A/N: Thanks to the people who reviewed, Tai Greywing- I'm impressed! You really thought hard about it! I do intend to answer all your questions, I just hope it's not all too farfetched in the end XD Thanks for the review! Here's the next chapter :D

Chapter 2

A Different Kind of Doctor

There he was again, looking at her with that sense of determination that to anybody else would be intimidating- but not to her. To her it was reassuring. It told her he was real, and he would return to her no matter what it took. But his eyes betrayed his fear. A fear that chilled her to the core, hinting that maybe she was losing him forever. But he was just so clear, if she could just reach out to him…

Rose stirred awake, the Doctor instantly fading away. She was still seeing him in her dreams, surely that had to mean something? It had been a few days since she had woken to find herself at home as if the Doctor had never existed, and there had been no sign of the Autons attempting to overthrow Earth. With every day that passed she became more uncertain as to whether it really had all just been a dream. Part of her was furious at herself for even considering that she'd dreamt it all, whereas another part of her rationalised that the chances of it having been real seemed just plain impossible.

She felt like she had been torn in two, and was slowly driving herself mad. She knew for a fact that her mother had cast 'the Doctor' aside, dismissing her stories of time travel with an unimpressed wave of her hand. Rose even considered that maybe Jackie did remember him, but she finally had Rose back and didn't want her leaving her again. But deep down she knew her mum wouldn't do that to her, she just wanted her to be happy after all.

But right now she was about as far away from happy that she could possibly imagine. Jackie had noticed this and it was troubling her. Rose's usual spark of enthusiasm had left her eyes, leaving them dull and empty and revealing her broken heart. She had to do something about it. Her talk of aliens and space were so frightening- how could Rose believe it had been real?

That morning- just as Rose had gathered the energy to heave herself out of bed- Jackie returned to the flat laden with carrier bags, after a quick shop at the local supermarket,

"Morning sweetheart, feeling any better?" She asked kindly. Rose just shook her head miserably. She felt sorry for putting her mum through this, but she felt too distraught to put on a brave face.

"Well I just saw Tina in Tesco's and she was telling me about this Doctor, Diane Woods. She's new, lives not far from here but Tina said she was incredible. Helped her get over breaking up with Robert. You should have seen the difference in her!"

"Wait a minute, are you suggesting that I go and see a psychiatrist about this?" Rose asked, incredulously. She cringed internally at the cruel irony of her going to see a doctor.

"Oh Rose, I knew you'd react like this. I just want to help you love! Its tearing me apart seeing you moping around all day like everything you love has been destroyed!"

"And who's to say it hasn't?" she retorted viciously.

"Do I really mean that little to you?" Jackie said hurtfully. Rose sighed, she didn't have the strength or will power to argue about this.

"Alright, look. If it makes you feel better I'll go see this person, okay?" Jackie smiled in satisfaction.

"You shouldn't be so cynical about it anyway," she returned to gossiping, "Tina said she can really read minds, like a psychic or something." She explained, sounding genuinely fascinated.

"And you thought me talking about time travel was crazy…" Rose muttered under her breath.

xoxoxoxoxo

A few hours later Rose found herself approaching the residence of Doctor Diane Woods. All sorts of thoughts ran through her mind. What was she even going to say to her? She'd probably be patronising if she told her the truth. She could imagine it now- her sitting in one of those huge armchairs, hair tied tightly back, glasses half way down her nose as she scribbled away in a small posh note book, listening as Rose described her adventures with the Doctor.

Rose anxiously made her way up the small path, gravel crunching under her feet. She glanced at the posh plaque on the door that announced Doctor Woods name, before hesitantly pressing the small doorbell. She half hoped that there would be no answer as she stood there waiting, but soon a small face appeared around the door, and smiled warmly at her.

"Hello!" Diane said in a friendly voice, offering a handshake. She had a kindly face, although not forced or like one of those types of person who are overly happy all the time- just the face of someone who was pleasant to be with. She was a bit shorter than Rose, and looked to be in her late 20s, straight chestnut brown hair layered to frame her face.

"Hi, erm, my mum made me an appointment for me, I'm Rose Tyler," Rose muttered nervously, returning the gesture half heartedly and attempting a shaky smile.

"Nice to meet you Rose, I'm Diane," she smiled genuinely, gesturing for her to come inside. Rose felt her nerves sooth as she stepped inside. It was just her home- the poshness ended at the door with her name plate. It just felt so normal and cosy, it was difficult to remain anxious.

Nevertheless thoughts still raced through her head as she was offered a seat on the squishy sofa and a hot cup of tea. Once they were both settled and had properly introduced themselves to each other, Rose began to tell her her troubles.

"My mum thinks I'm crazy you see, and I'm not even sure myself anymore. I woke up a few days ago and… and I'd had this… dream, but it felt so real, like I'd really experienced it all. But my mum didn't believe a word I said, and I guess I can't blame her…" she struggled, not knowing whether she should tell this woman about the Doctor and her travels. Diane looked at her and nodded reassuringly, but Rose noticed another look in her eyes that she couldn't quite place. It was almost like she had just sensed something that unnerved her, and she suddenly seemed distracted. "I don't know, it's so hard to explain…"

"Well," Diane said after a moments pause, "I think I need to know about this in more detail." Her tone of voice had changed slightly, although Rose felt like she trusted her. "With many of the people that have come to see me I have used a new technique, that most people I suppose would call 'reading their minds'" she said smiling slightly. Rose shifted uneasily in her seat- was it safe to let her? Would it put the Doctor in any risk? Maybe it would clarify whether it really had been just a dream and she wouldn't see anything at all. That was if it was even possible for her to 'read her mind' in the first place of course, but after what she'd seen with the Doctor she felt anything could be possible.

"Don't worry about it though," Diane continued, noticing Roses unease, "I won't look at anything private or unnecessary, and I most definitely won't share anything I see with anyone outside of this room. If there is anything in particular that you don't want me to see, just imagine a door in front of those memories, and close it." Rose nodded acceptingly although a little confused. She could see that Diane still seemed a bit distant, perhaps even nervous.

Diane took a deep breath, and ever so gently placed her hands either side of Roses head. She closed her eyes and Rose felt her enter her mind, she actually felt it. It was such an indescribable sensation. However, almost as suddenly as she felt her enter her mind, she felt her presence leave, although she could still feel her lingering somewhere inside her head. Confused, she looked at Diane's face- her eyes were still tight shut, and she had a look of deep concentration on her face.

Abruptly she jumped back from Rose in fear, standing up and hastily backing away from her. She looked at Rose with fear in her eyes, not saying a word.

"What? What happened?" Rose said timidly, tension building up inside her. When Diane didn't say a word Rose attempted to get up and approach her but she jumped back, almost like a small mouse trembling in the shadow of a cat. "I don't mean you any harm or anything," Rose tried to reassure her, not knowing what to do.

When Diane still refused to speak, Rose just muttered, "I think I'll just go then…" and hurried out of the door.

xoxoxoxoxo

A short while later Jackie heard the tell tale sound of Rose entering the flat and dropping heavily into a sofa chair in the living room. "Oh you're back already?" She called, coming into the room to greet her, "How did it go love?" Her face dropped when she saw Rose's expression. She sighed. "What's happened now?"

"Don't say it like that it wasn't my fault," Rose moaned, "She was just a complete nutter. I thought she was dead nice at first but then she tried to 'read my mind'" she said in a mocking voice, "and then stopped dead like she'd seen a ghost. Couldn't get a single word out of her, so I left. Fat lot of good that did me." Jackie sighed again.

"Oh well, it was worth a shot. Strange though, Tina was really singing her praises before."

"Unless… she really saw something in my mind…" Jackie chose to ignore her, and went off to continue fussing about in the kitchen, leaving Rose alone to think. Rose supposed it was possible that Diane had seen her memories of the Doctor and the aliens- that would be scary enough for someone to react like that wouldn't it?

Once again she found herself questioning the possibility of whether her time travelling days had been real or not. When was this going to end?

xoxoxoxoxo

Later that night, after Jackie had gone out with Martin- the guy she met last week at that quiz night at the pub- for a meal Rose had just settled down in front of the television with a bag of chips, when she heard a knock at the door. She threw down her chips in frustration and marched over to the door, ranting, "who the hell is that at this time of night," to herself. However when she opened the door she was astonished to see the fearful face of Diane Woods, standing nervously outside.

"Hello, I'm sorry it's late but… can I come in?" she said nervously.

"Yeh of course," Rose invited her in. She was the last person she would have expected to find standing on her doorstep, especially after what had happened earlier.

Once Rose had sat her down in the living room, she asked her the question she had been itching for an answer to, "When you… read my mind before, I was wondering. Did you see him? The Doctor that is, the one I was… erm dreaming about…" she said uncertainly. Diane looked up at her.

"I didn't just see him…" she muttered.

"What?" Rose asked confused.

"I spoke to him…"

A/N: I was planning on having the next chapter in this one as well, but I thought that was a nice and cliffhangery place to leave it XD Also I hope someone noticed the quote from 'The Girl In The Fireplace' XD I was going to have Rose react to that, realising that the Doctor had said it when I realised that she was never in the room when he actually said that. Still I thought it added a nice touch, so I decided to keep it in :D Please keep reading and review!