Hola! Doodlegirll here!

Hope you like this chappie! It's a bit longer than the others (six pages, wow!) but I've had positive feedback from Veida, and our beta reader, Lacey! So I hope you all enjoy it, too!

Here we go!

Special thanks to bornOfvengence aka Lacey for beta reading! You're the best! (But David Tennant is still mine, missy! I told you, you can have Nine, but Ten is MINE! ;)

Forbidden Tomorrow

By

doodlegirll and Veida

***

Chapter Two: With Arms Wide Open

"Daddy!"

Rose felt her heart constrict in her chest as she looked up at her daughter's sudden outburst of pure joy. She followed River's line of vision to the window on the other side of the room, and she couldn't stop the tears from invading her eyes when she saw him.

The Doctor was standing on the other side of the soundproof glass, a stupefied look on his face as he looked from her to River to Rose again. She could see him mouthing the word 'What?!' over and over, and the edges of her mouth twitched in amusement.

Before anyone could stop her, River was suddenly on her feet and running to the door that led out into the hallway. Throwing it open, she raced out, curls bouncing as she did. Rose and Martha were instantly on their feet and following the little girl, Gwen following not far behind.

River ran into the room on the other side of the glass, and launched herself at the man she knew as her father, nearly knocking the poor, confused Time Lord to the floor as she hugged him around his legs. The Doctor, stunned, blinked a couple of times before bringing his hand up to pat the little girl's head. River looked up at him and smiled, her familiar blue eyes full of joy.

What's going on here? He thought.

"Daddy, did the monsters hurt you?" She asked. She frowned and cocked her head. "You made me and Mummy leave, and I heard you crying…"

At that moment, Rose and Martha rushed into the room. The Doctor looked up, his eyes locking with Rose's as she smiled almost shyly, but the Doctor could clearly see the tears that were making their way down her cheeks.

Then he knew.

Something had gone terribly wrong in Pete's World, and his clone had sent Rose and their daughter – hisdaughter – back to this universe. River had said something about 'monsters'…and hearing him crying. Whatever these 'monsters' were, they must have killed his human counterpart, and Rose and River had escaped somehow back to this universe, back to him.

While River was unscathed, Rose had a large bruise on her left cheek, and her bottom lip was split. Her hair was several inches longer than it had been when he had last seen her, and it was clear that it had not seen a new dose of peroxide in quite a while, judging from the inch of darker roots that peeked from her scalp.

River released the Doctor and ran back to her mother, grabbing her hand. "Mummy, Daddy's here!" She said, tugging at her hand. "The monsters didn't hurt him!"

Rose smiled as she crouched down to where she was at her daughter's eye level.

"Sweetie, can Mummy talk to Daddy alone for a minute?" She said.

River nodded excitedly. "Sure, Mummy." She said.

"Good girl; go with Ms. Martha and Ms. Gwen then, okay?" She said.

"Okay, Mummy."

"Come on, River." Gwen said. "Let's get you a snack, okay?"

With that, Gwen and Martha led River from the room, Mickey and Ianto Jones not far behind. Rose closed the door behind them and turned back to face the Doctor, who had his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his trousers as he looked at her solemnly.

"Rose." He said, walking closer. "Is it really you?"

Rose nodded as more tears flowed from her eyes. "Yeah." She said, her voice breaking. "It's me."

"What are you doing here?" The Doctor asked. "In this universe I mean?"

Rose couldn't help it; she began to sob. In an instant the Doctor had her in his arms, hugging her tightly as she buried her face into his shoulder, breathing in his familiar scent. He rubbed her back soothingly, rocking her back and forth. Oh, she was real.

"Sh, Rose." He whispered in her ear. "It's alright. Calm down; I'm here."

"You died." Rose sobbed. "They killed you. I heard you screaming as we ran…"

The Doctor's worst fears were confirmed: his clone was dead, and Rose's world had been turned inside and upside down yet again.

He hugged her closer to him.

"They killed you." Rose whispered. "They killed everyone: Mum, Dad, Tony, everyone. And then they killed you."

"Oh, Rose…" He said, pulling her back and wiping the last tears away with the pads of this thumbs. "I'm so sorry."

Rose smiled and took a deep breath. "I know." She said. She took his hand in hers, and squeezed it. "Let's go somewhere where we can talk; I have a lot to tell you."

***

About an hour later, the Doctor sat in one of the office chairs in the conference room, a sleeping River in his lap, her head resting lazily on his chest. The little girl still clenched the battered brown paper bag in her fist, and when the Doctor had asked Rose what the contents of it were, she just shrugged and said that his clone had given it to her before she and River had fled Pete's World, and that she had given it to River to hold on to and keep safe for her.

Across from him sat his Rose Tyler – Smith, he corrected himself, judging from the gold band on her left hand. She chewed at her injured lip nervously as she stared into her fresh cup of tea Martha had brought her.

"So…" The Doctor said, quietly so as not to disturb River. "How long has it been for you, then?"

"Four years." Rose said, taking a sip of tea. "You?"

"Oh, it hasn't been that long for me…'bout a year. Almost that long for this lot." He tipped his head towards the door.

"Done anything…interesting?"

The Doctor shrugged lightly. "Oh, you know, the usual. Same old TARDIS, same old life. Had another run in with the Cybermen in the Victorian times. Met Mary Shelley. Ran for my life. Nothing new."

"Any new companions?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No." He said, sadly. "Just me."

"So you've been all on your own, then?"

The Doctor nodded. "Just me, alone."

Rose swallowed and curled her hands back around the warm cup.

"What about you?"

Rose looked up at the Doctor, who looked back at her, his brown eyes full of concern. He looked back down at River, who stirred slightly. He smiled at her as she slept, peacefully, for the first time in a very long time. Memories filled Rose's mind, memories of the look on the Doctor's face – the Doctor that was her husband, back in Pete's World, the Doctor that went by John Smith – all those times she had caught him in River's room late at night, watching her sleep. He and River had always had a special bond, and Rose knew, while she didn't know howshe knew, that there was something that the Doctor wasn't telling her about their daughter. Like why he had chosen the name River Song, for example.

In an instant, it was gone, and Rose shook her head, setting her cup down, finally.

"Oh, you know," she said, trying to keep it as light as she could. "Been busy. Working, being a mum. Domestics."

The Doctor leaned forward slightly, staring her intently in the eye.

"What happened?" He asked softly.

Rose swallowed. She had been dreading this part since she had arrived at Torchwood's door that very morning and Martha had promised to get a hold of the Doctor for her. She looked back down at the table, unable to look the Doctor in the eye anymore least he see the tears that were gathering in hers.

She felt a cool hand rest on hers, and she entwined her fingers with his as she looked up. The Doctor gave her an encouraging smile, his eyes begging her to not leave him in the dark, and she took a deep breath.

"The monsters came." She said, her voice shaking with emotion. "Two months ago, thought it may as well have been two years. Feels like that long."

"What were the monsters?" The Doctor asked.

"You – the other you, John – had never seen these aliens before, and said they were probably native to that particular universe, and without the TARDIS to translate or run scans on them, we didn't know who they were or what they wanted. That complicated things, a lot.

"When they invaded, they started killing. You said it was like the…Toclafane all over again. They walked around on two legs, like us, but they were this…yellowy-orange color, scaly, and they had these…eye things on their foreheads that you suspected scanned their victims, and we found out later that they used it to follow the family trees. They had these…tongues like whips that would strike you and fry the brain. It was a horrible way to die.

"They killed anyone who crossed their path: men, women, children, for no reason at all. They started breaking into homes in the middle of the night and murdering people in their sleep, burning down the houses. The city was in hysterics. No place was safe anymore.

"You decided it would be a good idea for all of us to go into hiding. He said these monsters were looking for something, but we were never able to figure out what. We were always running, always hiding, always on the move. You would find us a place to hide, usually in a burnt out building, since the monsters never struck the same place twice, and would go to Torchwood to work on another dimension cannon. You said that it was only a matter of time before they found us, or found whatever it was they were looking for, and you wanted us to be safe, me and River. That was all you cared about.

"The monsters killed everyone. They killed Mum, Dad, and Tony. That was when we went into hiding, because they usually followed family lines in their attacks. They'd attack the grandparents and go after the children and grandchildren. That's just how they did things."

Rose paused a minute before continuing her tale.

"Then, two days ago, we were coming back to our camp when they found us. You made us run while you fended them off, and you got away before they could kill you, or get a scan of any of us, and you said the dimension cannon was ready.

"I didn't want to leave you, but you made me promise. You…you said that you were sure you – this you, not John – still loved me and would take care of me and River. I promised I would go, for River, and find you. You knew there was no way anyone was going to survive this once it was over, and you knew we could be next.

"So we hid for the next day and half until they were too busy burning and raiding homes and ran for Torchwood. They spotted us on the way, but luckily by the time they had broken down the door we were a few stories up, so we beat them.

"You got the dimension cannon ready and told us to get to the White Floor – what we called the Ghost Floor. You gave me that paper bag and the cannon, and I gave River the bag to hold onto, since I had to hold her in order for us both to cross the Void."

She sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"The monsters caught up with us, and you went and distracted them while River and I got to the White Floor. I heard you screaming…I know they killed you…and they would have killed us, too, if they had found us."

Rose's face contorted in pain and she began to cry again. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her again, pulling her as close as he could without waking the three year old between them. Rose buried her face into his chest, clenching his jacket into her fist as she cried, softer this time. She felt very safe, here in his arms, and she felt the pain begin to slowly ebb away.

"Nothing can hurt you, or River, Rose." The Doctor whispered. "I promise. I won't let that happen to you, not again." He pulled her back, forcing her to look at him. "I'm not going to leave you again, Rose."

Rose blinked. "What?"

"I'm not going to leave you, not again, not ever." The Doctor promised. "The question is, what about you?"

Rose looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Rose..." The Doctor said. "I'm not my clone; I'm not the John Smith you married. I don't have the same memories that he had. There are things I can't say because I'm too afraid to, Rose. Are you going to be able to deal with that? To deal with a man that looks, thinks, and talks like someone else?"

"I did it before." Rose said. "It won't be easy, but I'll do it. You're still the same to me."

The Doctor smiled, and Rose smiled back. She sighed and got to her feet, picking up her now cold tea.

"I'm going to get some more tea. Want any?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, I think I'll stay here with River. You go get some free radicals and tannin in your system!"

Rose laughed lightly, and the Doctor felt his hearts leap in his chest. That laugh. He had always loved that laugh.

"You will never change." Rose muttered. "I'll be back. Make sure she doesn't wake up; poor thing hasn't slept like that since…"

"Since the monsters invaded."

Rose nodded.

The Doctor waved his hand. "She'll be fine." He said. "Go on."

Rose nodded again and walked out of the room towards the kitchen.

The Doctor watched her go before he looked back down at the sleeping form in his lap. He reached out and gently wiped a curl from her face, and he found himself remembering her thirty or so years from now, all grown up, dressed in a white biohazard suit, sonic screwdriver in hand. He tried not to remember what her ultimate fate would be, her dying for him. He knew now how she knew his name – hisname, the one thing he kept so tightly locked no key could ever open it – and it was not as he had previously thought, at all.

His attention was drawn back to the paper bag she held tightly in her fist. She had refused to let the thing go, Rose had said, and she had resolved to let her keep it. Carefully, he reached out and tried to pry it from her grasp.

River frowned in her sleep and her grip on the bag tightened.

"Come on, River." The Doctor whispered. "Please?"

River did not let go.

"Come on." The Doctor said. "Pretty please?"

River groaned in her sleep, and clutched it to her chest.

"Please?" The Doctor ventured again. When River did not let go, he thought of another idea. "Let Daddy see what's in the bag. You're safe now."

The word 'daddy' felt strange as it rolled off his tongue, but it worked. River's face softened, and her grip on the bag loosened. The Doctor gently uncurled her fingers from it.

"Thank you." He said.

"Y'welcome, Daddy." River muttered in her sleep, and she shifted closer to him.

The Doctor weighed the mysterious bag in his hand. It was fairly heavy, like there was a small rock in the bottom. He reached inside, and his hand brushed a folded piece of paper. Eyebrows furrowed, he brought it out. On the front he found his own spidery script, addressing the paper to himself.

The Doctor's eyes widened and he opened the note in a flourish. He gave himself a rather nasty papercut in the process, and he sucked on his finger for a moment before proceeding to read the letter.

To (well, I guess it would be me, wouldn't it?),

If you're reading this, then the dimension cannon worked, and Rose and River are safe in your universe, which also must mean that I am dead.

I don't have a lot of time to explain things, since I have to get back to Rose and River at our newest hiding place, so I'll skip the introductions and get right to the basics.

First off, yes, River Song is our daughter. She always was. You and I both know, deep in our hearts (my one and your two) that she could never be anyone else. It makes perfect sense, if you sit down and think about it: she was always saying "we did this" and "we did that," but I realize that she never really specified just who "we" was. We always thought it was just "River and the Doctor," but now I realize she really meant "River, the Doctor, and Rose Tyler." She was born here, three years and four months ago, and she had to come over there somehow, so I know this was meant to happen, and after I explained that to Rose, she was a little more willing to leave me behind.

Second, the TARDIS coral Donna gave us is gone. Destroyed in one of the first fires when the monsters invaded. I knew you would ask; there's your answer.

Third, the monsters. I don't know much about them, but I do know this: I examined a few of the bodies of people brought in here at Torchwood when I had time while building the dimension cannon, and I know that they don't just kill you. They scan your brain with that tongue of theirs. The scan is so intense it fries the brain, thus killing you. They're scanning all the people they kill's brains, but for what I do not know. Whatever it is, I knew I had to get Rose and River out before the same happened to them.

Forth, the contents of this bag. In this bag you will find a silver fob watch. Contained inside are all my memories of living here in Pete's World. I know there's no way you'll leave Rose again – I am you, aren't I? – because I know you still love her like you did before. I know you do, because I am you. I know it will be hard for Rose to adjust again, it was when you first left her here with me, so I found a way to contain my human memories in a fob watch, much like we did with our Time Lord conscience when we hid from the Family in 1914. All you have to do is open it and the memories are yours. If you're willing to spend the rest of Rose's life with her – and I know you are – then open the watch.

Take care of them. You are River's father, and Rose's husband, because I am. We are the same, you and me. (It gets confusing a lot, you know.) Open the watch and accept the memories of the life you didn't live and did at the same time. Don't do it for me; do it for them.

Keep them safe.

Signed, John Smith

(aka YOU)

The Doctor hastily set the letter aside and turned the bag upside down. Just as the letter said, a silver fob watch, much like the one he had given Timothy Latimer after he had taken back his Time Lord consciousness. He stared at it, turning it around in his palm, unsure of what to do with it.

Did he dare open it?

At that moment, Rose walked back into the room, a steaming cup in her hands once more.

"What's that?" She asked, frowning at the fob watch in the Doctor's hand.

"It's what was in the bag River was holding." The Doctor said. He looked at her. "And it has all of my human memories inside."

Wow, this chapter was hard to write...you have no idea...seriously, confusing!