Today sucked. Which means it wasn't any different from the rest. In fact, it was worse. But it didn't matter. No, none of it mattered. It didn't matter that he ruined the lives of those he came across, no, none of it mattered. In fact, stop talking about it.
He took a long breath.
It isn't going to get better. That's OK, because it doesn't matter. He just had to keep going. He just had to keep going. How much longer?
He balled his fist. Today was not going to be easy. Which was fine—he should be used to hard days by now. He was about to navigate them to a random location, but he felt the TARDIS tugging at him. "What?" It was hard to decipher since he couldn't hear any words, but it felt like she wanted him to follow her. He looked at the hallway. "Sure, I guess…"
It was an oddity for the TARDIS to do something like this in the first place, and considering she had been very mad at him lately, it was even weirder for her to have a positive vibe about this. Well, for all he knew, the TARDIS was about to send him into a trap, finally getting rid of him once and for all. Not that she'd do something like that, he noted. But you never knew for sure.
When he went down the hallway, he quickly reached Rose's room. The fact that the TARDIS was sending him here was by far the worst of it all. He had already watered Hector and left the door open for a while, the thing should be fine. Yet, when he opened the door, his hearts sank. Hector was gone.
He immediately got into a panic, looking everywhere, turning things around. "Hector," he called, "Hector, where are you?" Had Hector finally grown tired of him, too? Even a darn plant couldn't stand him, is that it? "Hector, I'm sorry—please, come back!"
Hold up, that made no sense. He put the pillow down. Plants couldn't just move on their own. No way a plant hated his guts so much it developed a vivid sentience and some form of muscles to move around. Someone had moved him. Why would they do that? Did they really want to take everything that he cherished away from him?
No, hold on. Stop sobbing. He wiped his eyes. The shelves were almost empty. All the knick-knacks she used to collect, some of them were gone. And if his memory didn't fail him, her favourites. The photo album in the drawer, taken. Even the leather jacket that he knew she adored.
What kind of jerk did this?!
No. No, no—the TARDIS wouldn't have let anyone with bad intentions in the room. Only like four or five people knew of its existence in the first place.
And looking at all the things that were gone… They were specifically things you would pack up if you knew you were leaving. And for good, considering the more precious items you wouldn't want to lose one some stupid vacation.
Including Hector.
She… Rose took Hector? How? When? He had watered it a week ago, and the TARDIS kept the room up to date.
Recently. Rose had been here recently. Now, how recently?
He took a look at the dust on desk. If he was lucky, she would've traced the dust. It's something humans did all the time, and he wasn't exactly sure why, but it would help a great deal if she had. And looking around, she had. A trace where there was no dust. None. Meaning it was extremely recent—anywhere from hours ago to just now.
She could still be here. A different time, a different TARDIS, but ultimately here. He felt the TARDIS nodding/smiling at him. He smiled back. Good thing the hallways weren't bound by time. He went out of the room and closed the door. He opened the door again, but there was no one inside. Maybe in the corridor, then. Closing the door, he looked to his left. He just had to let the TARDIS do the work. He just had to…
Run. And he did. He ran down the hallway like his life depended on it. Please, he begged, just this once. Let me have this.
He took a left and stopped in his tracks as he saw two people before him. Both staring at him with different degrees of shock. But it didn't matter.
Rose dropped the book she was holding. Rose smiled at him. Rose said his name.
He didn't understand the situation. To him, she had already left with the metacrisis. There is no way she should or even could be here. He didn't care. It had been too long since he's had a good day. He ran at her, just as she ran to him.
And just like that, she was once again in his arms. He held tightly, afraid to let go even for a second. She was here, again. The technicality of it didn't matter, he'd worry about that later. She was brilliant after all, he was certain she'd found a way.
Rose was so glad to have found him again. Albeit softly, she could feel the steady heartbeats through her own chest. With the way he was holding her, it was a little hard to breathe and frankly a bit uncomfortable, but she was fine with it. He smelt a bit different from what she remembered and his hair was a tad too long and untidy, but it didn't matter. It was him. He was here.
The ninth Doctor was more worried about the photo album that had clattered to the ground. He didn't want to intrude but he also didn't want to leave two strangers in his TARDIS, albeit himself and… whoever Rose was. The least he could do was look away.
The tenth, however, was probably having the best day in months—if not years. He didn't even care to notice the different version of him besides them. What he did notice was that the shampoo she had used was different from last time. Not that it mattered, really. He just couldn't help noticing it. That and the leather jacket he previously wore that was uncomfortably pushing in his chest. Bit odd, that one. Again, it didn't matter.
She went to let go, but he held on a bit tighter. He tried to imprint the feeling in his memories, knowing it would never really work. He gave it a bit longer before taking a step back, not letting go of her arms. He was about to speak up, but then he looked at her face.
Seeing the look in her eyes made him realise this might've been a huge mistake. Because, yes, it was Rose, and never would that not be good, but it wasn't… the right one. Too young. His hearts sank, but he tried not to let it show on his face.
At least she knew who he was. He might as well enjoy the time he had left. "Where are you from?" he asked softly.
Her smile faltered slightly. "What?"
"Timeline wise, I mean."
"Why do you ask?" She frowned.
"It gets so much more complicated," he chuckled. " I need to know."
"Uh, I haven't seen you since… Bad Wolf Bay?"
That didn't help. The first time or the second time? Yet he couldn't ask that without revealing there would be a second time. Then again, he had no idea if she would remember this happening. He hadn't had the time to really talk. Well, he had the time. He just didn't. Which in hindsight was both a terrible and good idea. It didn't matter. No need to think about that. Or the stupid metacrisis. "After Canary Wharf, yes?"
"Torchwood," she agreed.
"Well, hello," he grinned.
"Hi," she returned. Rassilon, he had missed that smile. She poked him. "Wait, so, if you ask that, you've already seen me before, right?"
He didn't really like the direction it was going in, but it's not as if he should have expected anything else. It wasn't his Rose. Of course she wouldn't continue where he had left off, she hadn't even gone through that. At this point, best he could do was enjoy her presence for a while and reassure her that she will end up finding him, even if the looking is extremely draining. "Yes. You'll find me. The right one."
"So, where am I?"
He forced the smile on his face to stay. She didn't know. Oh, she didn't know. She probably thinks she's just in the TARDIS, like before. As much as he didn't want to lie, he just couldn't break her heart. He saw how utterly exhausted she was in her eyes, but there was so much spirit left in them. He just couldn't bring himself to be honest. "Oh, you're sleeping. I was just tinkering when the TARDIS called me for… well, this."
Her smile faltered completely. "Then why did you react that way when you saw me?"
He could hear the blood rushing in his ears. She'd always been able to tell for 2 years, why'd he think it'd work now? Yet, he didn't want to give in. "You look a bit different, I could tell you were younger."
"If you see me on the daily—"
"Rose," he cut her off. He let his smile slip away. "It still hurts."
And it seemed to work, because instead of frowning, she just looked sympathetic. He felt terrible for lying, but at least he hadn't completely shattered her heart. Yet.
"Hector!" He let go of her and went to the potted plant. He crouched down. "I was looking for this little guy. Scared me halfway to death."
"The room's dusty, Doctor," she said doubtfully.
He was going to have a hard time keeping up. "You got a different one."
"Why would I do that?"
"We, er, share."
"...And I didn't take any of my stuff with me?"
"Didn't need to, you already had it with you. Because," he pointed at the stuff on the ground and wiggled his eyebrows, "You took it in the past."
He turned his eyes back to Hector. Blimey. He felt like he was being backed into a corner. Like he was fighting for his life.
And she didn't stop. "You said Hector was missing, but with your logic, Hector wouldn't even be in this room, he'd be in my new room."
"Hector is missing, but I didn't look for this room. TARDIS brought me here because you were." She was about to say something again, but he beat her to it. "To be honest with you, I think you're just planning to put him in one of the gardens. It's really out-growing the pot, it deserves a bigger space." He poked Hector, "This guy is surprisingly small compared to it now. We-ell, my 'now'."
She sat down next to him. They both looked at the plant for a while, not daring to say anything. He was scared of saying anything that would blow his cover. And if Rose knew he was full of it, she wouldn't believe a single thing he said; including the parts he didn't lie about. She did find him eventually, and it was actually crucial that she did.
She chuckled, leading him away from his thoughts. "Thank you for taking care of Hector while I've been… away," she said softly. "You didn't need to, but you still did. Thank you."
He didn't say anything. He couldn't find it in him—he had only watered the thing for purely selfish reasons. He didn't deserve to be thanked.
He cleared his throat. This needed to stop. "You'll find me, in the future. You come for me, and you get there because you're brilliant. You know that right? Yes, you do. You find me. But that has to happen, and I can't help you, and I can't take you there."
"So why am I not here?"
He snapped to her. "You are!"
"What, in spirit?"
"No! No, not at all! You're right there. Why don't you believe me?"
She looked at him solemnly. "Your eyes tell a different story."
He looked down at the ground. He offered out his hand, which she took quickly. "Rose. You have to understand, I've… been through more. While you were gone." He looked back at her. "You are here. Just, some things happened in between."
"Okay." She squeezed his hand lightly.
It almost felt sick how good he was at lying. Especially since he knew where it came from, and what he's already done with it. Despite not wanting to go through another goodbye—in fear he simply wouldn't make it—he had to stop. She had to go.
He stood up and turned around, surprised to find the ninth Doctor there. He was looking mildly annoyed and a tad nervous. Huh. "How long have you been there?"
"I've been here literally the entire time."
"Ri-ight."
Rose joined his side, taking his hand. "What about him? He's a parallel version of you."
"That can happen?"
"Apparently," she shrugged.
Not the first time he'd been completely wrong about something. Must be a different prime universe instead of simply a parallel, then. Not that it mattered. Still no space-travel possible. "Uh, it doesn't really matter. He'll find his Rose-equivalent, I'm sure."
"I'm a dog."
"Yes—" He let go of her hand. "—but I said 'equivalent', not just 'Rose'."
She looked a bit taken aback. Which was quite normal, considering he had just significantly insulted her. Didn't need to admit anything if he acted like a fool. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. He'll find someone else," he said, knowing that it could never have been anyone else.
He took a step back and turned to face her. "Right, then."
He hated the way she looked at him. The longer he was there, the more conflicted he felt. He wanted to leave as quickly as he could, but he wanted to stay in her presence a tad longer. This would be the last time he ever saw her.
Ever.
"Is this goodbye?" she asked.
"No. It's a 'see you later'," he smiled.
When she nodded, he turned around and started walking. He didn't want to look back even once, because he knew that with a single look he could never go. He had said goodbye so many times already—he wasn't sure he could do it again. When he took a right, he started running.
Rose later got back to her apartment with her new-found spirit, favourite plant, and old clothes. She held the TARDIS key that she wore around her neck tightly, happiest she'd been in months. She would find a way back to the Doctor, after all.