A/N. Yes, I could not help myself and had to put this up before working on some important non-fanfiction related things. Oops? :) This is the one story where Nine plays a bigger part than Ten (surprising, eh? But the Doctor is the Doctor, always. And he (Nine, Ten, TenToo… not that sure about Eleven x Rose, but why not?) belongs only with Rose Tyler, in my humble opinion / headcanon).

I can see at least one or two more chapters coming after this one. It depends on the way my muse chooses (or doesn't choose) to cooperate. :P I hope you enjoy! :)


Glimpse Into the Future

Chapter One

"Have I done something wrong, Doctor?" Rose inquired the short-haired alien softly, unwilling to experience any sort of quarrel – she had had enough of those during the hours she was forced to spend at home in London, while the Doctor had to fix something important in the TARDIS, according to him - too important to waste another moment leaving whatever it was unfixed, too complicated for any human to understand… which was the given reason why he had brought her home. Of course, the Doctor had not anticipated for a certain Jack Harkness to join her.

As long as Jack did not cause you any trouble…

"No! Of course not," he assured the blonde girl with a smile, which, nonetheless, felt completely fake.

Rose breathed out, not taking any of it. "Are you sure?" It could still be that the Doctor was jealous of Jack being able to charm anyone (as far as she imagined and heard from his incredible stories, these were not merely humans) in no time. Not her, not to the point of romance, but a jealous man was a jealous man all the same. Or an alien.

Jack's words were still ringing in the Doctor's ears. "Don't worry, Doctor. She's yours. I'll charm Jackie into appreciating me before she even begins to realise it instead. Besides, what mother doesn't want her daughter hanging out with a handsome man?" Jack had sent him a wink, but the Gallifreyan had merely glared at him. While Captain Jack was a friend, sometimes even one relatively trustworthy, he was still not to be trusted, when it came to Rose. The fact she was obviously enjoying his attention did not help.

Nothing had happened between the younger Tyler girl and Jack. Nothing but a healthy dose of playful flirting. But Rose was not in the mood to assure the Doctor of what she believed to have been obvious. The Captain was a great companion, always succeeding in making her laugh, she could give him that… After all, it had been Jack that had made her mother prank up extensively, after having assured the woman Rose and him were but friends…

The silence in the console room was tiring and unwelcome. Rose looked away from the Doctor, not ready to deal with another possible wave of gloom the alien was so good at broadcasting.

"I don't remember having thanked you," the blonde addressed the self-assured Jack. Sometimes the fact he tended to be so aware of his great looks made her roll her eyes… but right then, all she wanted was the silence to go away, even if filled with empty stories. The Captain was always ready to provide everybody with them, and Rose would have been fooling herself if she said she didn't enjoy those.

"You have," the man assured her with a dazzling smile.

"Thank you... for what?" The Doctor eyed Jack with mistrust, his acute attention returning.

"As I'd promised, Doctor," he nodded at him conspiratorially, "Rose is a forbidden territory for me, but-" Rose rolled her eyes at the conversation. Some things were better left unheard. Nevertheless, she, too, was listening intently now. "But her mother isn't!"

The Doctor glared at him, only stopping himself from making an unpleasant comment when he realised Rose Tyler was still in the room.

"Yes," the blonde smirked. Jackie had been literally glowing from the attention the Captain had been giving her. "That was why I needed to thank Jack – he drove her attention off me to himself," the girl spoke dryly, yet her hazel eyes were sparkling.

Whenever on the TARDIS, the young girl was full of expectations. It was never completely clear if the Doctor's time and space ship would land them to an intended place and time… strangely, the further they were from the supposed landing spot, the more interesting the adventure ended up to be… Something completely different from the routine her life in London had to offer… Something better.

Captain Jack smiled smugly at the Time Lord. "Apparently, Mrs Tyler still holds some grudge on you, Doc."

The alien shrugged. "As if I didn't know. I don't generally willingly communicate with people that keep slapping me on sight."

Rose bit her lip in annoyance. "Could we leave the domestics alone for a while?" The Doctor gave her his widest smile, this time utterly sincere. "Absolutely, Rose Tyler. Absolutely."

"Good… The question still stands, Doctor. What's wrong?" the blonde companion decided to risk it, even if it might cause a quarrel of sorts between them. After all, she had the Captain on her side.

The Time Lord saw unhidden worry in her eyes. Rose was never someone possible to fool, and he thought it would be better if he did tell her the cause of his uneasiness.

"As long as Jack leaves us." The once-Time Agent rolled his eyes, but hurried to leave the room with a nod and a knowing grin on his face.

Okay, no Jack Harkness on her side, then… Rose shrugged, more amused than annoyed.

Without delay, the Time Lord began to speak. "I don't know if I can tell you, but-"

Rose smiled at the Doctor encouragingly. "Do tell," she sent him a nearly pleading look, as it was clear he needed some incentive. Not sparing an additional thought, the girl grabbed him by the hand, happy to see some of the tension leaving him.

"Oh, Rose Tyler…" The young woman was following him silently, only pressing his hand harder.

"While you were away – sorry for that, by the way, bad idea, I shouldn't have ..- I have met a version of you from the future.

"From the future?" Rose repeated, interest shining in her eyes. Already used to the concepts incomprehensible to humans unfamiliar with the life she was leading, the girl was neither surprised nor afraid. In fact, the blonde was expecting the Time Lord would tell her more about it.

"Yes." So much of the hopes...

"How is it? The future? Very different? Rose was ready to start making guesses.

The Doctor shrugged. "No." His expression was impossible to read.

"I still can't see the- Oh, sure." The blonde took a deep breath, assuming something must have been wrong with her in whatever the Doctor had seen.

The Time Lord looked at her searchingly, wondering just how much she would be able to take.

"Well, at least I'm still alive in the future! That's the only thing that matters, right?"

"Obviously." The Gallifreyan turned his eyes away from her. So complicated...

"Would it make you feel better if I hugged you, Doctor?" Rose was uncertain what exactly it was the Doctor had seen, but she could sense it was not something pleasant.

"Do you really need to ask, Rose?"

"Nope," she awarded the Doctor with the tongue between teeth grin, before pulling him into a friendly hug.

"When you'd met me there," she spoke carefully, trying to keep her voice level and relatively quiet, yet unable to fully hide her interest, "did I look different?"

The Doctor had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at her. Rose was but a human… frighteningly so. "Actually… it wasn't a meeting. I saw you as a common passer-by, that's all. And no. You were hardly any different from the way you look now."

The companion breathed in. There were many questions the Time Lord was apparently unwilling to answer… or would be, if she attempted to ask him. Rose saw the uneasiness shining on the Doctor's face… still, he had wished to talk to her about it, so she waited.

And indeed, before the shamelessly attractive human woman flooded him with any additional questions, he continued gravely. "You were laughing and holding hands with a young man I could not recognise. A new love interest, perhaps?"

Rose rolled her eyes at him playfully. Was it only her imagination, or was the Time Lord jealous of her spending time with someone he did not even know?

"Laughing and holding hands with someone else than you does not mean anything, Doctor."

"Not even when it was clearly obvious from the way you two looked at each other that there was something going on between the two of you?"

"What's the use of making assumptions about things that can always change?" she spoke softly.

That was what the Time Lord was afraid of the most. Any possible changes in Rose's future.

"You should know, though. You were calling him your Doctor…


A/N. The natural question might arise - how is that a glimpse? Well... XD