As the Doctor stepped out of his TARDIS, what he didn't expect to see was his Rose. No, not his Rose. Rose and her human-time lord meta-crisis. How he had managed to fly through the vortex and into Pete's World, he wasn't sure. But he did know that the TARDIS would only have taken him here if there was trouble. And he'd make sure nothing harmed his Rose.
He choked back a cry but watched silently as a small, toddler sized-head peeked from over Rose's shoulder. The young eyes peering into his old, were the exact color and shape as Rose's.
The Doctor smoothed back his hair with one hand and bit down on his fist with the other. As he examined the child further, he recognized the goofy expression of his last regeneration cloned onto this young face, framed with wavy, light brown hair. One thing that belonged to the child alone was the light dusting of freckles that spread over her button nose and to her cheekbones.
Watching with sad eyes, the toddler jumped from Rose's lap and disappeared into what he assumed could be the kitchen.
Hearing her contagious laugh, his expression brightened. She'd always laughed like that when he'd rambled. It made him think of sad times that once seemed happy and he was not dissappointed to see that loathed meta-crisis leaning into his Rose. Her nimble hand cradled the back of his neck and met his lips, and the Doctor caught a glint of gold twinkle from the sunlight gleaming through the window.
He felt a tear spill down his cheek, though he was filled with white-hot anger; just like that day at Bad Wolf Bay when Rose and his duplicate had kissed. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat, closing the TARDIS door and stepping further into the living room.
Rose about jumped out of her skin at that and the meta-crisis stood tall.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "What are you doing in my house?"
The Doctor swallowed hard once more at the realization that of course she wouldn't know who he was after his last regeneration. Then he spoked slowly, "I'm the Doctor."
Rose's eyes widened dramatically and her face fell. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stepped forward. "Doctor?"
He nodded.
She glanced past him and spotted the TARDIS. She looked back at the Doctor with such heartbreaking eyes that he was sure he felt both of his hearts skip beats.
Rose looked down at her socks and wiggled her toes nervously, a tear straying down her cheek. She pushed a clump of light hair from her face and looked back up with red-rimmed eyes.
She took a deep breath and said steadily, "Oi, well it's been a long while, hasn't it, Doctor?"
When the Doctor looked at her with more intensity, he noticed the light age and smile lines around her mouth and her forehead. But all put aside, she still looked like his Rose. And she always would.
"It has," he agreed.
The meta-crisis cleared his throat loudly and gave the Doctor a stern look and a nod before turning into the kitchen after his daughter.
Rose watched after him for a moment before turning back to the Doctor and gesturing to the couch. "Have a sit, then," she said as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, apparently not caring if her makeup ran when she didn't check to see if any wiped off on her.
The Doctor awkwardly sat next to her on the couch and just looked at her for a moment.
"Oi, Doctor, the eyes," she laughed sadly as a light bit of color rushed into her cheeks. He smiled at his knees and looked back up at her with those same old eyes.
"So, you've found a life here, have you?" he said conversaationally. She just nodded. "And you've married." Another nod. "And.." He choked on the last bit and cleared his throat as quietly as he could. "And you've had a baby. What do you call her?"
Rose blushed, and even if she had tried to hide her smile, he knew the child had rooted very deep into her human, aging heart. "We call her Lillian. Lillian Hope Smith."
"Those are beautiful names," he said affectionately. "For a beautiful little girl. How young is she?"
Rose had went into adoring mode and answered almost as immediately as the question left his lips. "Three. She's three."
"She has your eyes," he said, as he watched the tiny head peer from around the kitchen wall.
"So, Doctor," she said slowly, changing the subject as if she had noticed his uncomfortable state at talking about her new life without him. "Why did you come here?"
He felt hurt; wounded. The tone she'd asked it in sounded so demaning, as if she were anticipating his departure. As if realizing her tone and how it had affected him, she said quickly, "Oi! No, I didn't mean it like that, Doctor! I was just wondering why you'd decided to visit after all this time."
He thought he might as well be honest since he'd barged into Rose's fam- family time.
"I hadn't planned on this, honestly. The TARDIS must have ripped another hole in the Time Vortex because there seems to be trouble here. I haven't a clue what trouble could be going on here but it's only my guess that it's got to do with Torchwood." he paused a second before continuing, "I was on my way with A- with.. with myself.. I was going to go back to stop the terrorist attack on 9/11. I could save so many lives, Rose. So many."
From the intrigued look on her face, he really wasn't surprised. After beginning, he had tried to make his travels seem as tempting as he could. If she wanted, he'd love it if she went for another round with him.
The Doctor hopped to his feet and snapped his suspenders enthusiastically. "One more round for old time's sake?"
"Only just one?" And with that, age and all, she leaped to her own feet, slipped quick into a pair of shoes and shut the TARDIS door behind her.
As she looked into this new TARDIS with her New New New Doctor flipping switches and pulling levers, she remembered when it was just her young self and her New New Doctor in his TARDIS. Not a thing to worry about but taking life as it came to them. But she was older now and she had a family, though she still had a lot of fight left in her.
Once she stepped foot onto the bright new console, she needn't to pause. This is where she belonged. Slipping the wedding band from her finger, she shoved it carelessly into her pocket.
She was no longer Mrs. John Smith.
She was Rose Marion Tyler, defender of the Earth.
The TARDIS was her home.
She was the Doctor's and the Doctor was hers. Anything else was unthinkable.
VWORP VWORP