Time for a reunion. :)

Appearances must be kept up. So Pete is off to Vitex, Jackie to her spa day, and the Doctor finds himself alone before he even finishes his cup of tea. His own thoughts are terrible company, so he sheds his jacket, unmutes one of the news programs, and settles in, hoping to learn more about the Tesi invasion.

Every station is a propaganda mill, of course, no matter which one he clicks to. But as the hours pass by he forces himself to keep watching. Partly because there's nothing else to do, partly for the shreds of information he's getting, and partly as penance.

It's unsettling, to say the least, seeing himself ponce around, charming the pants off any reporter who interviews him, offering warm, genuine-sounding reassurances to raptly attentive crowds. From a detached perspective, he can see that the other Doctor has done an excellent job garnering trust. He's "a king for humanity" -his words- and deeply loyal to the people of the earth, endlessly claiming he's "doing all he can to improve things during this time of Tesi occupation."

Every word disgusts the Doctor because he sees through all of the smoke and mirrors. He invented those tricks, after all.

Yet, ironically, he just doesn't understand what's going on in his counterpart's head. Is he truly hungry for all this power and adulation? Does he actually value such empty pursuits over Rose's happiness, her esteem? And is he really so thick that he hasn't noticed how disillusioned she's become with him?

A low whirr startles him, and his head jerks up from where it had tipped back against the sofa. He blinks and looks around, trying to get his bearings. Blimey, had he dozed off?

Rubbing his bleary eyes, the Doctor squints at the time in the bottom corner of the screen. Ten after four.

He glances left, jerking to alertness when he sees the panel in the wall has slid wide open. That must be what woke him.

Slowly, the Doctor rises to his feet, taking a moment to mute the news program. No one comes in to join him in the safe room, but now he can hear the faint sound of Jackie's voice, coming from the bedroom just beyond.

"...something big, but it's good, okay? I don't want to scare you, but...Rose, don't give me that look. This is serious."

Rose. Jackie is talking to Rose. Rose is in the next room, just steps away. The Doctor is so caught by this fact that he nearly misses what Jackie says next.

"The Doctor is back, love. The proper Doctor."

A long, loud silence follows. Anxious, the Doctor steps toward the doorway, straining his ears for Rose's reaction.

And then, it comes. "Well, Mum," says Rose, her voice much louder than her mother's, "be sure to let him know we've already got a Doctor in this universe, we don't need two. If he's still here, that is. He never was too keen on sticking around for long."

Like he's been stabbed, the Doctor reels in the pain and shock of having his worst fears so suddenly realised. She hates him.

"Rose Marion Tyler, why would you say something like that?"

"Oh," the volume of Rose's voice increases, "I get it. You opened up the safe room, so you've been hiding him in there? Well, since it's so convenient, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to pop in and say a quick hello."

Before he can collect himself even slightly, Rose marches through the secret doorway, Jackie on her heels. Her eyes widen with surprise when she gets her first look at him, though they narrow again almost immediately as she gives his ensemble a slow look over. "What, you got tired of the cheap suits, too?"

All the Doctor can do is gawp at Rose, wholly unable to speak. There's a horrible pause, and she finally looks at his face.

Rose's brow knits with confusion, but then she shakes her head. "Look. I know it's you, okay? An' I'm sorry I was rude, but...why are you doing this again, Doctor? Can we stop with the games, please? I've told you I hate this sort of thing, it feels like you're testin' me or something."

The Doctor tries to make sense of her words. She doesn't know he's him, she thinks he's the Other?

Sighing, Rose comes closer and folds her arms. "Doctor. If we're gonna make this work, we've gotta trust each other, yeah?"

"She thinks you're the other one," Jackie informs him unnecessarily, coming up beside Rose. To her she says, "Go check his pulse, maybe then you'll believe me."

Rose doesn't move. Just stands there, like she's waiting to see what he'll do next, expressionless and so still. He can't even tell if she's breathing.

Making a valiant attempt to shrug off his hurt at the misunderstanding, the Doctor bravely looks Rose in the eye. There's wariness in her gaze, but there's a gleam now too, something that looks like– dare he call it hope?

Tiny as it is, it sparks his own hope back to life, and the Doctor takes an unconscious step toward Rose. Gazes into her eyes, those warm dark eyes he knows so well, the eyes he loves best. Time stops; becomes a moment preserved in amber.

Heaven only knows what she sees in his own eyes because her breathing quickens before the Doctor even speaks. "Rose. I…"

"Oh, for Pete's sake," he hears Jackie say. Grabbing Rose by the wrist, she drags her over to the Doctor. Before he knows what's happening, Jackie grips his wrist too, lifting it up to press Rose's fingers against it.

An electric charge passes between them as skin meets skin. His hearts race in a way that could never be blamed on nerves alone, entirely beyond his control. He sucks a sharp breath and so does Rose. Once again they watch each other until the Doctor sees something within her shift, opaqueness becoming vulnerability. Suddenly she's the Rose he knows, a painting done in watercolours instead of thick oils. "It's really you," she says at last, shakily.

Jackie makes an impatient sound. "Well, I told you. As if I'd be stupid enough to be fooled by that other one. You think I'd let him in here if I wasn't sure he was the real Doctor?"

The Doctor hardly hears Jackie, because Rose is blinking back tears. "Doctor, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry for saying all that–"

"No, don't apologise, please, it's fine."

"It's just, he's done this before, he's tried to trick me into believing he was you."

"He has?" cries Jackie in outrage. "You've never told me that!"

"It was only once."

This is more information the Doctor just can't comprehend. "Why would he try to make you think he was me?"

Shrugging, Rose drops her gaze to her bare toes. He watches her closely, and that's when he's struck by how different she looks. Hair still blonde, but pulled into a sleek bun with no loose tendrils, a classy blouse tucked into a skirt, pearls in her ears instead of hoops. Appropriate to her position in life, though. He'd likely think no more of it if she didn't look so bloody frail.

Her bare arms are rail thin, her jawline too defined, and her makeup can't hide the shadows under her eyes. She looks like a person who's been deprived of food, sleep and sunlight. Like a prisoner.

Fury wells up in him, and in that moment the Doctor ceases to care about why his duplicate has done what he's done. It doesn't matter why, there is no excusing this.

As he works to rein in his anger, he realises Rose is answering his question. "...likes to see how I'll react. He, um, hasn't handled being part-human very well. He's insecure about it, like he thinks he's lesser, somehow. Lesser than you. So he assumes I'll think he's lesser, too, like that's the reason I won't be loyal to him. It's easy to see he thinks he got the short end of the stick, of the two of ya."

"What, he's jealous of me? That's just stupid." Sure, the Other has been temporarily deprived of a TARDIS, has had a few biological downgrades, but so what? Having just the right amount of life to spend it all on Rose is the opposite of a problem.

Rose snorts. "Well, he is stupid."

"Sounds like we're sort of similar," he comments darkly.

"Don't say that." Rose shares a quick look with Jackie. "He's awful and you know it, or else you wouldn't be dressed like that, hiding from him. Why did you come back?"

The Doctor tugs the sleeves of his jumper down to cover his forearms, suddenly hyper-aware of Rose's gaze. For some reason, he's having trouble answering her.

It should be easy enough to say 'accident', but his hearts pound again, and the word sticks in his throat, stymied by other, truer words. Like an idiot, he glances at Jackie for help, only to find she's giving him a look that plainly says 'tell her, you imbecile.'

And it shocks him, how badly he wants to. Three words, they're the easiest words to speak in the world. But he can't, can he? Look at what it's done to Rose, having spent so much time with one terrible version of him. The Doctor is far from certain this version is much less terrible. Either way, Rose has been through the wringer and, directly or indirectly, he's responsible. In light of all that, wouldn't some sort of...declaration...be not only terribly timed, but vastly inappropriate?

When he's far too long in answering, Rose modifies her question. "Because you found out what he's done? You're back to stop him?"

The Doctor's head droops. "Yes. I'll stop him. And Rose? For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry for how this all turned out. I just...I wanted you to be happy."

"Yeah." Smiling a little, Rose touches his sleeve. "I know."

"All right, you two," Jackie interrupts, tapping her watch. "Stop staring at each other and get talking. You've got lots of ground to cover and not that much time." Bustling over to the coffee table, she picks up the few dirty dishes he's created. "I'll leave you to it," she says, straightening. "I've got to go check on what Tony's into. Amber was on her phone when I came up here, sounded like she's having a tiff with her best friend, poor thing. But that son of mine always gets up to no good when nobody's paying close enough attention."

With that, she breezes out.

"Amber?" asks the Doctor, stuffing his hands in his pockets as Rose uses the remote to safely close them in.

"She's fifteen, she minds Tony when Peggy's off. Peggy's the nanny."

"Ah."

He sneaks a look at her, catches her doing the same, and they both chuckle.

"Should we sit?" Smiling shyly, Rose gestures toward the sofa. "Mum's right, we do have a lot we should talk about."

Nodding, the Doctor passes round the coffee table toward the far end of the couch. Motion on one of the wall monitors catches his eye, the one showing a view of the front foyer. Two men stand there talking, clad in traditional gold-trimmed Tesi military uniforms, but in red rather than the navy blue he's familiar with. "Did you know there's Tesi officers in the house?"

"Yeah. That's Dom and Pinnen, they came with me." Rose settles into a corner of the sofa, tugging down the hem of her skirt. "My bodyguards. Dad probably mentioned, there are dangerous resistance groups out there. Can't risk me getting kidnapped or something." She smirks.

"Right, of course." Because you're the fiancee of the King, he thinks but doesn't say. Rose has her arms crossed over her belly, but the ring on her left hand is visible. Mostly because it's huge, a square-cut diamond bordered by sapphires. Tackily huge. He would never give her a ring like that.

Jealousy has his stomach in knots as he plants himself in the opposite corner, allowing a vast expanse of sofa to separate them. He ought to say something, ask one of the millions of questions swirling in his head. Yet his emotions are so volatile he's afraid to open his gob. He has no cause to be so upset. Just, why should Rose ever have to wear an engagement ring she doesn't want?

Plus everything is so awkward and strange it almost physically hurts him. He has never felt this awkward around Rose before.

Rose breaks the silence with an embarrassed laugh. "I'm not sure where to start."

"Yeah, me neither." The Doctor gives her a half-smile, and that's when he spots a glint of metal at the v of her blouse. It can't be...it is. It's the chain to her TARDIS key.

Suddenly, that bloody ring doesn't bother him quite as much. "Though, I feel I ought to ask...do I make you uncomfortable, Rose? Since I look just like him?"

She looks surprised. "The similarities are skin deep, but that's all. To me, right now, you don't look all that much like him."

"Rose, he and I are identical."

"No. Your eyes are different. Yours are so warm, s'easy to see how much you care about...people." Rose looks away, fingering a pearl earring. "It was one of the things that convinced me you were still you after you'd regenerated. Your face was so different, but the way you looked at me was the same."

Despite never having seen how he looks at Rose, the Doctor suspects 'adoring' or 'besotted' are far more accurate terms than 'warm.' He clears his throat. "And he doesn't look at you that way?"

"He tries to, I think. He works hard to act like you, to make it seem like he's still the same. And does a fair job of it, even my mum and dad bought it for a while."

"But you didn't."

"Oh, I did, at first. Sure, there were lots of things that were a bit off about him, but I just chalked it up to his being part human. Plus he'd just been separated from the TARDIS. Grief can sometimes make people go a bit mad, yeah? They say or do things they normally wouldn't, but that doesn't mean they've become a bad person or anything."

A lump clogs his throat and all he can do is nod, looking down at his hands. There's no way Rose can know of his freshest, filthiest sin but here she goes anyway, blanketing him with that empathy of hers, shining new light on his own actions, forcing him to dredge up a bit of self-compassion. He hates it and loves it.

"And I wasn't analysing things very well," Rose goes on, shifting toward him as she tucks her legs beneath her. "I was too confused, I needed space, time to adjust. He was being, I dunno, thoughtful, sweet even, trying to make me laugh the way you always used to when I was feeling down." Her lips curve up. "He even had the gob, he talked constantly, I mean, not that he was willing to talk talk, though even that seemed, well–"

"Like me?"

"Yeah. But as the days went by I just couldn't shake the feeling that it was all a show, Doctor. Like who he was, inside, didn't match what he was projecting–" Rose cuts off with a sigh and puts a hand to her face, diamond winking in the light. "I'm not explaining this very well."

"No, you're doing fine. Go on, please."

"Whenever I was near him, I just felt unsettled. He felt like… like danger or something. And he's angry all the time, which is even easier to pick up on, although I'm sure he thinks he hides it well. That said, it wasn't until he started getting secretive, spending more and more time away from me, that I began to worry about what he might be up to."

The Doctor's brows pinch. "So that's why you investigated him?"

Rose seems to misinterpret his tone. "I know it doesn't sound like much to go off, Doctor, but you haven't been around him. Not since the day he was created."

His hands rise up, placatingly. "Rose, it's alright, you don't need to convince me. The fact that he's gone in for world domination is fair proof that he's…" The Doctor wants to say 'not me', but can't. "That there's a big problem."

"Right. Sorry. It's just, I'm so sick of people being taken in by his charm. Like, he's ruling over everyone, openly working with the aliens who came in to subjugate our planet, but because he's handsome and charming and dresses nice and pretends to be so bloody caring, tons of people love him. I wouldn't despise him nearly as much if he'd just openly be the evil lying dictator he is."

The venom in her words stuns the Doctor. "Oh, Rose. If you feel that way, why did you agree to marry him?" He nods to the ring he can't stop looking at.

Eyes flashing with defiance, Rose twists the ring so that the gem is inside her palm, but she doesn't take it off. "He proposed right after the Tesi invasion, which was perfect timing. This engagement, it's me using him, not the other way around, Doctor. I need to stay close to him, because every human agency with any authority has been shut down by the Tesi, including Torchwood– they're using the Canary Wharf tower as their world headquarters, by the way. Not even my dad's allowed in there anymore, but as the future Queen, I am."

The Doctor grudgingly concedes the point, not wanting to turn it into an argument. "With so much to hide, I'm surprised he wants you there."

"I was too, at first. But I don't see much of him. He just wants me in the building, probably to keep an eye on me. And I think the Tesi sort of expected it of him. They're very traditional about relationships. Couples often work together and they prize lifelong monogamy."

"Sounds just like the Tesi in the prime universe, but with one big difference." Pulling his legs up, the Doctor turns to sit sideways on the sofa to face Rose. "There, they'd expect him to marry a Tesi woman. It's how they'd legalise the invasion."

"Well, all I know is that they're happy he's engaged to me." Her full pink lips quirk and she leans in, eyes glinting with mischief. "This engagement isn't all bad, you know. There've been a few perks. For one thing, he's not been living at my place. Tesi didn't approve of that, so he had to move into the enormous posh flat he'd been eyeing for ages, the poor thing."

"What, he's materialistic?" the Doctor asks, voice high with disbelief. He's sure that's a trait he's never had, no matter how deep he digs into his marrow.

"Oh yeah, posh flat, posh cars, posh suits."

"Posh job."

All at once Rose grins at him, a full-watt grin that does funny things to his insides, though he doesn't like the new sharpness of her cheekbones. "Like you can talk, Time Lord."

The Doctor grins back, leaning toward her. "Nah, Time Lords aren't posh, we're just...swotty."

"The swottiest," she agrees vehemently, and he laughs. A real laugh too, one that bubbles up all on its own. It feels incredibly good, like stretching out stiff, unused muscles.

"So how did you find out he instigated the invasion?" he asks her.

"Oof, long story, but I'll give ya the short version. He'd been bringing tech home from Torchwood, stuff he shouldn't have, which I wouldn't have thought much about if I wasn't so worried about the sort of person he seemed to be... anyway. Sometimes at night, he'd sneak up to the roof of our building when he thought I was asleep. I'd follow him, really carefully. Anyway, he was constructing something, I didn't know what it was at the time, but now I'm pretty sure it was some sort of intergalactic communication device, cos one night I listened to him talking, for hours, in this alien language. Two days later we got invaded, which was pretty coincidental on its own, but the thing is, the Tesi didn't speak any Earth languages at first, just Tesilene."

"And?"

Rose smiles. "And I recognised it. The language I'd heard him speaking, it was theirs."

"Oh, good job."

"Thanks."

"And he still thinks you believe it was a random invasion?"

"Oh yeah. He's pretending he's got this big plan to get rid of them and things, and says that's the only reason he got himself made king. Course," she rolls her eyes, "his plan is ridiculously long term. Involves waiting for our baby TARDIS to be full-grown, so he can visit the Shadow Proclamation and bring in the Judoon or something. A whole lot of bollocks."

"Who all knows he's behind the invasion?"

"Only the inner circle– Dad, Mum, Jake, a few others. Our team. It's not all that big, mostly just a few trusted allies from different branches of Torchwood. They don't know all the details, just that he's not an unwilling or even a benevolent king, and he's conspiring with the Tesi. Anyway, our people are all really clever, an' we've got our own alien tech, so we've been able to come up with a fairly decent plan to drive the Tesi off our planet."

"By 'we've' come up with a plan, you mean you have, yeah?"

Rose purses her lips. "Shut up."

"Ha, I knew it!"

"Anyway," she goes on over him, "we've been studying the Tesi, their DNA and biology and things, to see how they differ from humans. We're in the process of developing this compound, see, something that's toxic to them but not humans, that we can add to the water supply in every city on earth. It's just an irritant, it's not fatal. But, if all works as planned, let's just say their people should develop some serious intestinal distress."

He gapes at her, delighted and a tiny bit shocked. "Rose Tyler. Are you telling me that you plan to drive billions of aliens with vastly superior intellect and weaponry away from planet earth by giving them all diarrhea?"

A wicked grin breaks across Rose's face. "Make that chronic, crippling diarrhea, and you've got it about right."

The Doctor bursts out laughing. "Oh, brilliant. That is just brilliant. And this shy" –he puts up a hand, a tiny space between his thumb and forefinger– "of evil."

"Why thank you," says Rose, affecting a posh tone and batting her lashes at him. "Though I do feel a little bit bad about it. Hopefully, their trip home isn't too long of a one– gonna be pretty miserable for them, don't you think?"

"Ugh," groans the Doctor. "I don't want to think about it."

But he's still laughing, so her smile only gets more devilish. Rose leans in, like she's afraid of being overheard. "I mean, can you imagine how terrible it would be–"

"Didn't I just say I don't want to think about it?"

"–if those fancy spaceships of theirs only have two or three tiny loos? Like on an aeroplane?"

When the Doctor snorts Rose loses it, and the next two or three full minutes are wasted entirely as the pair of them giggle helplessly, like a pair of kids. The Doctor is sure that if Jackie were there, they'd both be getting smacked upside the head.

However, after dedicated effort on both their parts (and several warning glares from the Doctor, every time he saw another remark hovering on Rose's lips), they eventually manage to pull themselves together.

"Do you think you could help with that?" asks Rose, sounding mostly calm after a big cleansing breath.

"With what?"

"Refining the chemical formula. You know, for–"

"Yes, I do know, don't start!"

"I'm not! I'm genuinely asking for your help!"

"Oh. Well, I suppose. Although, I might like to try and work up a plan that'll get them off the planet quicker." He side-eyes her. "Less messily."

"Oi! You just told me not to start!"

The Doctor draws his brows together in exaggerated puzzlement; like he can't imagine what she's accusing him of. Rose glares, playfully slapping his leg, and that's when he notices how close she is– hardly a handbreadth of space between their knees. How had that happened?

He swallows hard as the old addiction flares without warning, his fingers aching with the need to reach out and touch her. The need for a more potent hit of his illicit drug of choice.

The lure is near irresistible, especially since he's already been inhaling the powerful vapours of their connection. Every word, every look, assures him she still loves him, and more, the Doctor can tell Rose desires similar affirmations just as much. It thrills him, as much as it mystifies him. How, after becoming so alienated from his exact duplicate, has none of Rose's disdain carried over to him? It's almost like he really is a completely different person, just as she'd claimed.

Though he dares not hope she's right about that, he hopes anyway.

The Doctor can feel Rose's eyes on him; knows he's been silent too long. Slowly, he lifts his eyes, and the second their gazes lock he gets the fix he was craving. Her eyes are dark pools; the way she looks at him is even better than a caress. It's a kiss.

He can only imagine what she sees in his own eyes, because she quickly looks away, a fierce blush rising to her cheeks. "Um, speaking of funny things," says Rose, sliding her feet to the carpet and leaning over the sofa's arm for a blanket, "just wait till you hear this. So his Royal Highness needed a name, right, couldn't very well be called King Doctor, could he?"

"He couldn't?"

She's still not looking at him, busily tucking the blanket around her legs, but he sees her scoff. "No. He says the Tesi made him pick a name, but I don't believe him, I reckon it was his own doing. Anyway, think of the most pompous sounding King-name you can, and you'll have it."

"I have no idea. Just tell me."

"He calls himself Victor. Can you believe it?"

The Doctor feels all the blood drain from his face. Victor.

Oh, his foolish, treacherous heart. Yearning so badly to be the better one, to be even half the person Rose believes him to be, he'd almost begun to believe that he was. All that love in her eyes...how quickly might it shrivel to dust if she knew of his own self-bestowed new name? The Time Lord bloody Victorious.

He feels sick.

"What's wrong, Doctor?"

"Nothing, I'm fine, just...what you said reminded me of something. Um, bad memory. Anyway." The Doctor thumps his feet to the floor, manages to stay in his seat, putting all his strength into keeping it together. "So! What do you call him behind his back, then? Vicky? Good name...oh, he should get together with Mickey and start a band! All they'd need is a Rickey. And a Nicky. Mickey, Rickey, Nicky, and Vicky, how funny would that be?"

"No," sighs Rose, "I don't call him Vicky behind his back. Or Vic, for that matter. If I call him anything, it's Ick."

This startles a frail laugh out of him. "Do you really?"

"Hang around a bit, and find out."

His head lifts and he turns to her earnestly, grasping at this tiny opportunity she's handed him to do better, be better, like it's a rope out of a pit. "Rose. I promise."

Despite his awful track record, Rose smiles as if she believes him, then throws her blanket off and pops to her feet. "Want a soda?" she asks, heading to the refrigerator. "Sparkling water? Plain water?"

"What, no Vitex?"

She glances over her shoulder as she tugs the fridge door open. "Do you want a Vitex?"

"Well, no."

"That's why I didn't offer."

Before he can respond, his preference, a lime sparkling water, is being chucked across the room– not even by a gentle underhand lob. Overhand.

"Hey!" protests the Doctor, as he snags the icy can from the air. "This is carbonated! I can't open this now, it'll spray all over me!"

Rose is grinning as she pops the tab of her own drink, but her gaze is sober. "Why is he so different from you, Doctor? What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know." He's so muddled on the subject, it's all he can say.

"It's like, instead of the metacrisis making another you, it made someone who's the opposite of you. Like your evil twin."

Evil twin. It niggles at something in the Doctor's brain, but now the door is sliding open again. Jackie strolls into the room and points a finger at the bank of monitors. "I don't know if you're paying attention, Rose, but his car's just pulled up outside. Victor's." She gives the Doctor a fleeting glance. "You told him about the name, right?"

"He's here to pick you up or something?" asks the Doctor, appalled at the very idea. He sets his drink on the coffee table and gets up.

"Yeah." Rose squeezes her eyes shut. "I lost track of the time, but we always have dinner together. I knew he'd be coming here for me."

"But Rose, how can you...you can't just...I mean, I still have so many questions. I was hoping we'd at least get started on a plan."

"I told you about the compound we've been developing," she replies, peering into the wall mirror and thumbing away some smudged makeup from beneath her eyes. "I figured I'd have Dad fetch you a vial, you can analyse it, see what you think. Is the TARDIS nearby?"

Then Rose turns around to face him, eyes lighting up. "Hold on. What if you went to visit the Shadow Proclamation like he says he's gonna? If you told them about the invasion here, maybe they–"

"My TARDIS is grounded for the time being," he interrupts, "though I doubt she'd be able to travel in this universe anyway, Rose. Even fully powered."

"I'm sorry, you two, but he's coming inside now." Jackie nods to the front foyer's camera feed. "Rose has got to go down to meet him, or he'll come looking for her."

"I'm sorry, Doctor," says Rose.

"I know, I get it." Frustrated, he rubs up his hair. "I just don't like it. You look absolutely exhausted, Rose, and now you've got to go play nice with a person you say is an evil dictator?"

As soon as he says it he regrets it, but god, he feels so helpless. He wants so badly to protect her and he can't.

"Oh, and you look any better?" Rose shoots back, folding her arms. "I know you've been travelling alone, Doctor. I know about Donna. It's been terrible for you, being on your own, hasn't it?"

It's too hard to answer so he paces over to the wall monitors, sliding his glasses on as he peers into the one displaying a view of the foyer. A tall, skinny man with his own face stands there, flanked by four Tesi officers, and he's smiling as he chats with Pete. The man also has the Doctor's hairstyle (though it's a bit tamer, how boring) but that's where the outward similarities end. The picture is grainy but he can still tell, from the way his counterpart's suit hangs on his body, that it's expensive, as are his shoes.

Disgusted, he turns away just as Jackie speaks again. "Rose, let's go. You know how impatient he gets."

"What will we do, Rose?" he asks, making an effort to keep his tone gentle. "If he needs you with him so much and this is our only safe spot to talk, how will we ever get enough time together to make a good plan?"

Rose touches her mouth, looking worried, but then the Doctor brightens as a brilliant lightbulb flashes on in his mind. "Wait, you said he's worried about you getting kidnapped by a resistance group, right? That's why you've got all those bodyguards?"

"Yes…?"

His left eyebrow quirks. "Then that's what will happen."

"What? You mean...you're gonna kidnap me?"

"Yep." Popping the p, he grins.

Jackie looks doubtful. "How will you ever pull that off?"

"You say you always have dinner together?" he asks Rose, excitement filling him as he plots with lightning speed. "Does he ever take you out?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Will he let you pick the place?"

She nods, eyes wide.

The Doctor claps his hands together, beaming. "Perfect. Here's what I need you to do. Choose a place that's got a nice view, and get seated near the windows so I can see where you are. Make sure Pete knows which restaurant you'll be at."

"Okay, and?"

"And leave the rest to me. Now, hurry up, off with you. Don't want to keep your date waiting."

Rose doesn't move. "Hold on, you want to do this tonight?"

"Of course I do," he says, ushering her to the door with a hand on the small of her back, Jackie leading the way.

When Rose goes to duck through the closet passageway, the Doctor stalls her, grabbing her by the elbow. "Hold up, I almost forgot. One more thing I need you to do."

She glances back at him, wondering. He leans close, whispering hotly into her ear. "Make sure to scream."

Dark pleasure fills him when her breath hitches.

After Rose disappears the Doctor's masochistic side drives him back to the monitors, and he can't look away once she appears on the screen, though he really doesn't want to see her interact with his double. Up till now, he's doubted Rose's claims that the Other –Victor– was not on to her, but he has to reassess his scepticism now.

If he didn't know better, he'd think Rose was truly delighted to see the other man, going by the smile she'd dazzled him with, how she let herself be caught so easily into a warm embrace.

He's mostly okay until she gets kissed full on the mouth– a firm press of lips that lingers, even though it's in front of her parents. The Doctor realises he has never known jealousy until this moment. It's like fire erupts in his chest, and all he can think of is how much he'd enjoy it, punching himself in the face.

The awful burn lingers even after he shuts the screen off, unable to watch anymore. Desperately, he reminds himself that however attractive the Other might be, Rose doesn't want to be with him. She doesn't even like him. Despises him, even.

Right there and then, the Doctor decides that Rose will never have to kiss that man again, and it helps. Especially when he recalls how breathless she had become when she'd agreed to be kidnapped.

Oh, he will kidnap the hell out of her.