Partners in Time
A/N: As requested, I will put a little more of the back story in here. I hope you like it. Currently listening to Scissors Sisters' I Can't Decide from Doctor Who (you know that scene from LotTL. I love it, so I'm titling this chapter. It has nothing to do with the rest of the story.
Thank you to my reviewers so far, TennantFangirl (love the name :D) CiciRose, Horsie Friend, forestwife, and DoctorWhoRules. :D
Chapter 3: I Can't Decide
She dreamt many things. First, she dreamt that she was flying. She had never actually flown before in real life; she just stayed in London her whole life, taking public transportation.
This type of flying was different; it was almost as if she were the one flying, like a bird gliding through the air. Only that gliding part was very bumpy and she wasn't in the air as much as her feet were planted on the ground.
It was still an exhilarating feeling, though, nonetheless.
Quickly, the dream changed. Once again, she found herself being chased by the same person that chased her the previous night. She was running and turning and she didn't dare look back. She didn't know who it was chasing her, but she was scared for her life.
The tunnels were dark, the ground covered in very shallow water that barely went beyond the soles of her shoes. The tunnel she was running through was hollow, but she could hear the thing chasing her.
And finally...dead end. A metal grate stood in the way between her and freedom. The person behind her was gaining. She could hear the splish-splash of water beneath their feet.
And suddenly, the dream changed. Someone grabbed her hand, gripping it tightly. She looked up to see John Smith, the man she had met earlier. He wore the same outfit he had worn when she met him, the suit and Converse shoes, with a brown overcoat. He looked at her with a great depth in his eyes, matched with concern for her.
'Are you all right?' his face seemed to ask. She could only nod.
He looked back to the person who was approaching, the tunnel still dark. He dug through his pocket, handing her a large metal object. He pressed it into her hand, turning to look at her, nodding, before he walked forward, toward the person.
She tried to shout for him, but found she didn't have a voice. And suddenly, the grate behind her disappeared. She ran through, still not looking back. Finally, she ran until she found a small patch of light, looking to see a ladder. She climbed onto the first step, but then stopped, opening to see the item in her hand. But before she could, she felt a hand on her shoulder—
Rose sat up, gasping, her breathing heavy. She calmed down, reminding herself that it was just a dream, as the dream started to fade away.
Oh, no you don't, she thought to the dream, quickly reaching over the bed to a small book that she had just purchased the day before. Her dream journal.
Quickly, she wrote down everything about the dream she could remember, more details coming to her. She wrote frantically, the pencil scribbling until the dream stayed in both her book and mind. She remembered it more, now, and was sure she wouldn't forget it.
She glanced up. Morning already. 8:00 am. It was time to get up. After all, she had a lunch to attend later.
She giggled at her dream, now thinking it silly. Imagine. John Smith, now literally the man of her dreams. She just hoped this wasn't going to become a habit. She'd really started to take a liking to him. She could tell him just about anything.
Of course, she didn't tell him of the dreams she had been having. He'd think she was too weird.
She got ready for the day as she usually did. Taking a quick shower, getting dressed, styling her hair to curl it (she secretly hoped John would like it—wait, no, where did that come from?), going to eat breakfast, talking on the phone—before she headed out at 12:30.
She went to the small café where they agreed to meet. She found John quickly, sitting at an outside table, his nose stuck in the laptop on the table, glasses hanging off of his nose.
He was wearing a light black long-sleeved shirt, with tan pants. For some reason, Rose didn't think he looked right in either. She actually had imagined he would show up in the same suit as he did the first date.
She sat down across from him, not saying anything until he noticed she was there. She wondered how long it would take him to notice.
"Well, hello to you, too," he greeted, without looking up at her. She saw the slow smirk spread across his face.
"How'd you do that?" Rose asked. "You looked so lost in your computer."
"I'm the master of multi-tasking, what can I say?" he grinned, looking up at her whilst folding the laptop and putting it away.
"You mean you're the 'Doctor' of multi-tasking?" Rose retorted playfully. He had told her on the phone that he always wanted to be called 'Doctor' which was the main reason he wanted to get his Doctorate. She had laughed at that.
"You're never going to let that one go, will you?" he asked, through his glasses, and they almost dropped off of his nose. Rose laughed.
The waitress approached them, and they quickly ordered, soup and tea for John—much to Rose's amusement—and a salad for her.
"So," John started, seriously. "Have you found anything?"
Rose had told him on the phone the night before how she was looking for a job. She shook her head. "No. But I do have a few interviews this week."
"That's fantastic!" he grinned. "I'm sure your dad would love the extra help."
"Yeah," she replied. "Just till we get me settled into university and he gets back on his feet. I think teaching high school kids is starting to get to him."
"Well," he started. "If you—either of you—need any help, I do have some connections at the university." Rose had learned last night that they were going to be attending the same university.
She smiled, slightly patronizingly. "I couldn't ask you to that. But thank you, so much."
A small comfortable silence fell over the two.
"So, Mickey called earlier," Rose told him. He looked up at her, slightly worried. "On my way over here. He called earlier today around nine."
"And…?" started John. "How is he? Did you guys work things out?"
Rose smiled. She was very touched at how John listened to her, worried about her. It was like they were best friends. Almost. Shireen didn't even like to talk about these things. She wasn't exactly the best listener. She would always say something along the lines of 'Life's too short. Don't think about the past.'
When Rose talked to John about Mickey, he listened very intently, giving her good advice and even dubbing Mickey as 'Mickey the Idiot' for the way he hadn't been trying at the their relationship.
"Well," Rose started. "He understands. He actually was thinking about breaking it off with me for a while. He's actually already seeing someone else. He was a couple days before we broke up, and that's why he stopped talking to me. He felt too guilty. He thought I was mad at him!"
"Well," started John, his voice an octave higher, and he tsked. "You know, men. They're pretty much a different species!"
Rose did a double take, looking at him incredulously, raising an eyebrow, and trying not to laugh.
"What?" John shrugged innocently. "It's what you women say, isn't it?"
Rose lost it right there, erupting into peals of laughter. John quickly joined her.
When their laughter subsided, John's face became more serious. "So you guys are okay, then?"
Rose nodded. "Yeah. It'll be a few days before we can see each other, though. He's working all week."
John nodded, taking a sip of his tea as she continued.
The next part was the hardest to say. Why, though? Rose wondered. It wasn't as if they were dating or anything. "My, uh, my dad wants to meet you."
John's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yeah. He, uh…well, okay. I tell him just about everything. In fact, he was one of the ones who talked Shireen to try to set me up. And—well, I told him how the blind date went—and I mentioned you, and—well, he just wants to meet you. He asked if you could come Tuesday."
"In three days?" John asked.
"Yeah," she replied. "I'm sort of a cook, too. I mean, if you want to bring anything, that's fine too."
He merely looked at her. "Well, I'll see what I can do. He doesn't think that we're—"
"—No." Rose quickly replied as she saw what he was implying.
"And your mum?" he asked, smiling through his spectacles. "I'll bet the first thing she'll do when I walk in is slap me silly for taking out a nineteen year old girl!"
Rose's face fell, which he caught. He immediately tried to catch himself. "Oh, I'm sorry. That's me being rude again. I'm no good at these people things."
"No, it's okay," Rose waved a hand at him, as if to dismiss his statement. "Mum…Mum died six years ago, when I was thirteen. She was out on the street, you know, shopping. She always loved to shop. And when she came out, some guy was out there…wanted her purse. Mum was a fighter, to the end. She wouldn't let him walk all over her. She didn't know he had a knife, though. They never caught him."
Rose felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't dare let them fall. It was still hard to talk about her mum, but over the years she learned to cope with it.
John placed his hand on hers. "It's all right." She smiled a little at that.
"Anyway," she tried to change the subject quickly, since she didn't want to bring the mood down. She knew that he noticed this. She glanced down at his feet, playfully grimacing. "I see you're wearing the same shoes."
His face fell in mock-horror at what she was implying. "No, no! I'll meet your father, I'll even meet Mickey the Idiot and I'll even be locked in a room with the two…just don't make me go shopping! Especially when it's shoe shopping. I love my shoes."
Rose laughed at that. "Well," she started, in an all-serious tone, but her face anything but serious. "I guess we could go later."
Another comfortable silence passed over the two.
"So," John started. "What are your plans after you leave this café?"
"I dunno. Not really much anything. Why?" Rose asked, wondering what was next.
"Well," John started, sucking the air through his teeth. "I was watching Harry Potter movies last night—"
"Me, too!" Rose grinned at him. "They were on the night before, too."
"And well," he started. "I was wondering…have you seen the fifth one yet?"
"No," Rose admitted. "But I want to. Oh, I loved the books. Fifth one's sad."
"Oh, I know," John replied. "Can't wait for the seventh one to come out this weekend. Well, anyway. I was wondering if you wanted to see it with me?"
"Yeah, I'd love to," Rose replied. "So, did you watch all of them?"
"Yeah. Saw them all when they came to the theatres. Waited all night for the midnight opening for the first one, never doing that again, too many crowds—didn't get out until 4:30 in the morning, and by that time I had to go to work the next day—anyway! Yeah, so I was watching them all last night, but I didn't make it through the fourth one. Fell asleep!"
"Oh, me, too." Rose grinned. "I was so tired I even thought you were Barty Crouch Jr.!"
"Me?" John started. "Nope. Can't say I'm a Death Eater. Though people have called me Casanova." He grinned, winking.
"Too bad you can't have that as your title," Rose grinned at him. "Instead of people calling you Mr. or Dr. they'll just call you Casanova!"
They laughed again, finishing the rest of the meal.
As they left to go to the movies, Rose once again stuck out her hand, John taking it. It was getting to be almost a natural thing now.
Rose had arrived back at her flat after the movie. John had walked her home, but couldn't stay very long. He had to get fitted for a tux for his friend Dan's wedding in about a half-hour.
They said their goodbyes, hugging, before John went in the other direction.
Rose opened her front door. It was now about 7:30, and she wanted to just relax and watch T.V.
"Dad!" She called, picking up the mail on the floor that was dropped through the mail slot on the front door. "I'm home!"
No response. She saw the note on the T.V. again. He would be out all night this time. Rose sighed.
After turning on the T.V., Rose sifted through the letters. Bills. Bills. Junk mail. Letter for Dad. Bills. Junk mail. Phone bill (uh-oh, she thought). Junk mail from university. A small white envelope.
ROSE TYLER. It had her name and address on it, with a single stamp. No return address. It was average size, and plain and white.
Rose tore it open, carefully. She had heard about terrorist attacks and all the hype, though she didn't believe it would happen to her. A small letter was inside.
She opened the letter, and a small photograph fell out.
She dropped both at the same time.
It was a small photograph, black and white, perhaps taken from the sixties.
DON'T TRUST HIM. HE'S DANGEROUS.
The photograph was of John, in that same suit he wore with those stupid Converse shoes. But that wasn't the thing that scared her the most. At first, she thought that the letter was probably sent by an ex-girlfriend who had seen them together.
Until she herself in the picture, wearing a dress she had never even owned before.
A/N: Oh, I'm bad. Such a cliffie. I'm not sure that I can do this update-very frequently thing. So how's that for an American? I don't know much about British culture (though I would very much like to) so I set everything as Harry Potter :D
So many unanswered questions. Hm…think you know the ending? Think again. I'd love to hear feedback, predictions (any requests for the next chapter?)
Please review!