Keeping Promises

The Doctor watched Rose wander off up the beach, her arms crossed protectively over her chest. He rubbed one hand over his face in frustration. He wanted to run after her, take her back into his arms and kiss her again. He wanted to prove himself to her. He wanted her to look into his eyes with recognition and love instead of doubt and suspicion. But the other Doctor had made that impossible when he left without saying goodbye.

Oh, he knew why he had done it. Part of him wanted to say he would have done the same thing. But he wasn't so sure he would have. Not the new him. Because the new him was less concerned with nice-sounding principles and more concerned with the real impact of his actions. The old him called it genocide to wipe out a race of creatures that was trying to and would have erased the rest of the entire multiverse. He called it defense. And what the old him might call indulging temptation, he called a proper goodbye. Rose deserved a proper goodbye. The old him might think he was being selfless by slinking away while Rose was distracted so she would be more inclined to settle down and forget him. He probably even thought he was doing the new Doctor a favor. But that was rubbish. He did it because he couldn't bear to touch her or even see her smile at him one last time, because he knew he might not have the strength to go if he did.

The old him snuck out for his own sake as much as for hers.

He was grateful to have the chance his old self would never take. But now Rose was angry and hurt, and since the old him wasn't there anymore, she was hurt and angry with him. Hurt enough that even though he had just told her he could spend the rest of his life with her, she couldn't stand to be near him. Not the best way to start a relationship.

He turned and saw Jackie talking animatedly into her phone. Apparently they weren't too far out in the middle of nowhere if she could get a signal. Then again, technology in "Pete's World" was a bit different from the other world; maybe mobile phones worked a little differently.

He wandered over and listened to Jackie's end of the conversation.

"You are absolutely not bringing Tony with you to bloody Norway! We're fine, there's no need to rush up here without waiting for a babysitter. You remember that little pub we ate in the first time we were up here? We can walk there and just wait until you call. If you can't get a helicopter today, then just let me know and we'll find a place to stay the night. ...No, Rose ran off a minute ago, I think she just needs to clear her head. …Yeah, I know! Two Doctors! I'd need to clear my head too if I was her! …Oh, I'm sure she'll be fine, after a while…"

Jackie suddenly noticed him standing there and jumped. She gave him a strange look. "Look, I've got to go, Pete. I'll wait for you to call before we go anywhere, yeah? We'll go into town and just wait till you call before we do anything. Bye, I love you." She hung up the phone abruptly.

The Doctor felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden. Jackie had seemed to warm up to him at first, but that was before the other him left her daughter in tears again. He didn't like the distrustful look in Jackie's eyes any more than he liked it in Rose's, although the particular sort of fear it caused in him was a bit different. He smiled weakly.

"I oughtta slap you," Jackie said suddenly. Without thinking, he took a step back.

"What for?" Blimey, you idiot, what do you think?

"What for?! My daughter has spent every day of her life since you left her here the first time tryin' to get back to you! She never gave up on you, though why I don't know, since you gave up on her! And then she finally makes it back, she helps you save the entire universe, and what do you do? You bring her back to this damn beach and leave her with…with you!" She punctuated every sentence with a step forward. The Doctor matched each one with a step back.

"Yes, he left her with me, Jackie! He didn't leave her alone this time!"

"So you're what then, the consolation prize?"

Jackie may as well have stabbed him with a rusty, very-not-sonic screwdriver.

"You listen to me, Jackie Tyler," he shot back, striding forward. "I am the Doctor. I'm the only Doctor this world has. And I may have been a coward before, but I am not one now. I love your daughter, and there is nothing I will not do for her. I will never take her for granted again."

Jackie stared at him for a long moment. "I hope you mean that."

"Oh, believe me, Jackie, I mean it."

"Then prove it, Doctor." The venom was gone from her voice. She suddenly looked very tired.

He swallowed heavily and nodded. She was right, wasn't she? He'd never realized how much damage he had done to their trust in him…to Rose's trust. He had been so blind when he could see across space and time. That big picture had obscured the sharp little details that mattered the most to him.

"I'm sorry, Jackie. I—"

"Oh, save it for her." She smiled slightly to take the edge off her words. "I know a little bit about fallin' in love with a man who's not quite the same man you fell in love with the first time." She saw a flicker in the Doctor's eyes and went on gently, "It's hard sometimes. You even feel a little guilty. But you have to keep movin' forward, and remember that the new man isn't always accountable for the old one's mistakes. Rose knows that, too. Just…give her time to remember."

The Doctor smiled at Jackie. She could be shockingly insightful sometimes, though he wasn't sure why he was always so surprised. Rose was her daughter, after all.

And she had a point. She and Pete were obviously getting on well, and her new Pete was even less like the original Pete than the Doctor was like the original Doctor. Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true. In terms of the experiences and memories they shared, yes, the Doctor was much closer to the original Doctor than alternate-universe Pete was to original Pete. But both Petes were still 100% Pete; test their DNA and they'd be completely identical, biologically the same person. The same couldn't be said for the Doctor and old-Doctor. Of course, personality differences between his old and new selves were likely to reveal themselves over time as well, thanks to Miss Donna Noble. Wizard.

"Did you hear me, Doctor?"

"Hm? What?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "I said Pete's going to try and charter a helicopter to pick us up. It's the fastest way for 'im to get here, but he's not sure he can get one right away. He's gonna call when he's sure. In the meantime, there's a little pub in town maybe a mile up the road. We can wait there, get something to eat." She paused and gave him a knowing look. "Rose'll remember it from last time. She'll come find us when she's ready."

The Doctor looked from Jackie to the beach behind him, where Rose could be seen about a hundred yards off. She was sitting on a rock overlooking the water, her knees pulled up to her chest. He felt a lump in his throat knowing there was nothing he could do to comfort her. But he could at least keep his word.

"I can't, Jackie. I told her I wouldn't go anywhere without her." He smiled awkwardly. "I don't think it's the best idea to go breaking my promises already."