Not Today

Rose sped into the TARDIS with Ross on her heels. He reached out to grab her arm and she spun around, ripping it away. "Do not touch me!"

"Rose-,"

"Ross, I think it's time you leave," she told him shortly. "We'll put you down wherever you want, but you can't travel with us anymore."

"But you know I'm right-,"

"Ross!" she shouted. Her hands were shaking, and she ignored the Doctor as he moved over quickly, startled by the yelling. "This isn't up for discussion. You know what you did, all of it. I thought we could move past it the first time, but you went too far. Go get your things, and we'll set you down somewhere."

Ross's mouth was set angrily, and he stormed off silently. It only took him ten minutes to get what he needed - the TARDIS had moved his room nearby to cut down on the time he spent there. Within fifteen minutes of them returning, Ross had been set down on Earth and left there as the Doctor put them back into the vortex and came to sit by Rose on the jumpseat.

"Rose," he said quietly, grabbing her hand within his own. She squeezed his hand and closed her eyes, trying to calm down. "Rose, what happened?"

"It's…" she shook her head. "It's not the right time, Doctor."

"Clearly, something serious happened," he tried gently. "Rose, you kicked him off the TARDIS. You won't tell me what he said the last time he upset you, either."

She was quiet, and he was unsurprised when she shifted topics. "I couldn't feel you at all. You were just gone. They told me you were dead."

The Doctor moved to grab her face and looked at her seriously, staring in her eyes. "I promise I will always come back to you. I wouldn't leave you there like that. You're the reason I went down there at all."

She searched his eyes and was surprised to find the honesty within him. Something in her heart ached at the sight. "I'm glad you're safe."

"It mentioned something… it said you knew," he remembered. "Did you?"

Rose sighed. "The writing. It's what Ianto said when Owen turned on the rift machine. Abbadon was there. He's the one that killed Jack. I don't know how, Doctor, but he escaped."

He was frowning at her in slight frustration. "Why didn't you say something?"

"Because I couldn't be entirely sure," she shook her head. "I should've. I'm sorry."

"Well, if I'm being honest, I don't think I'd have believed you if you said we were going to meet Satan," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. It was clear something was still bothering him, so Rose nudged him slightly, and he turned to look at her. "He said a lot of things while Ida and I were down there."

"You were the one telling us not to listen," she pointed out, though she knew he'd only done that because somehow, Abbadon had gotten in their heads and knew things about them. "Take your own advice, Doctor."

"It doesn't bother you?"

Rose's slight smile fell a little. "It does. But… Satan is supposed to be a master at manipulation. I'd like to think he can't see the future, and he's just playing on basic fears."

He frowned slightly at her. If Abbadon had been playing on basic fears, then what the hell sort of basic fears did she have? He had to wonder why Abbadon hadn't gone after him in that attack. The Doctor had been, aside from Rose, their best chance at getting out of there. But then again, he remembered the fear that had gripped his hearts when Abbadon had been speaking of Rose.

"The valiant child who died in battle, reborn to fail again."

The thought of losing Rose had had him making cautious decisions as long as he could. He'd wanted- needed to get back to her, and the Beast knew that. So really, it had attacked him, hadn't it?

But they'd gotten out. They'd gotten out and he sat next to Rose in the TARDIS, where they belonged. They were safe. Despite his deep fear of telling her, the thought of her not knowing how he felt and potentially losing her was one that had him shifting to look at her seriously. "Rose."

"Doctor?" she looked at him in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Let me talk," he requested. She fell silent, so he took in a deep breath. "No, wait- did Ida say something to you? After I fell?"

Rose's expression turned cautious. "No. She tried to, but I stopped her. All she got out was that you said my name."

Relief flooded through him. "Good, good. I realized something while I was down there, Rose. Actually, I realized this part before I ever went down. It's just… the idea of putting space between us was not one of my best."

"I could've told you that," she muttered, despite the fact that he'd never told her what he was trying to do.

"Yeah, okay, bad idea," he allowed. "Because I want to be by your side. I want to be close with you, because we work better that way, don't we? But it was the- the Pit, really, that made me realize that pushing it off and hoping that the uncomfortable would go away was just… me being scared."

Rose searched his eyes. "Doctor, you don't have to-,"

"But I do," he disagreed. "Because before I dropped into the Pit, Rose, I realized that I couldn't potentially die without you knowing. I know… I know you know, but I need you to hear it from me."

"Doctor-,"

"Because I love you, Rose," he spoke over her. "And I'm not sure how you did it, because I've never loved someone in this way before, but I do, and I'm really tired of pretending I don't. Our lives are messy, they're dangerous and if we're going to put ourselves in danger constantly, I need to live honestly with you."

Rose looked him over as if trying to figure out if he was real. Hesitantly, she spoke. "I love you, too."

"But?" he asked nervously.

"No buts," she assured him quickly. "I just didn't expect… I don't know. I didn't expect you to tell me."

"What do we do now?" he wondered, slightly confused. "I've never really done this before, you know. Do I kiss you?"

"You can," she laughed.

Nodding, the Doctor grabbed her face gently and pulled her in to press a kiss to her lips. It was soft and gentle and warm, and she found herself relaxing into it despite the surprise that ran through her still.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Later that night, they'd retired to the library with tea, where they'd cuddled up on the couch in front of the fire to read. It had been a half hour since the Doctor had turned a page, and Rose was completely unsurprised when he finally spoke.

"Are you okay?"

She looked up at him from her spot leaning against his chest with his arm around her. "Huh?"

"Ross, I mean. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Rose's brow furrowed and she sighed. "I guess I can tell you now."

"If you're hurt, we should really-,"

"I'm not hurt," she assured him. "You'd feel it, Doctor. He just- he got it all wrong. That day in the chippy, we were talking about the goddess, and the stories about her. He told me about the child of Gallifrey she stole, and then he continued on to tell me that it was him and that our bond wasn't a big deal because we could just break it again."

The Doctor stiffened. "That's dangerous! It could kill you, Rose!"

"Yeah, that's what I said," she sighed. "But he said he was meant to be my bond mate. I told him to drop it, that he was welcome to keep travelling with us, but that I wasn't going to break our bond and that I had no interest in him."

"He didn't leave it," the Doctor guessed. Rose nodded.

"He… Zach said we needed to get on the rocket and leave, and I didn't want to. I thought I could get to you if I just rested, but… I have to admit, they were right. After the brainstorm, I was… not well."

"Brainstorm?" the Doctor repeated, his voice rising a couple octaves. "Rose, that's dangerous! You could've fried your brain!"

"I didn't, and it was our only chance at getting out of there. My point is, I wasn't cooperating, so Ross decided to… sedate me."

The Doctor stiffened. "Rose…"

"I woke up, scared and angry. They said you were dead, and Ross went on about how that was you out of the way and that we could be together now, and how I knew it was meant to be that way," she continued. "Clearly, he can't let the idea go, and I don't feel safe with him anymore."

The Doctor grabbed her face in his hands and looked her over as if he'd find some injury he could heal. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could fix. "I'm sorry. Why didn't you want to tell me?"

"Because I love you," she said softly. "Even if we didn't have a bond, even if Ross was right, he'd be wrong because I love you and I'd never… I couldn't be with someone else. That, above everything else, is how I know he's wrong."

"Oh, Rose," he whispered. He pressed a kiss to her lips gently. It was long and warm, and when they parted, he lips twitched. "It's a good thing you got rid of him before telling me. I'd have left him on an asteroid."

Rose smiled at the idea. "Hm. Maybe next time."

"I wonder what Abbadon meant," the Doctor said as he had a sudden thought. "About Ross. What was it he said?"

"'The man who hides his true self from his friends for he knows his future… his choice comes soon,'" Rose recited. "I feel like he made his choice, and it got him kicked off the TARDIS."

"Mm, but what did it mean, he hides because he knows his future?" the Doctor wondered. "It feels important."

Rose shrugged slightly. "Not our problem anymore."

"I suppose," he agreed and kissed the top of her head. Despite what he'd said, it really did feel like their problem. It felt like a clue to something obvious that they'd missed, something big and scary and important that they should've seen. "But to be sure, I think I'll see what I can find on Rossindherlem. I've still got a ton of books I took from Gallifrey during the war. He might be in there."

Rose hummed her response, and he looked down at her to find her relaxing against him with her eyes closed. Smiling, he held her closer and picked up his book again - he could do his research later. Right now, he wanted to just be there with her.

A calm moment before a storm that he could feel coming. He would take all he could get.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The TARDIS set down with ease on Earth, and the Doctor and Rose exited together to head toward the market. The TARDIS had definitely been damaged in the landing on Krop Tor, and luckily, the parts they needed could easily be found on Earth. Everything else, they already had spares of.

"Another one?"

Rose sighed and glanced around the stalls as they wandered around. "I don't know, Doctor… Percy Jackson?"

"Ah, no, not as far as I'm aware," he told her. "Again."

"Harry Potter?"

The Doctor's lips twitched. "Come back to that later."

Rose's eyes lit up brightly. "It's real?"

"Later," he insisted. "Keep going."

"Let's see… the Mortal Instruments?"

"Sort of," he answered. "Bits and pieces. There's not an underworld of demons and vampires and stuff, but there is a group of people that have interesting abilities, and there are opposing abilities that are dangerous."

"So there is an underworld of demons."

"Well, no- I mean, sort of, but…. Yeah," he shook his head. "Yeah, a bit."

Rose tilted her head from side to side thoughtfully. "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children?"

"Yes!" he nodded rapidly. "I attribute half of that to radiation from the war. Bird people, though, they existed long before the war."

"But in the books, the peculiar children came from before the war, too."

"Rose, everyone overstates things sometimes," he pointed out as he picked something up and looked it over. "Makes things more interesting."

She made a face at him and waited until he'd bought what he needed and they'd moved on to speak again. "The Giver? That'd be the future, obviously, but it's a good series."

"That's real in one timeline," he allowed. "Not all of them. I ended up there once. It was not fun."

Rose let out a laugh and grabbed his arm as they started walking again. "How many times have you seen the end of Earth, Doctor?"

"You people are really good at destroying the planet, or yourselves, or… you know how it is. There's a lot of different timelines. One where the Earth roasts, one where global warming kills everyone, one where you try controlling things by breaking up into factions and even removing emotions, and one where a pandemic called COVID-19 kills everyone in a matter of months. Thing is, I've also seen beautiful bits of humanity, either living here or spread out across the universe."

"Like New Earth," Rose nodded. They were at another small shop, and the Doctor was moving around excitedly as he picked things up, turned them over, sniffed them, and even licked them. "Or Zach and Ida and Danny and Jefferson."

"Exploring the stars, blundering into anything that piques their curiosity," the Doctor agreed with an armful of random items. "It's just how humans are. Existing because they're too curious not to."

"Doctor, let's be fair, I think you just described yourself."

The Doctor blinked at her. "...maybe."

"C'mon, I'm hungry," she said, tugging him toward the door after they'd paid. He followed her out, and the pair made their way down the street to a chippy. The line was somewhat long, and they stood together, focused on one another as they spoke. "So, I was thinking…"

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her. "Rose-,"

"She's bound to be worried!" Rose insisted. "Mum said something last time we came home about how I never visit anymore. I don't like leaving her alone, Doctor. I need to see her. You can go do something while I'm there, if you want."

He let out a somewhat dramatic sigh. "Submitting me to Jackie Tyler, you sure you love me?"

"Rose? Rose Tyler?"

Rose spun around to find a familiar face staring at her with wide eyes. She blinked, her mouth opening a little in surprise. "Shireen."

Shireen stared at her like she was confused. "But you're not Rose Tyler. Rose went missing, and she- she came home once, but never again."

Rose glanced at the Doctor. "I need to-,"

He nodded and let go of her hand. "Go on. I'll get the chips."

"Thanks, Doctor," she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek before turning to her friend. "Shireen, can we talk? I've got a lot to tell you."

"But you're not-,"

"When we were nine years old, you told me that your grandfather was hurting you, so I snuck you into my room at night and you lived there for a month before Mum found out and called your mum," Rose interrupted. "But before she gave you back, she slapped your grandpa upside the head and made him swear not to touch you again, and he didn't."

Shireen looked lost, so Rose guided her quietly out of the chippy and toward a clearer area by the pier. They stopped and sat at a bench, and Shireen scanned her critically. "You're not Rose. You can't be."

"Look, it's a lot," Rose admitted. "But I am Rose, but something happened to me. I look like a different person."

"You are a different person!"

Rose frowned at her friend. "Want me to tell you something else no one would know? Something I never told anyone, ever?"

"There's no way-,"

"The first time Jimmy tried to kill me, I came to you," Rose whispered. "I came to you, but I wouldn't let you take me to a hospital, so you skipped two days of work to take care of me and got fired. I went back to Jimmy as soon as I could move."

Shiree's eyes widened, and she reached out to touch Rose's arm softly. "Rose?"

"It's complicated," she said, reaching into her pockets. She pulled out her sonic and fiddled with it nervously - this was her best friend, and she had a chance to get her back. "When I went missing, it was because I'd met the Doctor, the man I was with. He asked me to travel with him, and I did. But the thing is, Shireen, thing is that we're not travelling Earth- well, not only Earth. The machine he has, we have, it's called the TARDIS and it means Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. He's an alien."

"An alien?" she repeated sharply. "You're mad."

"Don't you remember aliens invading a year ago? Crash landing? They hit Big Ben and landed in the Thames."

"Well… yeah," she said slowly. "But he's human! He doesn't look alien."

"You don't look Time Lord," Rose smiled. "That's what he'd say. Our ship, she travels in time and space. All over the universe, all through time. I'll show it to you later, if you want."

"You'd better, because right now you just sound daft."

"Anyway, I went travelling with him, and I did come home and see Mum, but after that, something happened. It's really complicated, but I took in this… energy, I suppose, that changed me. I turned into something else called Bad Wolf."

Shireen's mouth opened and closed. "I've seen those words all over since you went missing."

Rose nodded. "I put them there. Bad Wolf is… it's complicated, but the point is, I changed into what the Doctor is, plus a little more. What that means, is that I can change my body when I'm about to die. It's called regeneration, and it's meant to save our lives. It did save my life."

"You almost died again?" she frowned in concern. "This man, the Doctor, did he- Rose, is he-,"

Rose shook her head quickly. "He's not like Jimmy, Shirls. He's good. It was a complicated situation, what happened, really. Most recently, I ran into a sort of… parasite, I guess, and the only way to get it out of me easily was to force me to regenerate, so that's what happened. I'm fine, really, but that's why I look different."

"It's impossible… how could you be an entirely different person? Are you an alien now?"

"I mean, sort of," she frowned. "I have altered DNA that matches the Doctor's to an extent. There's a lot of differences between humans and Time Lords, like our life spans and even our organs are different. We have more senses than you do, and they're called time senses. But I still know what I did before this happened. I still know you, and Mum, and Mickey-,"

"Mickey's missing," Shireen interrupted. "He went missing, no one can find him, and-,"

Rose shook her head quickly. "He's fine. He came travelling with us for a bit, and then he stayed behind because he wanted more out of life. He's good."

Shireen sighed and watched the water before them. "I just don't get how my best friend can be someone else entirely."

"It takes some getting used to, but I promise it's me. And for the record, Shireen, I've missed you. I just wasn't sure how to explain everything, and… we've had a lot going on."

"Well, catch me up," her friend ordered. "The Doctor? What sort of name is that?"

"His," Rose laughed. "Don't bother. I only know one other name of his, and he was pretty grumpy with me after I used it."

"Alright, well, what's this Doctor like? You guys are together, obviously. He's good to you?"

Rose smiled as she felt the Doctor walking up quietly behind them, listening in. "He's good to me, yeah. Everything official, it's very recent, but he's always been good, if extremely nosy."

"I resent that," the Doctor told her as he handed over her chips. "I am not nosy."

"Yeah? Then what d'you call this?"

"Bringing you your chips," he said firmly. "Nice to meet you, Shireen. I've heard a lot about you."

"All bad, I hope?"

"Actually, all extremely good," he nodded at her seriously. "You're a good friend. If she'd had two of you instead of you and Mickey, she'd be golden."

Shireen looked lost, so Rose sighed and got to her feet. They started making their way back to the TARDIS with Shireen following along. "The Doctor knows a lot about Jimmy, and what you tried to do to get me away from him."

"You told him?" the other woman asked in shock. Rose made a face.

"You're not the first one to ask if he's like Jimmy, Shirls. Mum did too, and the Doctor overheard and, once again, got nosy about it."

Shireen gasped dramatically and grabbed Rose's arm. "Oh my god, Rose, what about Jackie? Does she know?"

Rose nodded quickly. "Mum knows. She did not take it well, but we got there in the end."

"I left my key in the library," the Doctor called as they approached the TARDIS. Rose dug in her pockets and tossed hers over, so he unlocked it and stepped inside, but Shireen stopped short.

"It's a box."

"It's not just a box," Rose assured her, walking inside. Hesitantly, her friend walked in as well, only to stop just as she entered the console room.

"It's- how- it's impossible!"

"It's bigger on the inside," the Doctor grinned.

"Time Lords were much more advanced than humans," Rose explained. "It's all about dimensions. It's a lot bigger than this, too. So, do you believe me now?"

"Do I…" Shireen shook her head, her eyes wide as she took it all in. "How could I not? This is incredible, Rose. This is your life now?"

"Yep," she said, popping the 'p'. "Doctor, the rest of the maintenance is only going to take about thirty minutes, right?"

The Doctor looked at her like she was crazy. "I have to entirely gut the landing gear and work it back together with these parts. That's at least a full day."

"Not if you get under the gear and replace it that way."

"But then you'd have to move the-,"

"You can just shift it to the side," Rose sighed. "Are you procrastinating, Doctor?"

"Me? Procrastinating? I would never."

Rose turned to Shireen with a smile. "Why don't we eat while the Doctor does this in a timely manner, and then maybe you could come with us for our next trip? We can travel in time like I said, so we can just drop you right back here, no time lost."

"Oh, alright," the Doctor sighed dramatically. "Your wish is my command and all that."

"Really?" Shireen's eyes widened. Rose nodded. "And you're sure I can get back in time? I'm on break, Rose."

"Swear it," she nodded sharply. "C'mon, Shireen. I've missed you. I wanna show you my life now."

"If you're sure, then… yeah. Yeah, of course."

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A/N:

Hello! Short chapter this time. I'm posting it because I'm super excited because I finished Doomsday! Season two is officially over.

Any guesses as to what'll happen?

Please let me know what you think and thank you for reading!