Hello, fellow Whovians. I hope you enjoy my take on life in the parallel universe for Rose and the Meta-Crisis Doctor.
After re-watching Journey's End, I found myself unsatisfied with the ending. I needed more, I needed closure (what I really wanted was for Russell T to miraculously decide to write a spin-off show based on their lives).
So instead, here is what I think they would be up to. Each chapter is a different moment in their lives so although it is linear, it isn't connected. They're all separate stories in their own rights. Which reminds me...
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.
Enjoy!
It had taken over 24 hours, but finally the Tyler family were reunited at Pete's mansion, with Rose and the new meta-crisis Doctor dropped off at her flat a couple of streets over. By no means was this any comparison to her abode on the Powell estate – that had been a small two bedroom flat with very little space. Rose's new flat in this parallel world was more of an apartment, several stories up and consisting of a large living space, kitchen with breakfast bar, a shared bathroom and 3 bedrooms, the master of which had an en-suite. Although the size was outstanding, she hadn't furnished it particularly well, with most of her things still in boxes and only a sofa in the living room. The Doctor inspected the area, hands in pockets, nodding at the minimal décor in a sort of admiration.
"I like what you did with the place," He motioned with his head at the emptiness and smiled.
Rose blushed and nodded, a small smile creeping on her face. "Yeah, well, I had other plans. Jumping universes to find him-"
She cut off sharply, pained, and looked to the floor. The Doctor smiled a little, sadly, and walked towards her. He finally relieved his right hand of its pocketed prison and used it to lift her head up with one finger on her chin, looking into those beautiful brown eyes.
"It's okay," He almost tranced her with his stare, so deep into her eyes. "I understand this is going to be difficult for you and you will always see him as your Doctor. But I assure you that I am him, Rose Tyler. I have all of his memories, his DNA, his… well, actually…"
He trailed off, a frown forming on his face.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked, the earlier embarrassment fading to concern. "Doctor, are you alright?"
He grinned at her sheepishly. "I just realised that I have no idea what I am capable of. Isn't that brilliant?"
Rose smiled with him – it was infectious. She couldn't help but be taken in by his enthusiasm; it was childlike, innocent and pure. All of a sudden, he began prodding at his body, holding hands over places, tasting objects he found in the unpacked boxes of her living room, jogging on the spot and finally twirling really fast on one foot. Rose stared, still smiling, giving way to laughing. She was just about to ask what on Earth he was trying to do when he suddenly stopped messing about and looked at her, wild and excited.
"This is so weird!" He exclaimed, his Donna side kicking in for a short burst. "From what I can gather, I have all of the human physical traits. I have one heart, duh. I have one liver, mental! I get tired from jogging fairly quickly and spinning on the spot makes me dizzy, Rose! Me, dizzy!"
He laughed one short 'ha', grabbing her wrists and pulling her closer. She laughed too, still mesmerised by his giddiness. He looked seriously for a second, still a small smirk on his lips. They were so close that their noses almost touched.
"I have strange hormones," He breathed, her skin prickling. "I used to be able to control my emotions and feelings, but now…" He pushed her away and let go, arms outstretched and turning to address the room. "Now, I wear everything on my sleeve! I can't stop this excitement as much as I can prevent my singular heart from beating faster when you look at me."
This revelation shocked Rose – the old Doctor would never give way to his true feelings, at least not so directly. She sat down on the sofa, overwhelmed by this whole ordeal.
The Doctor hadn't seemed to notice the affect he'd had on her, still announcing things that his body was doing that it had never done.
"I feel tired, like reeeeeeally tired," He continued. "Time Lords never needed much sleep in the past, maybe an hour or two every other week… but right now I need a nap from all of that travelling. Brilliant! Of course this is all horrible and stupid and annoying but who cares? Rose, my body is human. Human!"
"Why is that so great?" She interjected, in no way bitter but merely curious. "You used to say that humans were below you, Time Lords are so above all that silly stuff we do. And anyway, you're going to age and stuff. If you cut yourself, you're just gonna have to put a plaster on instead of, I dunno, healing yourself."
The Doctor nodded slowly and took the space next to her on the sofa. "I know. If I die, I die. This body is fragile, but only as fragile as you consider yours to be. I may compare it to how I used to live, but that life is gone now. There isn't a TARDIS, we can't go time hopping or visiting other planets anymore. There will be a distinct lack of danger, Rose. So that's okay."
A small tear escaped her eyes, and he wiped it gently. "You'll hate it here. You'll get restless."
"The Time Lord me would have got bored, yes. But I have Donna's human side that makes me just want to have a cuppa and a lie down. Just… not yet."
"Why not?"
The Doctor made a face and then shrugged. "I still have Time Lord in me, I want to discover what I can do. I can make out certain things, such as my senses. They're still heightened, I can still identify the chemical structures of an object using my tongue and I can still smell the curry being made in the flat below us. I was wondering, if you wouldn't mind so terribly, if I could attempt looking into your mind? I want to know if I'm still telepathic. But you have to let me, I can't force myself in."
"Of course," Rose moved closer to him, her answer escaping her lips before he'd even finished his sentence.
He looked at her, held out his hand towards her head, and gave her a questioning look one last time. "You're definitely sure? This is an intrusive process and it can hurt."
She rolled her eyes. "Just get on with it, I trust you."
He raised his brow, shrugged, and placed his fingers on her temple. She immediately hunched up, a sharp pain ripping through her head and burning behind her eyes.
"You have to let me in, to stop it hurting."
"How do I do that?"
"Imagine a door, a door that leads me to your mind. There's a lock on it, but you have the key. Open it, let me through."
"Okay… did that work?"
"Yes. Now Rose, I can ignore the memories that you don't want me to see. Just pretend they're hidden by curtains. You can drop the curtains of the ones you don't mind me seeing, but keep your private memories hidden."
"I don't care what you see, Doctor."
Suddenly, The Doctor was stood on Bad Wolf Bay, watching an image of himself fade forever. He wanted to die. He couldn't function; his whole being was in that image, his life. His hand clutched his mouth in shock, tears streaming down his face. The pain and the distress was enough to make his real, physical self cry.
She had experienced that memory with him, and felt his struggle to let go. She had walked over to his mind without meaning to, and watched the same memory from his viewpoint. The beach fading. Her face, disappearing. Nothing but an empty TARDIS and a tear stained face. The gulp of acceptance, of guilt, of not wanting it to be happening. Seeing the Doctor's horror at never getting to tell her that he loved her was enough to make her want to leave. Rose jerked her head back, breaking the spell binding the Doctor to her mind.
For a moment, they stared at each other. The Doctors mouth was open slightly, eyes wide and face wet with tears. Rose felt embarrassed of the memory he'd come across and guilty for crossing into his memory. For a moment, all they did was stare at each other. Then, as if reading each other's minds, they both melted towards each other and were hugging, tight and warm. It was several moments before they pulled apart and at this point they were both laughing and wiping their faces.
"I'm sorry I unearthed that," The Doctor finally managed. "But at least I know that I can still do that. It's just a shame that my new human emotions make me susceptible to it all."
Rose took his hand. "I didn't mean to intrude. You said, before, that you needed permission before popping into someone's head, and I didn't ask first. I'm sorry."
"I let you in, Rose," He smiled. "I wanted you to see how you leaving had affected me. I needed you to know how much you mean to me."
They sat there, on the sofa, together. They stayed up as long as they could, discussing the possibilities of a human body with a Time Lord mind, and what tomorrow would bring, and what they would do with their lives. The answer was, they didn't know. But eventually the fell to sleep there, holding hands, heads leant together and most likely dreaming of the same thing – their future.