He had a few shocks himself, when he met the lady of these hidden glades. Poor Jack.


Torchwood knew where she was...or at least, Jack did. UNIT America knew as did UNIT UK, but as she'd told Jack, once, a few years ago, "Three times, I went back to him and three times...well, if he wants me that badly, he'll just have to come and get me. I'm not going to him. You can tell him that, you can tell him which forest I'm in, you can tell him he'll need to pack most of this stuff up...not all of it since the deer are trained now and pets, sort of, anyway, but don't give him my address. He's not stupid, he can find it himself since I'll have a beacon up for him. But he has to come for me this time. I outlived Frank...the clone, yeah? He wanted a nice ordinary name, Franklin James, not Smith, by the way. But I out lived him and found a way home and I'm staying in the universe of my birth. If the Doctor doesn't like it, do me a big favor and tell him in the foulest terms you can manage, exactly what he should shove up his arse. And make sure it's super gross."

Jack, surprisingly, had turned nearly turned purple. She didn't ask what nasty thing he'd thought of to suggest that the Doctor use to do as she'd asked, she knew him well enough to know that she really didn't want to know, but sometimes his ways could be useful for passing a message.


She sighed as he spread her legs, she'd gone years without a lover since Frank died and if the Doctor wanted her, he'd have to work for it now. She met Jack's eyes as his mouth moved within her folds. Neither of them wanted more than the other was willing to give, just fuckbuddies, was all. Friends with benefits, Jack called it. She looked a total slut just now, she knew, with her dressing gown askew and her nightgown hiked up so he could lick her pussy. Even Jack got fucked out, once in a while and while it never lasted more than a day, but the time he was ready for another go, he'd be back in Cardiff. And he'd left poor Rose hanging that last time. So he ate her out instead. Both holes were tasted and his tongue drilled into them, his fingers as well.

He took his time, too, made it good for her, made her wait, let it build before he gave her what she needed for the last time. He didn't tell her he was leaving Earth, or why. She knew something was wrong when he finally gave her a trembling hug and walked to his car to drive away, out of her yard, out of her life.

It took a while for her to understand that he wasn't coming back and far longer to forgive him for that...or at least, for not taking her along. But, he hadn't and that was that.

She continued to wait. Her days were busy even if she never left, but that was because she'd installed or planted things that made sure she'd stay occupied, either with weeding, tending or maintenance. That's why she kept it summer in here...she didn't want to get stuck snowed in with nothing to do but remember. A few years before she'd found a way home, she'd come across some people that were pitying of her imperfect ability to recall her past and offered to fix it for her. At the time, she'd needed the ability so she'd agreed. From her earliest memory of floating around in her mum's womb til now, she could recall...in prefect detail. She remembered exactly what she'd done when Bad Wolf had first hitched a ride.


She barely took note of the passing of years, as each season rolled into the next and her gadgets began to wear out, one or two at a time. Her reflection in the mirror did not change so it was hard to relate to passing time, in this regulated world she'd made for herself, where the only differences were in terms of variations of daily chores. She never saw anyone anymore, Jack was long gone and the Doctor didn't come. Not for a very long time.

However, one morning she did hear the engines and put down the plate she'd just picked up to wash back down into sudsy water, dried her hands with the dishtowel and went outside. She hadn't landed in her reserved place, after all. She saw the ship, patting her side as she passed the door, "Where'd he go?" she asked, pausing, and got a notion of left and a feeling of a few hundred yards. "Don't take him anywhere, yeah? And go on inside, if you like, it's just me here, after all. And I'm sure you want your mini-rift? Go get a snack." She smiled a bit at the affirmative response she got, before heading to the left hand barn...where there were worn out, broken or just dead equipment. The sort of seal she had on the other buildings, she figured he'd just try asking first. It was sonic proof.

He had regenerated, of course he had, how many times she wasn't sure. But he wasn't her Doctor or the Bow-tied one she'd met once, so long ago now. Nor was he one of the infants.

"What do you think you're doing with all this?" He asked without turning around. "And a great huge, TARDIS beacon in your house."

"Storing it mostly out of the way, since none of it works anymore. The working stuff is over there, in the other building, localized climate and precip stabilizers mostly." She told him. " I'm not like you, I won't leave her out in the weather if I don't have to, it's rude. I told her to go on indoors, if she wanted." She peeked over his shoulder at what he was looking at. "Oh that, that gave out two centuries ago, Jack had borrowed it and I don't really want to know what he did to it or used it for...especially the 'used it for' part, all I know is that he fried it. Pity. Now the bugs and flies and mosquitoes and things get in when they didn't used to."

"So, you know Harkness, do you?"

"You idiot." She sighed. "Turn around."

He did so, jaw starting to sag as he stared at her. "How long...wait, centuries?"

"Probably as long as you've avoided looking to see what or who was living here. Bad Wolf, Doctor, it seems she rearranged me a bit. Don't mind, really." She flicked her eyes at the junk on the shelves. "You want that stuff, take it. The other barn's deadlocked to my DNA, which you probably do still have some of...but it's loads easier to wait until I finish the dishes and make supper and then, after we've eaten, if you want to have a go at the still functional stuff, be my guest. When is the last time I've denied you anything important? Outright, I mean...cuz I'm hungry and I want my supper. So, yeah, I'm gonna make you wait until after I've eaten...so you may as well eat with me."

He frowned at her, she snickered at this attempt to make her do it now.

"Don't bother Doctor. We both know your assorted frowns haven't worked on me since before Sat Five."

"Rose..." He tried giving whinging a go...and she laughed at him for his trouble.

"It's been a long time, for both of us. Mine's been all linear...about two thousand years worth. Couldn't believe how glad I was to see Jack. Almost didn't recognize the boy." She shrugged as she turned to lead him back to the house. "Missed you." She whispered, barely a breathe of sound, but she knew he'd hear her. She noted the TARDIS was gone, but wasn't in her usual spot when she led him indoors. "Did you know? Sometimes she visits, when you've left her parked somewhere. Most of that stuff I found waiting for me on the floor just inside her doors. She keeps me company a lot. Not enough, mind, but it helped. She said she'd bring you when I could come back and that I would be with two different yous on two different timestreams. So, since she's parked where I had my increasingly huge pile of luggage, for...whenever...I'm going to assume she's grabbed it for me. If you feel like losing yet another argument with her, feel free to make the attempt." She told him grinning as she ran a bit more hot water into the soapy water already in her sink and finished up the dishes. "I think the extra walkin freezers are gone too and the chest freezers, which is good since there's no point wasting food and I've got a ton of it." She pointed with her chin at a partway open pantry. "Give her those crates too, will you? Mostly things I've jellied or preserved myself. Had plenty of time to pick up various skills, including preserving foods...and I got pretty good at it."


He watched her for a moment, then closed his eyes and just let her presence wash over him, the sound of her much missed voice filling him and then, with a small smile, did as she'd asked and moved the rest of the food supplies from the pantry to the TARDIS. She had gotten over being overly impressed with him a long while back, he supposed. While he was doing that, she made them supper, a nice fry up of freshwater fish, trout, actually, cornmeal hush-puppies and a few vegetables. Fried okra, fried green tomato slices, black-eyed peas and a cherry pie, made from the cherries from her own orchards were put on the table.

"There's a thing in the other barn that she said to hold onto until she brought you. Something about using it to move my gardens, orchards and a few other things. Not all, 'bout half the trees, though I want the gardens intact, she'll keep the other half of the orchards and groves for you." She smiled. "No need to stop for groceries unless you want to. I've got one building of which the contents need to come along, fifteen different new species of banana that I've developed over the years, along with a variety of other tropical fruit in there...sustainable groves, too. She adjusted the thing for me..it's much bigger on the inside."

"Bananas?" She could almost see his ears prick up. "Sure, no problem."

"Still hungry?"

"Just a touch."

"Here, grew it myself." She handed him the biggest banana he'd ever seen. "Sorry, that's one of the small ones, but you did just eat dinner."

"Small?" He stared at it. It was nearly two feet long and four inches thick. Still... He peeled it a bit, nipped off the tip and hummed in pleasure before devouring the thing like he was starving. She just laughed at him again. She still adored him, he could see that in her eyes, but she wasn't worried too much about responding appropriately when he did something that amused her. He didn't mind, the fallout from Sat Five and Pete's World had harmed her more than he could have imagined, two millennia of self imposed isolation, on the slow path at that, could mean nothing less. If he could make her smile, even at his expense, he would.


He spent the next few days helping her pack her things into the TARDIS, though at times she caught him staring at her and once he'd scanned her with the sonic. At that point, she made him take her into his med-bay and run a full physical...to establish her new baseline. It was far less like being a bug under glass, that way.

She knew he was studying her, just like she knew he'd see...really see...all the little things that were off, these days. She wasn't really a people person anymore. He was the first person she'd seen other than herself in a mirror in more than two hundred years. And even then, it'd been one of his baby-selves. She'd been closed mouthed all the time she helped him, saying very little if she could help it...but she'd done her job and gotten him out of the pickle he'd been in when he'd had more blonde curls than Shirley Temple and a sharp tongue fit to fly the hides off most people. His startled expression when she reminded him of how she'd confused him then, moving as one with him, never having to wait to be told obvious things, for all her silence. He'd only asked her about it once, when he was Six.

"I rode with Nine and Ten...how much did you want my jaws to yap at you about I saw this or you did that then or whatever? Seriously, Doctor, there's not a whole lot I can say that you won't have to forget anyway. Why waste my time?"

"Ah." Was all he'd said and then he'd left it alone and just allowed her to help him. She'd made that him supper too, as she recalled. He'd stayed a day or three, sensing how lonely she was and picked up most of the details of her isolation without any input from her. But, eventually she'd shoved him back into the TARDIS with a few homemade pies in one hand and the comment, "There's a few fixed points out there that you're supposed to establish...and you can't do that sitting at my kitchen table or simpering around with those little girl curls, Doctor!" ringing in his ears.

Finally she'd given the TARDIS' doors a last hug, closed them firmly and used her own key to lock them behind her.

It had taken him three days to figure out why the doors refused to open and by then he was firmly back in his established timeline.


"You locked me into my own ship, from outside, with your key." He grunted as he watched her load her housecats into said ship...the things he allowed this woman to do... But, he just shook his head at the observation that she had nine of them, two of which were heavily pregnant and one and all, each of them, even the youngest of the kittens, looked up at him and managed, from the floor, to somehow still look down their small noses at him...and held his peace. Not many species could use body language to cuss him out, but every Earth cat he'd ever met had it down to a fine art.

"Yeah." She chuckled. "Six was a bit of a soft touch, if a person knows the real you well enough. And I do."

"Yes, you do." He paused. "Simpering really fit that self rather well...but I didn't notice until you mentioned it. I was a bit startled and started behaving more like a male, after that."

"Oh, it was cute, especially with that outfit...just not 'er...at all Doctorish." She smirked. "Miss-ish, maybe."

"Yeah, I got that part from your tone." He retorted. "It took a few more months but I did switch outfits, 'little girl curls' indeed."

"Looks like this one has gone the other way, highly masculine but not all that touchy. Not going to get away with that level of standoffishness with me, you know. I need it too much."

"Yeah. Saw that as Six. My current timeline isn't working for you, not this one anyway. I think I need to have a little chat with Five. He had a chance to split his timeline and he took it, he's still me...just not me-me, and therefore, he's a 'him' instead of an 'I' or something similar. After he talked to an older self about a companion who was a great deal more than just that, in deep trouble in her own and now I'm pretty sure I'm the one that had that conversation and you're the lady in distress. Something that needed my undivided attention for a good long while. Sound good to you?"

"So..."

"You'll be able stay with me, obviously you're not aging so restarting that far back on a different timeline won't do either of us any harm. And you'll not only get a few extras, but you'll get a few you know back...eventually."

"Gotta see what I can do about slowing down your regenerations." She snorted. "The older you get, the clumsier you seem to become."

"OI!"


But he didn't mention Clara or how much he loved her, he couldn't. Not to Rose, who for all her strength was rather fragile just now. At the same time, he wasn't about to just walk away from Rose, either, therefore passing the problem off as being a regeneration utterly incompatible to her would have to do.

So he had to settle her somewhere she'd be happy and with a Doctor, just not this himself and there was only way to do that, as his ship had told her. He sighed as he murmured the idea to the TARDIS and she did the rest. He had to leave it to his timeship to find just the right Fifth. Just after Tegan left, but before he'd gone back for Peri. One that would agree to take Rose instead and not return for the American girl at all. Just having someone competent with him would change so much in Five's life...having that person be Rose? He was giving himself the right to be happy. He hoped he was giving Rose Tyler the same right...and a good shot at it. After all, like Clara, Rose knew his name.

Rose had been hard to get over, taking him several centuries to do so. Now he had a wife he adored and three children that got away with very little under their mother's watchful eyes and he was working on getting Clara pregnant again. He'd moved on, but he'd done it the right way and for the right reasons, this time.

It took a bit, but finally he was landing in the console room of a Five that wasn't even in his timestream or even loomed from the same set of parents, him but not, close but not really him at all. And he told that Five all of Rose's history that he knew. "I'm married now, I have three time tots and am trying for a fourth, I can't, won't do that to Clara. But Rose...she deserves better than to live alone for however long she has. She married my clone, he told her our name, so we still owe her a husband. I can't, I've already got a wife."

"Yeah, I'll take her, if she'll come. She sounds like a lovely, brave girl. It also sounds like the damage done was taken willingly, for our sake."

"Girl? Five, unless you've made it past your second millennium already, she's older than you are by a good fifteen hundred years. She was born a human. 1986, met her when she was 19 and I was Nine. I've started a second cycle and she's still got about three hundred years on me in this body because she's been living linear since about four centuries before humans made all the way to homo sapien." The Thirteenth paused, then nodded. "But yes, it was for our sake."

"Actually, I have. I'm nearing my third one," Five replied smugly. "And any girl who would do so much needs an answer: There is only one answer for it."

"Are you? Well, that's good...she always seemed to like the age gap." Fourteen was pleased. "Look, Rose is pretty hands on, she needs to be held and be held onto. She'll be under your skin pretty fast...and that's not a bad thing. She'll give you everything she has in her, which as incredible as that was when she was nineteen is a hellava lot more effective now. But yes, I can't answer it the way she deserves, so I had to find a self that can."

"I've got this. I can do that."

"She'll want children, eventually."

Five paused to stare at him in disbelief.

"The human way...no looms, just you. And she can, she's very much compatible with us. Plus, she's never more content than when she's in our arms." Was the last thing he said before getting back in his own TARDIS and going back to his wife. He'd still miss Rose, but he had been given a second chance at a great love with Clara. Five was a lucky sod, though, to be the recipient of all the love Rose held and brought to bear, sometimes with devastating effects, for any Doctor. She truly didn't care which.


~*~TBC~*~