"You ok Doctor?"
"Me? Course I'm ok, why wouldn't I be ok?"
"I owe you an explanation."
"No you don't, we don't have an exclusive Rose, you're free to do what you like. I never interfered when Mickey was on board, did I?"
"We weren't still together, well not on my part, he had other ideas though. I didn't spend that much time alone with him, you were always there."
"What about Alec Hardy?"
"What about him? I've only known him a short time but I like him, as much as I like you, in fact he could be you and I enjoyed his company. Thanks for helping him. He wanted to know if I'd go back, when it was time."
"Time for what?"
"Well, I was seven years in my own future, I knew I couldn't stay there, I have learned something about entering my own timeline in the future you know. I'm going to go back, when seven years have passed for me, he will remember me, won't he?"
"Yes Rose, he will, it will be recent for him so long as you don't go changing everything. Are we still friends, until then?"
Rose went up to him and gave him a hug.
"Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
"You didn't, we're still good, we can just go back to how things were, no hard feelings."
"Great, that's settled then. So where are we going next?"
ooooooooo{silversurfer60}ooooooooo
After Rose had left and Alec couldn't settle at his desk, he put his jacket on and went for a walk along the Esplanade, stopping at the end and stared out to sea. He still hated the water after what had happened. He turned around as he heard footsteps behind him.
"Thought you hated water?"
"I do but I needed to think."
"Come on then tell me what's bothering you?"
"Nothing Miller, just leave me alone."
"Not until you tell me. We have a murder to solve and you're not concentrating. Is it a woman?"
"What woman? Have you seen me with a woman?"
"Well yes and no. I mean I thought I saw you with a woman, a few times but each time I did, I'd just left you in the station so I thought I was seeing things. Was it you?"
"No, how could it be if you saw me somewhere else, don't be daft Miller."
"So there is no woman then?"
"No."
"Not ever?"
"Go away Miller, go harass a suspect or something, leave me alone."
"No, not until you tell me what's wrong."
"There's nothing you can do, now get back to work or I'll have you for insubordination."
"I'd like to see you try."
Alec turned back towards the sea. "I'm waiting for someone coming back."
"Finally. So you're going to be a miserable git until she comes back? Then who did I see her walking around town with?"
"A friend, just that, nothing more."
"If you say so. When's she coming back then?"
"I don't know, when she gets here, it's complicated."
"So that other bloke who looked like you, who was he then?"
"Never mind, they're both gone."
"But you said she was coming back."
"She is, when it's the right time."
"Oh so you're mixed up with her and she's mixed up with him, brilliant! A love triangle."
"No Miller, it's not, it's just she can't be here at this time. She has to go back and sort things out."
"Well at least I know I wasn't going mad I suppose. You still coming for dinner Tuesday night?"
"Suppose so."
"Well if she's back, bring her with you, I'd like to meet her."
"Yeah. Back to work Miller."
Alec began thinking what had happened in the last seven years and what she might have been caught up in, cringing at the very thought of it. It didn't make him feel any better because he didn't know how long Rose was going to be away and he'd not even got through the day yet. However long it was, it was going to be far too long.
As it turned out, he was going to have to wait just over four weeks.
ooooooooo{silversurfer60}ooooooooo
The Doctor took Rose to the 2012 Olympic games, well sort of after they encountered an alien who had taken over a young girl who had made people disappear, including the Doctor, leaving Rose to save the day and be reunited with him later in the evening. They finally got to the games, missing the opening ceremony, well Rose did, the Doctor got to light the Olympic flame which pleased him no end plus Rose saved him some cakes with edible ball bearings. After his safe return though, he was troubled and told Rose a storm was coming and he was right.
Four weeks after Rose left Alec in Broadchurch and Rose had got the Doctor to take her to a bazaar on an asteroid and had bought her mother a trinket that told the weather, she persuaded him to take her home. She had a nasty suspicion something was not right with her as she should have had her monthly, something she was always regular with despite travelling in time and she wanted to be with her mum. She knew if she was pregnant it was Alec's, the date tied in and the first time, they had used no protection and she knew she couldn't go back and tell him.
Well she could but she couldn't stay more than a few days again and that wasn't fair on either of them. She could go and tell him but she would have to wait seven years and have the baby without him and go back in a few weeks to him with a seven year old. How would they explain that? Or she could just turn up with a seven year old, get her mother to help her raise the baby and surprise him but again, how would she explain it? He may be totally off with the whole thing and she would be on her own.
It would be totally different if she went back pregnant and had the baby with him being there, it would explain why she'd had to go away for a while. There was only one person who could help her solve this. They had been talking as the Doctor landed them behind the Powell Estate and walked across the playground and then up the stairs but he knew something was off with her so he stopped on the landing of Rose's block of flats.
"Come on what's wrong? I thought you were looking forward to visiting your mum?"
"I am and I need to talk to her alone, woman stuff."
"Fine, you two natter in the kitchen while I catch up on the news. Tell me what's wrong with you Rose."
"I think I'm pregnant, it's Alec's."
The Doctor went pale. "Are you sure? You should have said something about it, that day you were looking in that drawer and I gave you that injection. I told you it was no good if something had already happened."
"I didn't think anything had, it's not like I'd not had sex before but with Alec, it was different. I know now it was my first real time and I was stupid to think I'd get away with it."
"I could have given you something for afterwards if you'd just asked, you're not the first female I've had on board who had a boyfriend."
"Sorry, I didn't know how to. It's not like I could come up to you and say, hey, I had sex with Alec Hardy last night but I don't want to get pregnant."
"I wouldn't have judged you Rose and you know that. You and I could never have been together like that, humans and Timelords aren't compatible that way."
"You never said that. Are you saying it now to make me feel less guilty?"
"No, it never was a problem until I met you but I knew you wanted more and you got it, with Alec."
"Did you go there on purpose, so I would meet him?"
"No, it was purely a coincidence I swear Rose but once I saw him, I knew you'd go off with him because he looks like me and you could be together, I'm just sorry you have to wait seven years. What do you want to do?"
"I have to tell him, not telling him isn't fair, on either of us. I'm going to bring the baby up on my own and wait seven years, at least he'll know and it won't be long for him."
"You can't do it on your own Rose, I'll help you, even if I regenerate, I'll provide for you, you're not in this alone so don't even think you are. We'll go see your mum then I'll take you back to see Alec and you can have a few days with him. If he's half the man I think he is, he'll be ok with it. If I could let you stay with him, I would but you can't."
"I knew what I was getting into, he wanted me to stay and he knew I wanted to. I explained it to him, that it will only be a short time for him, I promised I would wait for him, until I can safely go back. I knew I would really fall in love one day but I never thought it would be in the future. Is there any way, the slightest chance that I don't have to wait for seven years?"
"I don't know, let me see if I can find out for you after you've told your mum."
He leaned against the door frame leading to Rose's balcony. They heard shouts come from below, some kids playing football in a group. They didn't see the ghostly figures that had just walked amongst them though.
"Come on then, I'd better get this over with, mum's going to go ballistic, she'll blame you as usual. Let me tell her first, if I tell her it's someone else, it might spare you a slap or two."
The Doctor grinned. "Thanks, I think."
He'd had a suspicion it might be something like that, the way she had gone cold on him and stopped kissing him, the night he had walked back into the hotel and glanced them in the bar without giving any signs he had seen them, she must have gone to his room with him and thinking she was leaving soon anyway, had a one night stand with him, well maybe two. He couldn't blame her, she was a hormonal woman fresh out of her teens and without a boyfriend for a long time, she was human and had needs to attend to and as much as he loved her in his own way, they could never have been together in that way but he'd lied to her about not being capable. Jackie Tyler would still blame him for letting her daughter go off with someone in the first place, what was he supposed to do with her? Tie her up?
He wasn't going to have to worry for too long.
Rose let them in and shouted "Mum, we're back. Brought you a present from this asteroid bazaar we went to and I've got something to tell you."
"Mickey came back?"
"No Mum, I told you he couldn't, you accepted that. Let's make a cuppa and I'll tell you, if you promise not to scream the place down."
Jackie stood frowning at the Doctor with a poisonous look on her face. "You didn't get my daughter pregnant did you? 'Cos if you did, I'll knock you from here to Jupiter if you have and you'd better stick by her and marry her."
"Let me finish Mum, it's not the Doctor's."
"What? You mean you are pregnant? How pregnant?"
"About four weeks, I've not done a proper test yet, I only think I am. We went to this little seaside town and I met someone, he's called Alec and he's a police detective but he's in the future, seven years in the future."
"I still blame you Doctor, you're supposed to be looking after her. Why couldn't you have gone with someone from your own time? What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to have the baby and wait seven years then go back to Alec."
"With a seven year old?"
"I'm going to tell him, right after we leave here so he at least knows when I go back to him. It will only be a few weeks or not even that for him."
"Well I still don't get it. Why don't you just jump seven years into the future and have the baby with him?"
"Ha, coming from you that's a bit rich Mum, I was gone a year and you had Mickey arrested for murdering me, several times. No, I can't just do that, can I Doctor?"
"And what were you doing while Rose was going with a man from the future, couldn't you have talked some sense into her not to go to bed with him?"
"Jackie, I don't own her, it's up to her what she does and no, she can't just leap seven years into the future as much as I'd like her to stay with Alec, he's a decent man and he would take great care of her. It's not as simple as that, I don't know what those years hold for Rose and you wouldn't cope with it anyway, every time we go away you panic, I can see it in your eyes every time Rose says goodbye to you, you never want her to leave."
"Can you blame me? How many other mothers have to watch their son or daughter climb into a blue box and come back weeks later, every moment passing wondering if she's coming back or going to go missing for another year or more?"
"I know Jackie, I said I was sorry about that, it wasn't intentional. I just miscalculated a bit."
"So you said but it doesn't make this right you know, how is she going to cope?"
"I'm still here, remember? You did it and you were on your own with me. I'll manage, I have you and the Doctor."
"How long for Rose? Is he going to stay grounded when you start going into labour?"
"Hello, I'm still here too. Yes, I'll stick by her no matter what, even if I change again, I'll make sure she's looked after. If I could take her to him and let her stay, don't you think I would do it? I'm going to go back to the Tardis and study the timelines, there may be some way, it depends if Rose is destined to do anything significant in those seven years and Rose, I don't mean anything by that, you're always going to be significant and you're contemplating bringing up a baby on your own and that's the bravest thing ever and your mother knows that already. I just have to make sure nothing in this timeline is disturbed or may stop because you go live in the future, no-one is meant to do that."
"I know you'll do what you can Doctor." Rose went up to him and gave him a hug.
"Can I have some time with my mum?"
"Sure."
Rose and Jackie moved into the kitchen.
"Well I've got something to tell you two as well, guess what it is Rose?"
"Just tell us Mum, I'm not in the mood for guessing."
"You'll see for yourself, he'll be here soon, go on, guess."
"What are you talking about Mum, who will be here?"
The Doctor put down the magazine he was flicking through and listened.
"It's your granddad, he'll be here any minute." Jackie looked at her watch. "Ten past, here he comes."
Suddenly, a ghostly figure emerged from nowhere and went to stand beside Jackie.
"Here we are Dad, say hello to Rose. Ain't she grown?"
Rose stood horrified at the figure, Jackie still looking at it. The Doctor rushed over to the door.
"But Mum, he died like ten years ago."
"Well he's here now."
The Doctor rushed to the front door, followed quickly by Rose then Jackie, down in the courtyard, dozens of ghosts had appeared. They went downstairs and one of the ghosts walked right through the Doctor, Rose trying to warn him.
"Oh this is so not good," the Doctor stated.
"But all our loved ones coming back, don't you think it's beautiful?" Jackie asked.
"I think it's horrific," he replied. "How long does it last?"
"A few minutes."
The ghosts began to fade away.
"Tell me how this first started, don't leave anything out."
They went back upstairs and Jackie proceeded to say it had been going on for a while, saying there had been no sign of him when it first began and they all went back to the Tardis, the Doctor setting up a field to trap one of them when they next appeared, to find out where they were coming from. He showed Rose what to do and went outside to continue.
"What are you going to do Rose, about the baby?"
"I told ya, I'm gonna bring it up and when it's time, I'm going to live with Alec. As soon as we leave here, I'm going to tell him."
"What if he doesn't want you or the baby?"
"He will though, he's a good man. He's a detective inspector and his name is Alec Hardy. He's Scottish, has a beard and looks a bit like the Doctor but I think every man looks like him in some way or another."
"Trust you to pick someone who looks like that daft alien. I'll help you Rose, you don't have to do this on your own and if you find a way to be with him, before then, I'll support what you do and I'll see you again in seven years, I'll just miss the baby growing up. You can't deny the man watching his child grow up, it was different when I lost your father, I had no choice."
"I've not even done a test yet, I may be wrong."
"Do you think you're wrong?"
"No, 'cos it happened, I know it did. I know there was Mickey but we never were serious, not like that, Alec was different, I really wanted to be with him, with Mickey it all seemed just like it was expected. I've never met anyone like Alec before. He's a lot older than me."
"Your dad was older than me and he can't be as old as the Doctor," Jackie smiled, putting her hand on Rose's shoulder. "If there's a way, the Doctor will find it."
The Doctor was outside, waiting for his ghost to appear. As if on cue, it put in an appearance. He shouted to Rose.
"It's holding," she called back.
What they didn't know was that the signal they were tracing was coming from a covert organisation called Torchwood, having been set up by Queen Victoria to watch for the Doctor and Rose's return and they knew their ghosts had been intercepted. The ghost disappeared, the Doctor gathered his equipment and they followed the signal. He looked at the monitor to see the Tardis surrounded by soldiers.
"Stay here Rose, I mean it, I don't want them capturing you, you have the baby to think about."
"But what about you? They have guns."
"And I don't, which makes me the better person. They can shoot me but the moral high ground is mine."