Rose tucked her hair behind her ear and put the kettle on, fumbling a bit as she placed it on the stove. She took three mugs from the cupboard and set them on the counter. Rose was the first one in the kitchen this morning. Usually it was Pete who got up first, but she hadn't slept well the night before. She picked out three English Breakfast teabags and set them aside. No use in making a whole pot; Rose wasn't big on tea except in the mornings and Jackie liked tea best before bed. Still, if she was going to be awake Rose figured she should busy herself with something. The kettle started to boil and she let it steam a minute before filling each cup. One for her, one for mum, and one for...well, one for the Doctor.
Rose still wasn't sure if she should call him that. She supposed he was the Doctor. Even though he had a human heart and a body that'd been born only a day ago...he'd made a new face before and it was still him. So now, when he had the same face, shouldn't she accept it? Rose found her mind going back to Bad Wolf Bay. Yesterday, when they'd stood on the beach, he told her that he loved her. And she kissed him. She'd believed him in that moment. She'd waited to hear those words for so long. In that same moment, the other Doctor, the one she'd worked so hard to get back to, had left. Rose would never see him again. She'd watched the TARDIS disappear for a final time. The human Doctor had taken her hand. She hadn't known what to say. They'd looked at each other. Neither had spoke. They were both searching for the right words. And then Jackie had jumped in with the wrong ones.
"So what does he expect us to do now?" Jackie had burst out. "He pops us back over here, leaves you with this copy and expects us to just soldier on?"
"Mum-" Rose started, "It's not like that..."
"Well," Jackie said, "What is it like, then? Because it seems to me he's gone and given this Doctor his blessing, once again not taking how we feel about things into account...I was fine with him until all that battle talk!"
"Mum, that's not it," Rose tried, squeezing the human Doctor's hand, "I don't think..."
"You might've felt keen on him just now," Jackie continued, gesturing to the man that stood by Rose, "But how do we know we can trust this Doctor? What'd he say about him being born into anger and war or whatever? Committing a genocide? And what, you're supposed to go and sort him out? Just like men, leaving women to sort out their emotions..."
"Mum!" Rose shouted, releasing the Doctor's hand and crossing her arms, "That's enough!" She'd wanted to say more but didn't know how to form the words. She was still trying to piece together everything that'd happened and took a few steps away from the two, turning away.
Jackie could tell she'd gone too far. "Alright, then," she said, moving toward Rose and softening her tone as she wrapped an arm around her, "Hey, it's alright..." there was a pause. Rose wiped at her eyes. The human Doctor stood stiffly for a moment. When neither Rose nor Jackie said anything, he started.
"Listen, Rose..." he began, "I want to spend my life with you. I've only got one." He glanced submissively at Jackie and took a step forward. "But I understand if that's not what either of you want. I don't want you to feel obligated or forced into taking care of me." Rose was looking at him now. Jackie had let her go, but was still standing close. "I have all his memories," he went on, faltering a bit as he met Rose's gaze,"...all of our memories, but...I'm still new. It's like I've got this whole life in my head that I've lived in and never been to. Close to the feeling of regeneration, but so much heavier than it's ever been. It all feels so real, like it was really and truly me, even though I know I've never physically been to New New York or met Queen Victoria or had Christmas in your flat...well, except for this part of me," he wiggled the fingers of his right hand. Rose had felt herself smile. He smiled too.
"Nah," Rose reminded him, "That hand missed Christmas day. It was in a jar before dinner. The Sicorax cut it off pretty quick into your fight."
"Oh, well," the Doctor said, "I had been feeling a bit drowsy from regeneration...but I did win the day. It was a bit of a dramatic introduction, wasn't it? Loosing the hand was very Luke Skywalker of me, I do wish there'd been lightsabers."
"Are there?" Rose asked, blinking away the last of her tears, her curiosity distracting her, "Is that a thing in the future, lightsabers? Haven't seen any yet..."
"Oh, sure," the Doctor said, "Loads of 'em by the year 2300, I think, similar things on other planets earlier than that...don't know about in this universe, it's practically a whole new planet to explore...a whole new reality, really. Completely New New Earth."
"Oh my God," Jackie stated, "You are him, aren't you?"
"As close as this world can get," the Doctor said honestly, "Well, unless there's a parallel Doctor here too..."
"There isn't," Rose said, "I looked. If there is, he's never been to Earth."
Suddenly, Jackie had the Doctor in a hug. "I'm so sorry for going off on you like that earlier," she said, "It's just that Rose tried so hard to get back to you. I didn't want to see her go through all that again. But it really is you, issint it? You didn't even change your face this time. And you'll stay with her?"
The Doctor smiled at Jackie gratefully and released himself from her hug. "I will," he promised. Then he turned to Rose again, "If she'll have me, anyway."
Rose gave him a smile and nodded. "Yea," she said, "Yes, of course we'll have you."
"We?" the Doctor asked.
Jackie nudged him, "The Tylers are a package deal," she said, "That means that me and Pete'll have you too. And you have to meet our son, Tony, he's only a few months old but I'm sure you'll get on great."
"I'm sure," the Doctor smiled.
"I'll ring Pete up now," Jackie said, "I'll see if he can get us a flight home, driving would make me go mad...space boy could've dropped us off a little closer to home but we can't change that now..." Jackie stepped away to make the phone call. Pete, who'd been worried sick, had gotten them a private flight back to London in no time.
Rose was pulled back to the present when she noticed someone standing in the doorway. It was the Doctor, still wearing his blue suit. He looked tired and uncertain. She could tell his head was buzzing with thought.
"Hello," Rose said.
"Hello," he replied.
"I made tea, if you want," Rose pointed and took a mug for herself, gesturing for the Doctor to do the same. "Did Dad not leave you a suit to wear?"
"No, no, he did," the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow and taking tea as he sat on the countertop, "I just didn't like any of the options, no offense to Pete."
"Well, we can get you some new clothes, then," Rose replied, taking a sip of her drink, "Tomorrow if you like. You can just wear that for now." She paused a minute. They both took a sip of tea. "What should I call you?" she finally asked.
"What?" the Doctor said.
"I mean," Rose fidgeted, crossing her legs as she stood, "You're 'the Doctor', but you're also human...so, um, 'the Doctor'? 'John Smith'?" She paused, then teased, "'Alonso'?"
"Just 'the Doctor' is fine...don'tya think?" he replied. Rose nodded. It was like he was asking permission. He had only come into existence a day ago, and it'd been an eventful 24hours for the two of them to say the least. They were both still testing the waters. Still unsure how to interact with one another.
"I, um," Rose started, "I've been working for Torchwood. Well, this Earth's version of Torchwood. Funny how it can exist when we weren't there to have Victoria make it? Anyway, that's how I found my way back to you. Working with them." She was watching the Doctor's face, trying to gauge his reaction. "They should have it figured out by now that things're fixed, the stars aren't goin out anymore and all, but I thought I'd report back today. Let 'em know I'm alright. You could come if you want."
The Doctor smiled. "Rose Tyler, protecting the Earth...not just this one, you saved all of it. All worlds, all realities. You noticed something was wrong before anyone else and defied reality to come across dimensions and fix it. Saved the whole of the universe."
"Hey, and you," Rose smiled, "I couldn't have done it without you...either of you." She looked down and ran her finger around the rim of her mug. "We make a good team." There was a pause.
The Doctor set his empty mug down beside him. He looked torn. "Am I always going to be living in his shadow?" he asked.
"I know you're him, too," Rose replied quickly. She had to get the truth of what she was feeling out. "I can't just forget that he's out there. He's alone...I mean, he has Donna, but not me." She'd never felt so conflicted. One minute, she felt everything was fine. That this man really was the Doctor, that he loved her, that maybe they could grow old together...and the next it was like she'd somehow abandoned the person she loved. Would he be alright without her? It was the Doctor who did the leaving, so why did she have to feel so guilty? He'd wanted her to be with this human Doctor. She wanted it too, deeply. But she knew that her Doctor was out there without Rose Tyler. It felt wrong. It wasn't fair.
"Here's one way to look at it," the human Doctor said, "There are infinite realities. So, there are infinite Doctors. Each one a bit different, each one not really the other. Some of them are lucky enough to have a Rose Tyler, one close to you but not quite you. Many of them aren't so lucky. But all those worlds, all those versions of life are inaccessible to us. What we have," he got down from the counter and stood in front of her, close enough to be intimate without intimidating,"...is one chance. One reality. Full of life to explore. Rose, I really do love you. And I can say it now. Because I know I have this one life to give you."
They held each other in a close hug. It was a while before Rose spoke. "I'm sorry..." she said, "It's going to be hard for me. But I want to try, I really do."
"It's going to be hard for me, too," the Doctor admitted, still holding Rose, "Sure, this is a whole new universe, but I haven't exactly got the means to travel it anymore...not as fastly as I'd like, anyway. And I'm stuck in, what year is this?"
"2007," Rose laughed, hugging the Doctor tighter,"It was 2008 in the other world, when we met again, but its still only been a year for me."
"Right," the Doctor said, "Stuck in 2007." He backed out of the embrace to look at Rose. "Overall, not a bad year in the grand scheme of things, but what do I know now that there'll be all these differences..."
Rose smiled at him. He really did look like the Doctor. Talked like him. Acted like him. By all she could tell, thought like him. She was wary of the anger the other Doctor had said was in him. But so far it'd all seemed natural. She'd feel confused if she was him. It warranted a bit of an identity crisis when you're essentially a clone. A fair amount of anger, too.
"Y'know, we don't have to be stuck," Rose offered, hopefully. The Doctor raised an eyebrow and she took it as an invitation to explain further. "Y'see, those transports that Torchwood has to hop between dimensions?" she said, "Well, a few modifications and I don't see why they can't get us through space. Just as normal teleports. They'd need a lot of energy to go very far, but you're clever and if you collaborate with some of our technicians..."
"Rose Tyler, you are brilliant!" the Doctor beamed. He looked genuinely and fully happy for the first time since Bad Wolf Beach. "If you can get me access to the lab and facilities at Torchwood, I'm sure I can construct myself a makeshift sonic. A bit of work here and there," his speech was speeding up and he paced about in excitement, "I'll need full access to Torchwood's databases, I should get caught up on this world's history by the end of the afternoon. Making a new screwdriver could take some time. It's powered by Legthimalite, an element not yet discovered and not native to this planet. If I can figure out what the solar system of the Rimpart Galaxy looks like in this dimension and rig a transport to get me there then, oh this is brilliant! Absolutely fantastic!" He kissed Rose on the forehead. "Come on, let's go! We've got an awful lot of travel to do."
Rose grinned. The Doctor was already out the door. Nevermind that he didn't know how to get to Torchwood from here, and she doubted that he could drive off without keys. Assuming they got the transports to work and he managed to make himself a new sonic, it wouldn't surprise her if he tried to steal another TARDIS...maybe there was another Gallifray out here. Or maybe they'd let the travel through time go and take things the long way round. Maybe travel through space and defending the Earth would be enough for them. Maybe. She slipped on her coat as Jackie came down the stairs, holding baby Tony.
"What's all this noise?" Jackie asked, "Where're you runnin off to?"
Rose grabbed the keys, "The Doctor and I are just heading to work, mum. I'll be back. There's tea for you. Give my love to Dad when you see him, yea?" She started out the door.
"Rose," Jackie called, "You be safe, okay? I know there's no use stopping you, but please come home. You're always running off. And I miss you. So...just know, I love you so much, sweetheart."
"I love you too, mum," she gave Jackie a hug and gave little Tony's hand a gentle squeeze, "And I will," Rose promised, "We'll both be back...sooner or later. There's just too much to see out there, mum. New New Earth, New New Stars to explore. Whole new history. I've spent so much time tryin to get back to the Doctor and save the world that I never really got to experience it. New New Everything."
"Rose!" the Doctor called, rushing back in, "Hello, Jackie! Sorry, I just realized I haven't a clue where I'm going."
"I'll take the lead this time," Rose said, taking the Doctor's hand. She smiled at Jackie. "See you soon, okay? Call if you need anything." As they left, Jackie called out to them inviting for dinner. There was no sense rushing away completely yet. They both promised to be there, and they really both meant it. They had this one life to live. And the Doctor and Rose would spend it together.