x x x Chapter One: Nice to Meet You, I Think x x x

There was that little part at the back of her mind that was insisting that she should say something; verify that yes, she was Rose Tyler, and that she was definitely the one that he was looking for.

The battered leather jacket looked the same as it had in her reality. Same piercing eyes and cut of hair. Same way that he leaned against things, arms crossed over his chest, one ankle over the other. Even the same intensity to his gaze; so deep and penetrating that she had once wondered if he could see right inside of her.

Then again, maybe he could. She hadn't found out until he regenerated what being 'slightly telepathic' meant to him. It meant a lot more than she'd thought. He could get inside someone's head and look at their thoughts. Wasn't too hard to believe that the Doctor could see right to your soul if he wanted.

The thing was — and this was had always counted on — was that the Doctor would never want to look that deep inside of anyone. Not her, most especially. It was about trust.

But this Doctor didn't trust her. She could see that in the way he was watching her. She couldn't blame him, either.

"Are you Rose Tyler?"

She nodded and leaned a little more heavily against the wall. It really was the only thing holding her up at this point. Bit of plaster and wood. Nothing more. If it wasn't there, she'd fall right onto her bottom, because her legs were in no shape to support her.

Her Doctor, right here in front of her.

No, not her Doctor. Her Doctor was in her reality. This Doctor didn't know her.

"Are you all right? You look pale. Are you going to fall over?"

Then he was moving. Before she could say a word he had taken the chair from behind her desk and placed it in front of her, urging her into it with a hand on her elbow. And if she shut her eyes for just a second, she imagined she'd be able to forget that the hand that touched her was not the one that she'd known so very well. The one that had held her hand through countless adventures; reassuring her, guiding her.

But he wasn't him and that hand wasn't his.

"Just feeling a bit faint," she muttered, pulling from his grasp gently. Not meaning to be rude, but unable to take the reminder of his touch. He took the hint and also a step back; watching her, but not saying a word.

Well, if he was waiting for her to explain herself, she wasn't about to disappoint him.

Just as soon as she knew where to begin.

"You're here about the reports, yes?" she asked quietly, risking a glance up. He didn't seem angry at the mention of them, and a little weight eased off of her heart. "Probably wonderin' how I know all that stuff?"

"You're from an alternate reality."

The instantaneous response made Rose's mouth snap shut. She frowned. Shouldn't be too surprised, she guessed. He was the Doctor, after all, and the Doctor, as he had always been fond of telling her in his last incarnation, was brilliant. "Guess not, then."

"What I don't understand, is why you're here in the first place," he knelt on the floor at her feet, watching her. The question was so blunt that it rankled at Rose's already frazzled nerves.

"Didn't you read the report?" she snapped, unable to stop herself. She blushed when she realized what she'd done and sat back in the chair with a sigh. "The Doomsday report, didn't you read it? S'obvious you read the others."

"The Cybermen versus the Daleks," the Doctor said, mouth turning up in a grim smile. "Sounds like a science fiction movie." He paused and the smile faded to worry. "And now they're all in the Void?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah. All of 'em. I hope."

"That makes two of us," the Doctor responded. "And Pete Tyler popped in at the last moment to save you, bring you here, to this world, just when you were about to go into the Void yourself?"

Another nod and a sigh came from Rose's lips. She felt suddenly so weary, as if the weight of that day was hanging on her shoulders all over again. Of all the ways she'd imagined this going, this wasn't it. Not this calm, almost cool interrogation. She'd thought maybe anger, maybe blazing curiosity. But not this. Never this.

"Problem is, Rose Tyler — you were never meant to be a part of this world. Oh, I know. And your mum was meant to die here and Rickey was supposed to slough off himself, not be replaced by your Mickey. All of that is one thing. But you, Rose Tyler. You know too much to be here, taking up space where no Rose Tyler was meant t'take up space. Your very existence in this reality could do more harm than good. Everything where you are concerned is blank up here," he tapped his head. "Not. Good. You could change everything with one wrong word. Things that these people aren't supposed to know. You traveled with the other me for far too long just to get dropped off, working for people like this Torchwood."

She felt fear thread its way through her heart and body. It made her heart speed up, her breath catch in her throat. For all that she knew that the Doctor — her Doctor — would never harm someone, even if it was for the greater good; she worried that maybe, just maybe, she was too much of a liability. That, coupled with the fact that she didn't know one thing about how this Doctor in front of her worked made her very, very nervous.

"I won't say anything."

"You already did," he pointed out. And there was the anger that she had expected. That sharp, biting anger that she had rarely known to come down upon her.

"I wanted —"

"To get my attention. And now you have it." Again his smile was something short of happy and very close to dangerous.

Rose's thoughts skidded to a halt, crashing into one another in her head until there was a pileup and all she could think about was one thing —

She was Rose Tyler and she didn't let anyone, the Doctor or not — talk to her like this.

Standing slowly, Rose put her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him. "Right. Now I have it. Silly me, wantin' to see if the man that I … cared about so much…" she fumbled over the words, unwilling to admit them now, to him. The Doctor that mattered knew how she felt and that was enough for her. "…even existed in this world. Stupid ape, right?" She goaded him. "And yeah, I know too much. So —what-?"

The corner of his mouth twitched up, just a bit. Almost a smile. Rose felt her mouth doing the same and squashed it. She wasn't going to fall into that old routine. He flashes her a grand old smile and she does so right back.

"Means I can't let you just stay here, wanderin' through this time line," he said with a shrug.

There was that nervousness again, but Rose refused to give into it. The Doctor wasn't about to kill her just because her existence in this reality could cause problems. That, she could be certain of.

She hoped.

"Oh?" Rose asked. "Can you take me back to my own timeline, then?"

It was a silly question. A silly, silly question and she knew it. Of all the impossible things that the Doctor had ever mentioned, she was sure this was one that was going to stay that way. Mickey and the others coming through the first time had been a fluke. And the Doctor would have made sure the world was all sealed tight from this one, now. He wouldn't let something like that happen again.

Then again, this was the Doctor, too — standing here watching her like… like… like she'd lost her mind.

"You know I can't do that."

"Was worth a shot," she sighed, giving him half a smile.

"S'pose it was," he grinned suddenly and it was the same grin that Rose had fallen for so very long ago. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from whimpering under the onslaught of feeling that it dredged up from within her. So hard to see him here and know he wasn't hers. "Would you want that anyway? Give up your family? Your little sister?"

Little Anna. Not even half a year old. Rose swallowed, the thought of never seeing her again bringing tears to her eyes. But like she'd said to the Doctor once, she had made her decision, and it was him. It would always be him.

"Like you said," she shrugged. "'M not meant to be here."

She wouldn't discuss those feelings with this Doctor. Wouldn't tell him of how she had loved her Doctor and how she was positive that he had loved her in return.

"Right," he nodded. "You're not. Which leaves only one option."

Rose took an instinctual step back, hands clenching into fists. Even as she did it and saw the surprise on the Doctor's face, followed by something remotely like exasperation, she knew she was being ridiculous.

"I'm not that different from your Doctor," he growled, waggling a finger at her in chastisement that was somewhat diminished by the amusement in his eyes. "And that includes not being the sort to just hurt someone like that, Rose Tyler."

"Of course," she nodded, giving him another smile. "So…what then?"

"You'll come with me, of course."

"I'll… sorry, could you repeat that?" Rose murmured, unsure that she had heard him right the first time.

"Well I can't let you go traipsing about where you don't belong and I can't take you back to your own reality," he pointed out, needlessly. "That only leaves two options — me trying to take your memories from you —"

"Don't you dare!" Rose shouted.

"Which I wouldn't do!" the Doctor rolled his eyes. "I realize we just met — but your lack of faith in me is something else."

She blushed.

"Or, I can take you with me. Keep an eye on you. Well, take you away from this timeline entirely, really," he continued on.

Rose couldn't swallow, couldn't breathe. Travel with the Doctor again? It was like a dream come true except… this wasn't her Doctor. It was a Doctor that looked like her first Doctor but he wasn't that Doctor --

She put a hand to her head. This was getting confusing, even by her standards.

"I —" she stammered, shaking her head. "I mean… Would I be able to visit my family… like before, with my Doctor?"

"Does it matter? Seems to me like you'd leave them without a second thought if I could take you back to your reality."

She frowned. It wasn't like that at all. "S'not like that. I just… I'm not meant for this anymore. And…" she broke off, looking away; still positive that he didn't need to know those things. Not her feelings. "There are other reasons I would go back to him. But," she emphasized, "if I am staying in this reality, then there's no reason we can't visit. Dropping by every now an' then wouldn't give me time to mess up the timeline, right?"

"Right," he grinned broadly. "I just wanted to see if you could work that out on your own. Just don't expect me to do the visiting with you. I —"

"Don't do domestic," Rose cut him off with a roll of her eyes. "Yeah, I know. Some things just don' change."

The Doctor's grin grew. He rubbed his hands together briskly. "I've already taken care of your reports, so if everything is settled for the time being… in with you." He tilted his head at the door of the tardis.

Rose grinned. She put her hand in her pocket, taking out her key. "This still work?"

"Try it."

She put the key to the lock, not even really surprised that it turned easily. The tardis was still the tardis, no matter where it was in time, space, or alternate realities.

"Oh, before —"

Rose heard the words as she opened the door, but was already caught in the motion. She looked up, hearing the Doctor mutter something under his breath about her seeing soon enough. And she wondered, briefly, what he meant. Only briefly, though, because that was when she caught sight of a very familiar head of hair and a grin that she'd know anywhere. The Doctor's hand on her elbow and his voice reminding her that this man wasn't the same, either, were all that stopped her from throwing herself at him. Instead she laughed and it was half-sob.

The one person she'd given up hope on ever seeing again.

Figured, then, that he'd be here in the last place she expected to ever stand again.

"Jack."

x x x End Chapter x x x