Chapter 4 - Changing Course

The Doctor watched a grin blossom on Rose's face, across the kitchen table from him. He felt a matching one stretch his own, brand new features, as he jumped to his feet.

His jeans slipped a bit low on his hips with the movement, and he looked down to reassess his outfit. "Ah," he said, quickly tightening his belt. "Mind if I change, first?" he asked. "Just my clothes," he reassured, realizing he'd just "changed" quite a bit, from her perspective.

Rose shook her head, as if to clear it. "Yeah, no, go ahead," she allowed.

The Doctor picked up his leather jacket from the chair back, weighing it in his hand.

He needed to do this right.

"I don't think this is quite my style, anymore," he said, casually. "But... maybe you could hang onto it for me?"

Rose gathered it into her arms, almost hugging the jacket to herself when he handed it to her. "Uh, yeah," she nodded.

The Doctor gave her an understanding smile. He wanted her to be comfortable with him being the same person; there was no room for jealousy over her missing the old him. But he was definitely searching out his old - new - suit.

As he made to leave the kitchen, Rose's voice called back to him. "Second door to the left," she told him.

The Doctor turned to her with a question on his lips, but she wasn't done.

"Go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left," she said, with a twinkle in her eyes. "Well, go on," she encouraged, when he only stood there, grinning at her. "Hurry up."

"Meet you in the console room in ten minutes!" he told her, then dashed out, heading for the wardrobe room, per her precise instructions.

Rose didn't head straight for the console room after the Doctor left. She sat at the kitchen table, looking between the Doctor's mug and his old, leather jacket.

Cheating death.

I'm gonna change.

Time Vortex.

The Doctor had almost killed himself, saving them from the Daleks. This was the only thing he could do to save himself.

Rose focused on her desperation to get back to him, even when she was certain he was facing the most impossible odds he could imagine. She hadn't wanted to leave him, even if - or especially - if he was dying.

But the Doctor had saved himself.

The Doctor was alive!

Alright, so, he had changed? He had asked her, back when she had first set foot in the TARDIS, whether it was okay that he was an alien.

Time to put her money where her mouth was, she supposed.

She looked at the mug, just a faint ring of milk-lightened tea left in the bottom (just the way her Mum took it). She smoothed her hand over the familiar leather in her arms.

He wasn't sending her away or anything. He was asking her to accept him.

They were going to get Jack.

Rose stood from the kitchen table and resolutely headed to her room.

She wanted to believe that this man really was her Doctor.

But she had to keep her head. How awful would it be to accept him, to fly off across the universe with him, only to discover later that the Doctor really had just been replaced and was somehow a prisoner somewhere?

But he had told her. He told her, right when she woke up. He told her. Cheating death. It means I'm gonna change.

I'm gonna change.

Rose hung his jacket in her closet, and left to find the Doctor.

The Doctor eyed the mallet, speculatively.

The TARDIS simply did not want to return for Jack.

As soon as he had finished inputting the coordinates, the TARDIS had shocked his fingers away from the console and scrambled the sequence.

"Oh, come on," he soothed aloud, deciding to forgo percussive persuasion for the time being. "Believe me, I know why you ran. I felt it, too; still do! But give him a chance. It's still Jack, he's just a little... wrong. Alright, a lot wrong, but -"

"A-hem."

The Doctor turned to find Rose standing hesitantly in the doorway to the console room. "No need to lurk in hallways," he told her. He noticed her looking him over as she stepped up to the captain's chair. Hands in his trouser pockets, he asked, "Whaddya think?"

"Very... different," she admitted.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile at that. "Good different, or bad different?" he asked.

There it was. There was that smile, the one he'd seen the first time he had stepped into the Tyler flat for Christmas dinner. "Jus' different, but, yeah, nice," she conceded, nodding her head. "Not bad. Yeah." She sat in the captain's chair, avoiding his eyes as she played with the cuff of her hoodie.

And was she blushing?

Rose composed herself, then met his eyes again. "So what's that you were sayin'?" she asked. "What's wrong with Jack? 'S he alright?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he turned to gesture towards the console. "Oh, the TARDIS is just being stubborn. He's fine. He's alive, perfectly healthy," he told her. How could he explain this to the TARDIS and to Rose? She hadn't remembered opening the Heart of the TARDIS until after she'd dreamt about it over Christmas... "What can you remember, right now, about getting back to the GameStation?" he asked, leaning forward on the console, but looking over his shoulder to Rose.

Rose stood, slowly walking up beside him to lay a hand on the console. "There was the light, and the singin'... sure didn't sound like you, by the way," she told him.

The Doctor nodded his head to the side, guiltily. "I may have fibbed a little bit, there. Yeah. Frightening it may be, but it takes more than my singing to defeat Daleks."

Rose smiled, rolling her eyes, but still kept her gaze shyly lowered to the console. She traced the controls with her fingers, careful not to change the settings.

"You used the power of the TARDIS to bring her back to the GameStation," the Doctor explained. Rose didn't look away from the console, but her hand stilled. "You looked into the Heart of the TARDIS, and the TARDIS looked into you, is how you put it."

The Doctor turned to watch her, leaning his hip against the console and crossing his arms. Her respirations had increased, and he could see her hanging on his words.

"The infinite power of the Time Vortex itself, Rose. You took it, and used it to come back to me."

To be continued...

Remember, this is a side project for me, so I'm not updating super-frequently. Questions/suggestions are likely to direct future chapters and/or impact other stories, so please keep 'em coming!