To the Past from the Future

by Lumendea

Chapter Three: Guess Who II

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and gain nothing from the creation of this story.

AN: My new fiction series The Iron Soul now has a facebook page!

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The Doctor was usually a man who asked a lot of questions right at the moment they came up. True he hadn't always reacted that way, it was something that varied based on his current life and personality. Sometimes he preferred to keep things close, to hide the direction of his thoughts and not let on what he'd noticed. Sometimes he relied on deduction only, asking questions only when he had absolutely no choice. This body however had a raw childish energy that kept his enemies guessing all on its own and made it easy to shout off a long series of questions and get answers in return.

The point was that this time around he had no problem asking questions. And he usually wasn't the sort that was distracted from the problem at hand. Okay yes when he'd first been settling into this body there'd been the werewolf that distracted him and sometimes he'd had issues with controlling his new quirks. But now that he'd settled in a bit more he wasn't so easily distracted, but he'd been very distracted for the last few hours.

Just thinking about said distraction made him grin wider than he had in the five years since saying goodbye to Rose Tyler. It was an insane giddy feeling in his chest that was completely unfamiliar. Well not completely unfamiliar, he'd had plenty of happy moments and warm memories, but the consistent hum of this happiness beneath his skin was beyond distracting. So it was only now that the Time Lord pondered various questions in his head as he smiled at the sleeping Rose Tyler. He could only see the very top of her blonde head underneath the dark blue duvet, but he could feel her warmth curled up against his side.

There were dozens of questions rattling around in his head: had he regenerated by the time he found her again, how many years in the future would they be making the crossing, how many children did they have, what were their names, what did they look like, were their children time sensitive and how exactly had they opened a doorway into the other universe? Then there were the questions about what had happened when they arrived to get Rose, had she been happy or overwhelmed by the idea of having children with him? How had her mother reacted to the arrive of a TARDIS full of mini Time Lords and an older version of her daughter? He almost woke Rose up to ask the last one as the possible reactions of Jackie Tyler ran through his head, somehow he didn't think the woman would take well to the complex issues of crossing time lines. Although presenting her with grandchildren may have saved him from being slapped, but he supposed Jackie may have still been too angry. Still he had missed her and was pretty sure that he'd keep on missing her until they returned to the other universe.

Then his mind jumped right back to trying to imagine what his children with Rose would be like, what would they act like, would they be more Time Lord or human although, given that they opened a door to an alternate universe he guessed more Time Lord. Glancing back down at Rose, he grinned as he considered when he could expect to become a dad again. It should have been a terrifying thought, but it wasn't somehow. Maybe the knowledge that his future little family would be alright was keeping the panic at bay. He had a future again that didn't just include jumping around different planets, saving the universe with the situation called for it and picking up stray humans to show off for. That thought of course lead him to wondering what Rose herself would be like further into the future. She'd always been brilliant in her own compassionate and clever way. He hoped that she was happy with the knowledge that she'd live a good five hundred or so years. He certainly didn't want her to feel burdened by that knowledge. If he was careful in the next three regenerations he would probably just about match her in life span.

Hearing Rose stir next to him, he snapped out of his random thoughts and looked down at her. Small fingers peeked out over the edge of the duvet and tugged it down. Rose sighed softly and opened her large brown eyes, meeting his own as he gazed happily down at her. The Doctor grinned as a soft smile spread over her face just for him and fought to urge to hug her tightly again.

"Morning," Rose muttered, still waking up as she stretched out her back and arms next to him.

"Actually it is night you slept through the day, granted we didn't get any sleep the other night," the Doctor remarked with a grin.

Rose raised an eyebrow at him, smiling and letting her tongue slide over her teeth.

"We're in the TARDIS, no real day or night or so you told me," Rose replied with a contented smile as she lounged on her side of the bed and watched him.

"Did I tell you that?" The Doctor asked, pausing in thought before grinning, "So I did, long time ago though."

Rolling over properly Rose snuggled into the bed again, but kept watching the Doctor. The duvet slipped off her shoulder and distracted him for a long moment. Rose's breathing was even and she looked so happy that for a moment he was happy just to reach over and lay his hand over hers. Rose gave him a soft smile and curled closer to him, tangling their legs together.

"Go on then Doctor," Rose said happily.

The Doctor blinked at her statement and Rose laughed.

"I know you've got hundreds of questions swimming about in that head of yours and you're just burning to ask them," Rose replied to his unspoken question with an amused little smile. "I'll answer the ones I can."

Having been given a chance to ask, the Doctor was suddenly unsure of what to ask first. His mouth opened and closed uselessly for a moment as he tried to get his usually brilliant brain to work. Rose watched him with a widening smile and was holding back a giggle at his struggle. Then she began talking in a warm voice, turning her hand so she could squeeze his.

"For me it has been exactly one year since Bad Wolf Bay. I had taken the day off to spend with my family; Mum had a boy by the way. His name is Tony, not sure where they got that name. He's a good boy, I think you'd like him." Rose paused for a moment and licked her lips before she continued. "We were sitting down to breakfast when we heard the TARDIS, you or rather the future you came out." Rose grinned, "I didn't realize he was from later in the time line at that point."

"So same body, I haven't regenerated by then?" The Doctor asked, leaning forward slightly.

"I think you're safe for a bit," Rose assured him patiently.

"Good I like this body, young and strong. Good for the life we lead," the Doctor announced with a grin.

"I like it too," Rose informed him, shifting closer to the Doctor and giving him a soft kiss. "You've got great hair."

"I gathered that last night," the Doctor teased with a grin and a waggle of his eyebrows. "And I knew you liked the hair."

"I see your ego survived intact without me," Rose teased before stealing another kiss that he was all too happy to give her.

For a few moments there were no words and the Doctor contented himself with just holding Rose closed. But then, she pulled back and settled back down on her pillow and looked up at him.

"It happened so fast, it is a bit of blur really. Mum really freaked out over the whole thing. Dad and Mickey were just as confused about what was happening. Thankfully Mickey picked up on the closed time loop thing pretty quick and helped calm Mum down once he stopped laughing," Rose informed him with a chuckle. "He says hi by the way But Mum was just… she was really funny in hindsight."

"I figured that one, been imagining Jackie's reaction," the Doctor confessed as he settled down beside Rose.

"Well she did meet her grandchildren before I ever had them and had two versions of me walking about the house. It was strange even by my standards."

The Doctor just grinned to keep from making some comment about Jackie. Rose gave him a knowing look, but then she swallowed and her face fell slightly.

"My future self was really happy to see Mum and the family since...," Rose trailed off but the Doctor nodded in understanding.

"Since you can't see them now until the kids reach that age and are able to help cross the universes," the Doctor finished gently as he reached out and cupped her cheek.

"Yeah," Rose managed to reply. "I feel a bit bad. She, my older self, was so happy to spend time with them and promised to come and visit soon, but all I wanted to do was get going. It was… difficult."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor whispered leaning forward to kiss her forehead. "If I could make this easier for you I would, but I'm beyond grateful that you still chose me."

"I'll always chose you," Rose whispered. "I made that choice a long time ago and I'm never gonna leave you."

The Doctor kissed her again and pulled her closer to him. He could feel Rose shaking a bit and stayed still and silent, just trying to be a support for her to lean on. Whatever she was feeling passed quickly and she kissed his neck softly before humming in contentment.

"So how many kids?" the Doctor whispered into her ear, earning him a bright happy laugh in response.