Rose sat at their kitchen table with James across from her, eating the Chinese take-out they picked up on their way back to the flat. She couldn't believe she fainted. She'd faced the Gelth, Cybermen, Daleks, even a werewolf and not once had she so much as swayed, let alone fainted.

James told her it was because she hadn't eaten all day and she was probably tired from not getting enough sleep the night before. He thought she was worried about work, but now he knew what she'd been worried about – whether or not she was pregnant. Plus, he blamed himself for the way he treated her, which, for the first time, she didn't argue with because she was still upset with him about that.

"So," she said, breaking the silence that had been between them since they left Torchwood. "Explain to me how this happened again."

"Well, like I said, the only way for you to survive having the Time Vortex running through your head was for the TARDIS to make the time energy part of you."

"So, the TARDIS changed my DNA?"

"Exactly."

"But…I mean, how could she do that?"

"Remember what happened when Blon Fel-Fotch looked into the heart of the TARDIS?"

Blon Fel-Fotch? It took her a minute to remember the incident he was talking about. That was back before they first went to the parallel universe. Before he regenerated into the tenth Doctor.

"That Slitheen who was disguised as Margret Blaine?"

"Right. That's the one. Do you remember what happened to her?"

Margret was holding Rose hostage to force the Doctor to do what she wanted and then there was that light. The same light Rose looked into when she pried off the casing to save the Doctor from the Daleks. Then Margret was gone. All that remained of her were the clothes she was wearing. Only she wasn't gone.

"She…she was turned back into an egg, yeah?"

"Exactly, because she wanted a second chance and so the TARDIS gave her a second chance to live her life. A redo. You, on the other hand, wanted to save me and you knew I couldn't walk away and let the Earth be destroyed so that meant you not only needed to save me, but somehow stop millions of Daleks. So, the TARDIS gave you the power to do that. Only, she couldn't give it to you without changing you. Otherwise you would've died. So, that's what she did. Changed you."

The TARDIS changed her. Added time energy to her DNA. Only, the Doctor said she was part TARDIS.

"What does that mean though? Having time energy part of my DNA?"

"Well, it means that you're connected to the TARDIS."

He looked down and she could tell he was keeping something from her. She'd been through enough that day. She didn't want more secrets between them. Especially if those secrets involved her and possibly her baby.

"And?"

"And…" he rubbed his neck, avoiding eye contact, "…and beyond that I'm…I'm not sure."

Yes, he was definitely hiding something. Well, she wasn't going to have it.

"What are you not telling me?"

"You've been through a lot, Rose. Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

"I am not going to go to bed until you tell me what you're hiding." She caught his eye and could see the concern he felt. She sighed. "Look, I…I know I got a little upset earlier with the…the fainting and all, but honestly I'm fine. I just…I need to know, yeah?"

She took his hand that was resting on the table. His eyes found hers. She could tell that he was still reluctant, but she gave him a meaningful look and he sighed.

"I don't know anything for sure. I won't know without more tests."

"But?" she prodded.

"But…if I had to speculate…mind you this is pure speculation and not founded on anything other than…you know…my own speculations." He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "If you're connected to the TARDIS, like I think you are, then your life is intertwined with hers."

"What do you mean, intertwined?"

"You'll live as long as she does."

"Wait…what?" That…what did that even mean? She would live as long as the TARDIS. "How long does a TARDIS live?"

"A TARDIS can live for thousands of years."

Rose just stared at him as her mind tried to wrap around what he was saying. She would live as long as the Doctor's TARDIS lived and a TARDIS could live for thousands of years. Did that mean…? Yes, of course it did, but that…

"That's impossible."

"I would've agreed with you yesterday, but I've seen your DNA, Rose, I can't deny what I've seen with my own eyes."

"Wait," she said, as a thought suddenly struck her, "That means I can't die until the TARDIS dies, right?"

"That would be my guess."

"Then what happens if I'm shot or I fall down a flight of stairs or something?"

"You'd heal, like Jack, but I wouldn't want to test that theory. This is just speculation."

"But I wouldn't regenerate?"

"No, you're not a Time Lady, although with the time energy you're pretty close to one, but you're also human."

Thinking about Jack and what the Doctor told her about him becoming the Face of Boe started a whole new line of worry for her.

"I'm still going to age, yeah?"

"Oh, I didn't think about that. I'm…I'm not sure, but I can take a look at how your cells are regenerating. That should give me an idea."

"I'm going to…go lay down," she said, getting up and walking into her room.

She couldn't even think about eating. Her mind was too busy worrying about her future. A future she would be spending mostly alone. Her child was a Time Lord so at least they'd be together, but she would lose her mum, dad, Tony, and even James. She was still mad at him, but she knew eventually she'd forgive him. It wasn't his fault he was having a hard time controlling his human emotions. She'd had them her whole life and there were times, like now, when they got the better of her. He'd only been human for a few months. She'd hoped that maybe they could be a family, but how could they now? Especially if she didn't age. She would wind up being a constant reminder of what he used to be. She closed her bedroom door before walking into her bathroom to run the tub. That way he wouldn't hear her tears.


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