"Are you mad at me for regenerating?" The Doctor sat behind Rose, his hands clasped behind his back. "Rose?" She didn't look at him. She cradled a picture with her fingertips like it might bring back more than a memory. The Doctor knew better than to get too close to her. She needed to think, just like he needed to recharge. But he clenched his fingers and pressed them to his head. There must be something within his thoughts to prove that he was still her Doctor. "Rose." She closed her eyes and put the photograph down.
"I'm still—"
"Can you remember? What you were like before you…changed." She trailed off. She'd run from a lot of danger when she was with The Doctor, but there was the rescue, the relief, the power she held when they smiled at each other. She looked at her hands. He'd made her feel capable of taking on Daleks, of running with the heat of rescue in her breath. She'd looked into the heart of the TARDIS for him! And now he wasn't even…
"Rose, I'm still The Doctor. I have all his memories—I know everything he ever knew. I can take you anywhere." He swallowed. If only you let me.
"But will you save me? If I get abducted by another alien species, will you come after me?"
"Of course I will." A rush of despair welled inside him—she didn't mean to hurt him, but the fact that she didn't know one bit of him ripped through his hearts. I know you, he thought. I know the looks you keep on your face when you think I'm not watching, but you don't even know if I'll protect you. He inched closer to her, the tails of this bathrobe dragging on the carpet. "I will always keep you safe. Do you really, really think I'm the type of man who wouldn't keep you safe?" He looked at her, more than dismayed. Rose kept her eyes on him as he rubbed his hands over his temples and passed them through his hair.
"Rose, I may not be the man you met, but I know what he felt. And I still—"
"You still…?" She held onto hope that he would say something miraculous, something that would change everything. He was The Doctor—he did that kind of thing all the time. But he only smiled hesitantly and stood up like he was trying to make things right.
"Come with me." He paused and let his desperation do the talking. "And you'll find out."
"You could come with me." Rose saw the old Doctor before her, standing in the doorway of his spaceship with a world of promise in his outstretched hand. She looked at the new one. His head was tilted, his arms stretched in the beginning of a hug. He was endearing in a child-like sort of way, but there was still something familiar about the way he talked to her. She stood on her tiptoes so she was eye to eye with him. There was hope etched into his face, understanding swirling in his pupils. Without realizing it, Rose raised a hand to his cheek. The Doctor took in a breath but kept eye contact.
"OK. I will." She took a step back from The Doctor and jabbed him in the chest. "But don't think this means I've forgiven you."
"You will. In time. Get it? In time?" Rose rolled her eyes, but at least she was smiling.
"Yeah, yeah. But this time you're sticking around for a while. You hear that?" She walked out of the living room, a haughty jump to her step.
"Of course, Rose Tyler. Anything for you." He examined the sleeve of the robe and sniffed it. Stick around he would, but first, he needed to change into something a little more…Time Lord-y.
