AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello! Still very busy, but managed to write a one-shot. This is when Rose meets River. I'm aware there is lots of tension between Whovians because some think Rose is the only person the Doctor would love, and others think he was supposed to be with River. Personally I'm a River/Doctor shipper, but I loved Rose and Ten's relationship, so I thought about what might happen if Rose ever met River. I've tried to give the impression that they would be a little jealous of each other, but would still be friends. So please don't hate me! Enjoy & please review!
DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this fanfic, and I do not own Doctor Who. Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and this is purely for fun and non-profitable purposes!
A Rose and A River
[ONE-SHOT]
"Sorry, and you are?" River asked, eyeing up the young girl in front of her. She carefully examined the petite blonde girl. Her straight blonde bob hung at her shoulders, she wore a black leather jacket over a light blue vest, and tight-fitted jeans. River guessed she was about mid-twenties. She hadn't a clue who this girl was, or how she tracked down the TARDIS, but she was curious to learn more about her.
"Rose Tyler, who are you?" She frowned, circling River and looking her up and down.
"Doctor River Song" She stared at Rose, who paused on the spot, warily she asked "How did you get here?"
"I could ask you the same"
"I travel with the Doctor. I, assume you know who the Doctor is. He's my friend" She paused and smirked. "Well, no, he's more than my friend..."
"The Doctor?" She whispered, suddenly beamed with happiness. "Where is he?"
"Right here" The Doctor interrupted, walking into the room and gasping as he saw Rose standing in the middle of the console room. He slowly moved towards her, a huge grin plastered across his face "Hello Rose Tyler"
"Doctor? Is that you? Is it...really you? You've changed again..." She whispered, reaching out and resting her hand on his cheek, caressing it with his thumb.
River watched on precariously, as the Doctor wrapped his arms around Rose's waist, pulling her close to him as she flung her arms around his neck and pecked him gently on the cheek. The Doctor's eyes were full of love as he gazed into Rose's. River coughed loudly, she was uncomfortable with her husband being this 'friendly' with another woman. The Doctor snapped out of his trance and pulled away from Rose, and walked towards River, throwing his arm around her shoulder and squeezing her tightly before planting a gentle kiss on the top of her head. Rose looked horrified.
"Sorry I don't understand, Doctor who is this? A new companion?" She asked, tossing her head towards River.
"This is River" He cleared his throat. "My wife"
Rose's jaw dropped. She had known the Doctor for years, she watched him regenerate from his ninth incarnation into his tenth. She told him she loved him and he was prepared to say it back, even if he never truly got the chance. She thought, she had really believed, that he had feelings for her. But, maybe she was wrong. The Doctor she had known didn't do love, not proper love, and definitely not families and wives. He had changed, he was completely different now. He wasn't her Doctor anymore, he was River's.
"Your wife?" She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.
"Yeah" The Doctor replied, looking at his feet, avoiding Rose's gaze.
"So, err, how do you two know each other?" River asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
"Oh, um, well, it's a long story River" She smiled weakly, taking a seat on the sofa. "But the shortened version would be, I met the ninth incarnation of the Doctor when I was nineteen and we travelled together for a long time, then he regenerated into his tenth form and we continued to travel together until we were separated and I got stuck in a parallel universe. I thought I'd never see him again, but I broke down the walls of reality just to see him. Then I got to spend the rest of my life in the parallel universe with the human duplicate of the Doctor. But, somehow I escaped again, and I just had to see him. The real him"
"Oh" River said, quite impressed with how much the Doctor and Rose had been through together. She was jealous. She tried to hide it, but she was incredibly jealous of Rose.
"What about you? You must have a pretty impressive relationship with him for him to have married you" She smiled, glancing at the Doctor.
"Um...can I just...err, go? He asked hesitantly, pointing to the door.
"Why? I thought you'd like to catch up on old times Doctor?" Rose giggled.
"Well, I do, but, um..."
"He doesn't do girl talk Rose" River smiled, raising her eyebrow at Rose and patting the Doctor on the back patronisingly.
"Well, you're not fighting, so..."
"Oh sweetie" River rolled her eyes.
"I'll go and make some drinks and get jammy dodgers or something" The Doctor stammered awkwardly, trying to get away.
"Yes sweetie, that's a good idea" River chuckled, pulling him in for a quick kiss before he disappeared down the corridor.
River took a seat next to Rose on the console room sofa. The similarities between them were uncanny. Both had loving feelings towards the Doctor, both were blonde, both were strong, independent women who had the capability to frighten the Doctor, and both had names beginning with 'R'. River was wary of Rose and the way the Doctor looked at her, but she didn't really envy her, she had no real reason to, but like any woman, she was just a little jealous of their relationship. But she forged a big, friendly smile before beginning to tell her story.
"I met the Doctor as a baby. I'm the daughter of his previous two companions, Amy and Rory, and he rescued me and reunited me with them. We, had adventures together and ended up getting married" She explained briefly.
"That's it? Come on, there has to be more to it than that"
"Well, I'm not, exactly, human. I'm part timelord too. But mine and the Doctor's life isn't exactly a simple one"
"Well, it never is with the Doctor" Rose laughed, throwing her head back and grinning.
"No, I guess not" River smiled. "But, we travel in opposite directions, so everything is ten times more complicated. But, one day I guess he just realised he loved me, and he proposed"
"Oh. That's nice" Rose muttered, looking down.
"Rose? Are you ok?"
"Yes. It's just...River, you don't know how lucky you are. The Doctor and I had a really close relationship, we were best friends and I even told him I loved him. But he still didn't really want to be with me. And there was another woman, Martha her name was. She was madly in love with the Doctor, but he didn't even look twice at her, not even when she told him she loved him. But you, you're different. I see the way he looks at you, you're the first person I've ever seen who can make him act like that" She explained, as River listened intently. River knew all about the Doctor's previous companions, but she hadn't known of the love they'd all had for him.
"Sorry. It must be hard, loving someone and coming back years later to find him married to someone else" River whispered comfortingly.
"No! No! River, don't take it the wrong way; I'm so happy for you! The Doctor's my friend, if he's happy, I'm happy. And, I'm married anyway" She smiled, waving her left hand in the air.
"You are?"
"Yeah, in the parallel world, I'm married to the Doctor, well, no, his human duplicate. And we don't call him the Doctor, his name's John. John Smith"
"Oh! Congratulations" River smiled, glancing to the Doctor as he walked back into the room holding a tray.
"Oh River, you've got him trained now" Rose laughed, nodding at the Doctor as she and River advanced towards him. "Very domestic"
"Rose, just a question, how can you be here?" He asked, slotting his arm around River's waist. "I mean, not being rude, but you live in a parallel universe, there's no way you can come here without breaking the walls of reality, again."
"Well there was a crack and I just stepped right through it. Didn't seem to do any damage" She spotted the shock suspended on the Doctor's face and quickly added "I checked, don't worry. It's fine"
"No, no, no. It's not fine. It's not good, very definitely not good" He cried, suddenly racing to the console screen.
"What is it? It's just a crack, I can close it easily" She explained, following him.
"No, it's not a crack. It's the crack. The crack in time. The crack in Amy's bedroom wall"
"Should I go back?" Rose asked sadly.
There was silence as Rose knew the answer. And she didn't want to hear him say it. The Doctor knew this, and nodded solemnly. Rose stepped forward and pulled the Doctor into a bear hug, holding him so tightly, she had tears slowly brimming in her eyes. The Doctor kissed her on the top of her silky soft blonde hair before they pulled apart.
"It was so good to see you again" She sniffed, trying desperately to smile.
"Yeah"
"River, it was great to meet you" She hugged River and stepped backwards tapping co-ordinates into her teleport.
"I'll never forget you, Rose Tyler" The Doctor muttered.
Rose smiled and glanced at each of them in turn, before a bright white light burst into the control room and Rose disappeared, leaving the Doctor and River standing in the TARDIS alone.
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