Yes, this one is un-beta'd too. Also, I'm not the best with the previous Doctors, and I know that they are somewhat out of character. But I'm trying to go with the fact that he's different around her.
I've got a bit of 10 in this one too. Just to give her a bit of hope. It's funny only being up to the 4th chapter, which is 19 pages, when I've actually written 48! Yeah, I've only really got to write 3 ½ more chapters and I'm done.
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Her Strange Man
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It was a few more weeks until she met the Doctor again. She glared down at the empty spot in front of her. She had just been about to sit down to eat! It would have been her first meal in days! Although, it was quite sad to say, she was becoming used to it.
At the sound of music, she decided to follow. She almost felt as if she were in the pied piper. The sweet tune floated on the breeze, drawing her towards its owner. She only had to lay eyes on him to know who he was. The Doctor sat cross legged at the base of a tree. He wore a scruffy suit that was too big for him in some places and too short in others. His trousers were plaid. His hair cut for some reason reminded her of the Beatles. In the low branches above him lounged a rather cute looking guy in a kilt and a girl wearing Victorian clothing sat swinging her feet.
This must have been one of the few downtime moments they spent outside of the TARDIS. It was nice to know that he did get some, even back whenever this was.
"I didn't know you could play an instrument!" she laughed as she stepped into view. The Doctor stopped playing and smiled at her.
"Oh, yes, my Dear," he told her. "I can play a vast variety of instruments… Except piano… I really should learn to play piano. Beethoven. Yes, I'll go see him."
"Who's Beethoven?" the man asked in a Scottish accent.
"He's a classical musician," the girl replied.
"Ah."
"Hi, I'm R… Loupa," Rose told the pair up in the tree.
"This is Victoria. And I'm James McCrimmon. But everyone just calls me Jamie," the man replied. Rose began to laugh as a memory was stirred at that name and his face took on a look of confusion.
'I'm Doctor James McCrimmon,' she heard the Doctor to say in a Scottish accent. She began to laugh harder and looked up giggling at the Doctor. He wore a look of confusion, but it also seemed rather affectionate.
"Really, Doctor. Oh, that makes so much more sense now! 'Hmm, we're in Scotland, I'm going to speak in a Scottish accent and call myself James McCrimmon'!"
"He did what?" Jamie cried almost laughing.
"I believe that's 'will do what', Jamie. Loupa is from my future," the Doctor told him. "Which, you are yet to actually tell me how it is that you're travelling through my past. Walking TARDIS, isn't going to cut it afraid."
"Well, 'walking' is literally the right term to use," she told him, figuring that since he didn't seem to remember any of this when she first met him, that it would be safe to tell him a few things. "I just… travel, disappear in one place and appear somewhere completely different as I walk. Just one step and I'm somewhere else."
"Then sit down, girl, we don't want you disappearing mid-conversation do we?" he cried. Smiling, Rose complied, sitting in front of him and folding her legs. "Now, I know you're waiting until you find the right version of me, but perhaps I might be able to figure something out for you."
"Well, I can't tell you too much," Rose told him. "I have no idea how much you remember, or what made you forget. But, I mean, you asked me to come with you twice, so must have recognised me somehow."
"Well, how does it feel when it happens?"
"Well, fist it sort of feels like I'm walking through wet sand or something thick. Then I get dizzy and my ears pop. Then I sort of… black out for a second and it reverses."
"I'll have to do some research on this…" he mused. "Anything you came into contact with that could have caused this to happen?"
"None that I could think of off the top of my head… and none that I could tell you yet anyway."
"Yes, I see. This is quite difficult with the timelines to consider."
"So, what incarnation are you on?" she asked.
"Only the second," he replied.
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"Hey, Victoria," Jamie said above them. "Would you ever wear a dress like that?" Rose looked down at the dress she had thrown on earlier in the day. The planet she had been on had been quite hot.
"No, it's disgustingly revealing," the girl snorted, then she realised she'd said that right in front of Loupa. Rose stood and smiled at her understandingly.
"It's alright," she said. "Different era's that's all. I'm from 200 years in your future, give or take. Trust me, I know what it's like. We used to travel with a guy from the 51st century. Now there is a lot with loose morals. Well, comparatively. Actually, I've been to Victorian Scotland. It's were the Doctor used Jamie's name. Met Queen Victoria, saved her life, got a Damehood, was called a naked child and a timorous beastie, got banished… A lot of fun in all."
"I am very much looking forward to my future now," the Doctor chuckled. "So-"
Suddenly Victoria screamed and both she and Jamie jumped from the tree. Something that looked quite like a snake slithered slowly down the branch towards the ground. Rose jumped back-
Only to disappear.
?...DW…?
The very first thing Rose saw when she arrived was bright colours. At first she thought the man before her was a clown. But on a closer look, she realised it wasn't. This was confirmed when the girl next to him jumped back in shock.
"Oh my god! Doctor! She just…"
"Yes, I know. Hello Loupa. You really do pick the most inconvenient times to pop by don't you?" he said rudely, but there was an almost fond smile on his face.
"Wow, and you thought your tenth incarnation was rude," she laughed. "You know I can't control when I 'pop' up. And what's happening?"
It was the Doctor's companion that answered her. "The Doctor's lost something." She rolled her eyes.
"I didn't lose it, Peri, it ran away!"
"It doesn't have legs!" Peri cried.
Rose giggled a moment before she noted the two people's clothes with a raised eyebrow. Peri was wearing short blue shorts that showed off her long legs, and a top that tied in the middle. She felt a small flash of jealously when she realised how little the woman seemed to be wearing.
The Doctor, however, wore yellow stripped pants, a blue polka dot bow at his throat, a plaid vest, and that ghastly coat. Topped with his curly blonde hair, he really did almost look like a clown… he just needed the makeup.
"I'm sorry," she giggled. "But, Doctor, what the hell are you wearing? You've either mugged a clown or nicked off with Joseph's Technicolour Dream Coat!"
Peri laughed, and the Doctor sniffed haughtily and straightened his jacket.
"There's nothing wrong with what I'm wearing," he said indignantly. "I could say the same about you. It looks dreadful."
"I only had three things to choose from, and I don't really get much time to put clothes on," she told him in annoyance. "The reason I'm wearing jeans and a Hirassian shirt is because I was half way through getting changed when I disappeared! Found myself in the middle of a crowded street with my jeans half way around my ankles and no top on! I have to get a new travel bag now, because there's no way I'm going to be able to get it back."
"What do you mean?" Peri asked.
"I have no control over where and when I end up," she explained. "But at least I have an excuse for wearing a slightly bizarre shirt. What's your excuse, huh, Mr High and Mighty Time Lord?"
"I think his regeneration went a little wrong," Peri muttered.
"Do they ever go normal?" Rose laughed in exasperation. "Did he conk out on you too?"
"No, he had a fit and tried to strangle me," she glared at the man in question.
"You did what?" Rose cried in horror. The Doctor, at least, had the good grace to look guilty at the ground.
"I didn't exactly know what I was doing," he mumbled apologetically. Peri looked at him, stunned.
"Can you stay?" she asked. "He's never like this… I like it." The two girls giggled at this and the Doctor huffed again.
"We have to go Peri," the Doctor urged her. "Before that blasted thing gets too far away."
"Right, well, I'm going to try and find some food before I starve."
"Yes, you're a little too skinny," he told her.
"No time for food when you're always on the move, Doctor." Laughing, she walked away from them. "See you again, Mister. Nice to meet you, Peri!"
"Wait!" Peri cried bending over to pick something up. "You dropped you-" But she didn't hear the rest. She was already gone.
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Rose realised what it was she had dropped and took the key from her jeans pocket and tied it around her neck. She began to cough as she looked around. You could barely see anywhere; the air was so thick with smoke.
She looked out across the city to find that you couldn't see London at all. Luckily the aria she was in was fairly clear. In the other direction she saw a sight that made her heart beat faster. The Doctor - her Doctor - stood with three other people. The bride - no longer in her wedding dress, a dark skinned woman, and a rat like lanky teen.
They all watched as suddenly the sky ignited. All she could do was watch in wonder as the sky burnt. By the time she finally looked back, after it was all over, the Doctor and the others were already at the doors of what looked like some sort of mansion. Near by she saw a sign that read 'Rattigan's Academy'.
Quickly she ran inside. She followed the sound of voices until she came to a room. The Doctor stood in some sort of arch that looked like a cross between a teleport and modern art. The other three standing out side of it.
"You're saying goodbye," the bride - couldn't really call her that now - redhead realised sadly.
"Sontarans are never defeated," the Doctor told her. "They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know, I've recalibrated this for Sontaran air, so…"
"You're going to ignite them," the dark woman said in the same tone as the redhead.
"You'll kill yourself!" the redhead exclaimed. Rose took a few steps forward, drawing his attention. He looked apologetically into her eyes a moment before the other woman drew his attention again.
"Just send that thing up on its own. I don't know… put it on delay!" she said in a panicked tone.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I've got to give them a choice." He looked up at her again for a moment and Rose realised what he was about to do. 'I'm sorry,' he mouthed. And then he was gone, just as she started to run towards him… and she was gone again.
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The next thing she knew, she stood in front of the Doctor - once again, it was her Doctor. In fact, she could tell that it was only ten minutes after she had left. And he didn't really seemed all that surprised to see her, let alone to see her appear out of thin air.
"What the hell were you thinking!" she cried at him, not daring to take a step more. She didn't want to disappear.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
"You said that already," she snapped. "Honestly, what was going through that head of yours?"
"You should know," he told her dejectedly. Then he seemed to decide something and sighed. "I thought it didn't matter. I had to give them a chance, because I'm the only one that would. But it didn't really matter if I went with them."
"Of course it would!"
"I'm tired, Rose," he whispered. "I'm tired of all the death and destruction and the pain. I'm tired of losing everything, everyone I love." He sighed deeply. "I'm being reckless… I've been a lot since you…"
"Reckless! You call that reckless!" she cried. "You nearly committed suicide!"
"Would it have mattered?" he said quietly. Rose's mouth dropped open. She walked towards him so forcefully that she felt the old ribbon around her neck loosen and fall again. And just before she got close enough to slap him for saying such a thing, she disappeared.
The Doctor only sighed and closed his eyes, not noticing the small silver key lying on the ground. He ran a hand through his hair and then rubbed his eyes. If only it had actually been his eyes that were the problem. That he would have been able to rub them, and the vision would be gone. But he was far past that now.
There was little question to him whether he was still sane. What ever he had left had been robbed from him when she went away and he was slowly loosing even more. It was nice to say what he was really thinking out loud… even if it was just to a figment of his imagination.
"Doctor, are you okay?" he whipped around to see Donna standing in the doorway to the room.
"Yeah," he said in a strained voice.
"Right…" she said softly, not believing him. "Can you take me back home? I need to make sure Mum and Granddad are alright." He nodded, and without another word, left the room. But Donna stayed behind a moment, a glint of silver on the floor catching her eye.
She bent down and picked up the key, she had only seen a key like this a few times, and only received one today… but already it was so familiar. She knew it wasn't his… so where had it come from.
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Rose looked around the new room she was in. It was a nice quaint house. What was she-
"Donna!" she heard an old voice cry. "You left behind your key!" there was a moment's pause, then a sigh. Then the old man walked back in the room and froze at the sight of her. She spotted the badly frayed TARDIS blue ribbon in his hand.
"Actually… I think that's mine," she said with a weak smile.
"How did you… Are you one of the Doctor's friends?" he stuttered, handing over the key.
"Yeah, I'm… hang on, what year is it?"
"2008… 'cause that box of his travels in time doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it does. I'm Rose, by the way."
"Wilfred," he replied in a bit of a daze. "My granddaughter, Donna's travelling with him at the moment. Apparently she met him last Christmas, was her wedding and it went a little funny."
"She's the bride!" Rose was only half surprised. It bought a smile to her face. She remembered what she had said to Donna all those months ago, that she should have gone with him… and she had listened. She had found him again. And if someone who was stuck on Earth could find him, then so could she. "Thank you, Wilfred," she said. Then she leant up and kissed him on the cheek, before leaving the house.
?...DW…?
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd pop up," she heard. She turned to find herself facing a man with fluffy white hair and quite a lot of ruffles. She smiled the second she laid her eyes on him. At least she could say that this want one of his worst outfits.
"No companion with you, Doctor?" she said looking around. They were on some sort of alien bazaar.
"No, no. I do," he told her. "Sarah should be around here somewhere… I hope," a little bit of worry crept into his voice as he craned his neck to see through the crowds.
"Sarah?" she said. "As in Sarah Jane? Sarah Jane Smith?"
"Yes, that's her," he smiled. "Do you know her?"
"Yeah," she said, ducking behind the curtain of a near by stall. "Like, thirty years in her future! I can't let her see me!"
"Ah, so I assume she didn't know you then," he grinned knowingly… also, partly because she looked so funny hiding like that.
"Nope, we really didn't get on too well to beginning with, until we started talking about you, and then we got on like a house on fire. My mate Mickey said it was like the missus and the ex." The Doctor laughed at that.
"Yes, two headstrong girls like you and Sarah, I could see that happening."
"Yeah, but imagine me being nineteen, and her in her fifties."
"Goodness me," he sighed. "I never usually run into my companions after they go… except you apparently."
"Oh, yeah. I'm the girl who keeps coming back," she grinned.
"How is she…? In the future I mean."
"She's good," Rose told him. "She's got a good life for herself. An investigative journalist. Looks into paranormal rumours. She's happy."
"That's good," he smiled fondly.
"Doctor," they both froze at the sound of the voice. "Who are you talking to?"
Rose took step back as Sarah Jane came closer, and she disappeared. She was quite glad, that at least her body knew when to get the hell out of there. It may be difficult, but sometimes it seemed like it was taking her exactly where she needed to go.
