A/N: A Human Ten/Rose One-Shot in which we learn what happens right after the Doctor leaves them on the beach at Bad Wolf Bay.

Rose stood standing on the beach, the same familiar, cold, wind biting at her through her leather jacket. He had left her; again, the Doctor had left her alone. Well, not alone. She looked down at the warm hand so firmly grasped in hers. It belonged to the Doctor; well, someone who looked like the Doctor. However, he was not really her Doctor. He was an accident that the real Doctor had left her with, to watch over.

The Doctor had called this strange man the "Meta-Crisis Doctor"; something about the Regeneration energy from his healing being sent to his severed hand, and Donna touching the hand when the TARDIS was lost to them. That singular event had created this man. The Timelord who was not a Timelord.

Her Doctor had said that he had all the memories of his past regenerations, that he was the same, but he had only one heart. This new Doctor had told her that meant he had only one life, which meant no regenerating.

"I've only got one life, Rose Tyler. I could spend it with you, if you want."

And Rose did want it; but she wanted her Doctor as well.

"He's not you!" She had told him, pleading for him to understand.

"He needs you; that's very me." Her Doctor had said, sadly.

The first time, to her face, that the Doctor had ever really admitted loving her, or needing her in any way. Of course, she knew, she always knew how he felt. And here he was, giving her this gift, and denying himself everything. Rose understood what this Meta-Crisis Doctor was. She could spend her life with the Doctor, but he would spend his life traveling the stars with Donna, and other companions, all alone without her. Forever doomed to be without the one he loved, while she was allowed to spend every day with the man who had stolen her heart.

This Doctor looked like him, felt like him, and smelled like him. This Doctor even kissed like him. However, her Doctor had told her he was different. This Meta-Crisis Doctor was more like the first regeneration she had met, fresh from the Time War. The comparison had been drawn, because much like that big-eared bloke, this Doctor had been born from war. She would have to spend time again, making him whole, and making him happy. Yet, Rose did not mind.

As she stood there, holding this stranger's hand, he felt more and more familiar. It felt just like the hand she had grabbed on numerous occasions, running from aliens and Cybermen and Daleks.

The TARDIS sound finally stopped ringing in her ears; it was gone. Her Doctor was really gone. He had told her to take care of this man, and that he would take care of her. She had requested one thing of him before he had left, but Her Doctor had been unable to answer.

"I said 'Rose Tyler'."

So she had turned to the other one, in the crazy blue suit, and asked him.

"And you Doctor, how was that sentence going to end?"

"I love you." Such a sweet and simple phrase, whispered in her ear, something she had waited so long to hear.

Hearing it in his voice, coming from his mouth, and a man with his face, Rose had thrown herself into his arms. Yes, this could be Her Doctor. He needed her.

The man standing next to her held up his free hand, gripping a piece of the TARDIS coral that the Doctor had given them.

"The Doctor and Rose Tyler, in the TARDIS, as it should be." The words seemed to echo around them as Rose and the New Doctor stared at the piece of coral in his hand.

They could grow their own TARDIS, and according to Donna's instructions, it would only take a few years.

"So it's not so bad Rose?" The Doctor asked, looking for all the world like a lost child.

Rose smiled softly, staring into the familiar brown eyes of Her Doctor.

"No, it's not so bad." She agreed.

Rose turned and led him by the hand, down the beach to where her mum was. It was a few minute walk at least, and then who knows how long until they found Pete with the car?

"So, Doctor, what do you say to getting a new name?" Rose asked hesitantly.

"You don't think I should be called the Doctor?" He asked, frowning. 'Doctor' had been his name for 900 years; he wasn't sure what else he could be called. "Is it because that's his name?"

Rose frowned. Yes, that was part of it. She would feel strange calling this new man the Doctor, when clearly he was not. He was something new, and all her own. He had the memories of a soldier Timelord from Gallifrey, but this Doctor had been made here on Earth. Another part was, he was a human. A human should have a human name; no respectable person would call him 'Doctor' without a TARDIS or a screwdriver.

"I think it would be best for a new start; and I can still call you Doctor when we're travelling." She offered.

Meta-Crisis Doctor saw how much this meant to her, to give him a new name. In time, he would tell her his real one, but it was not a name she could ever say aloud, or lightly. He felt the unfamiliar heartbeat of just one blood-pumping organ, working hard to keep his body going. He still had the respiratory system of a Timelord, and could breathe thinner oxygen, but this singular heart was new to him.

What was not new was the way his love for this woman filled that heart. He had loved her fully and completely, ever since meeting Charles Dickens. They had been together for some time at that point, and every adventure they went on only made him love her more. And when he had sent her home, to be safe from the Daleks, she had come back to him, his Rose. She had returned as the Bad Wolf, a fairytale character in a story from Earth, meant to be feared. And the Bad Wolf had been frightening.

And he had regenerated to save her, to save his precious Rose Tyler. He had regenerated into someone he thought she could love, and loved she had. The Doctor had not been aware of just how much, until they stood on Bad Wolf Bay that first time and she choked to get it out. And all he could say was "Quite right too." But of course he could not say it back. It was the Curse of the Timelords.

Even after that, Rose had fought her way back to him, the Valiant Child, the Bad Wolf. She had crossed through dimensions and parallel worlds just to get back to him. And he had run – run to hold her just one more time, because he thought it had been a dream. And seeing her again, so close and warm and pink, he had thought it would be OK to die there even if he did not want to.

Though why should he have to die, and change? Rose was here, and he had a hand ready and available to store his extra regeneration energy, because he was oh so clever. So her Doctor had stayed Her Doctor. He cast his eyes down as he thought about it – because the man's every thought was in this man's mind. If Meta-Crisis Doctor had never been born, the Doctor would never have returned Rose to Pete's World.

He would have run away with her again among the stars, selfishly. Again, he would keep her until she was hurt, or lost, or dead. Because The Doctor knew, that Rose would never leave. And she would never get old – not with a life like his. She would have died far too young; and would that have made any difference, her return? He could still never tell her how he truly felt.

In a way, the Meta-Crisis Doctor was a blessing because it allowed him to live with Rose, in a way. He could tell her everything he had always wanted to tell her, and not shy away from it.

The Doctor wetted his lips as he stopped walking, and turned to look at Rose.

"I heard the name David once – quite fond of it actually, David."

"Sounds good." Rose smiled, relieved. "David Tyler."

"Oh I'm taking your last name, am I?" The Doctor, newly christened David, asked.

Rose blushed and looked down at her feet. "Well – I mean – if you want to." She said nervously.

The Doctor smiled and brushed a lock of that wonderful blond hair behind her ear. "I would be honored, Rose Tyler, to share your name."

Rose looked up and smiled shyly as he re-joined their hands, squeezing hers affectionately.

"Jackie looks worried – we better get to her before she throws a fit." The Doctor stated.

"Yeah we better – David." Rose agreed, using his new name for the first time.

"I really do like David." He said again with a grin.

"Well I hope you two have gotten things figured out; I called Pete, he'll be here in ten minutes with the car." Jackie stated haughtily, crossing her arms, when the couple was in hearing distance.

"Oh good old Jackie." David stated with a bemused smirk.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "So what exactly are you Doctor?"

David shook his head. "No, not Doctor, not anymore."

"He's called David now – you know, since he'll be living with us in London, about time he had a proper name." Rose told her mum.

"David? You could have picked a better name." Jackie said with a small smile, before turning and walking in the direction of the main road.

Jackie Tyler was happy to see that the Doctor had left her daughter with this man, a human version of the alien she had been pining over while stuck here in this world. It had been grating on her nerves to see her daughter crying herself to sleep every night, and especially after their first time at Bad Wolf Bay. It had taken her a few months, but then Rose had gotten out of bed, and gone out into the world.

She had quit her job at the shop and started re-building Torchwood; she said it was her mission to protect this world, as she had in the other with the Doctor. Of course, Rose had spent half her time looking for aliens, and the other half looking for a way back. Once the stars had begun to go out, and the planets disappearing, her daughter had found her way.

Rose had gotten to see her Doctor again – even if for so short a time. However, that man had given this odd couple his blessing, and for that, Jackie was truly grateful. She would not have been able to handle coming home with a heart-broken Rose again. Or worse, coming home alone. She continued the long walk to the road edge, to give 'David' and Rose some privacy.

"Ignore her – that's just mum." Rose told David.

"Oh, I can believe it." David said, with his familiar cheeky grin.

"Shut up." Rose laughed.

David looked down at this wonderful girl whose hand he was holding, the Bad Wolf, and the Valiant Child. Rose Tyler, Defender of the Universe. That was who she was, this woman that he was in love with. He had never loved another as much as he loved her, except for his wife. But she was gone now, and he was human. Rose Tyler deserved so much more, and so much better, but she had chosen him.

David brushed a thumb across her soft jaw, thinking again of all the ways she had saved him. He cupped her cheek, wondering how many people she had saved, because of her bravery. Rose smiled, tears threatening to spill forth from her watery eyes, and covered his hand with hers.

"You saved me too." She whispered.

He showed me a better way – a better way to live your life. You don't just give up. You don't just let things happen. You make a stand. You say 'no'! You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away! Her words from the past echoed in her mind.

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" He asked.

Rose laughed, as he had wanted her too. She nodded her head, a tear brimming over and falling.

"Why are you crying?" He asked seriously.

"Because I have you." She said quietly, not quite daring to meet his eyes.

"Oh Rose." He said softly. "You will always have me. As long as you want me."

"Good thing you have time then, Timelord." Rose whispered. "Cause you're not going anywhere, not in this lifetime."

David smiled. "I meant what I said – about spending my life with you." He said, inching closer to her.

"I never doubted you." She replied, standing on her tiptoes.

"Good; I want to spend this one life with you, Rose Tyler, wherever that adventure might take us."

His nose brushed hers as he swept another strand of hair behind her ear.

"It'll take us everywhere." She said, breathless.

Their lips met in a crashing wave of sweet and gentle ecstasy.

A/N: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! This is my first Doctor Who fic of any kind, because I think the Doctor is a daunting character to attempt to write. I hope I have done these two justice in this one-shot fic! Please tell me what you thought by reviewing!