Title: Rebirth of the Time Lords
Author: RamblingRose
Rated: PG
Summary: Rose tells the Doctor to take her back to her time and come back in twenty years to get her. But after leaving her, TARDIS takes him to a post-time war Barcelona where he is assigned the task of taking on several companions and teach the ways of the Gallifrey.
Notes: 10/Rose. Very AU.

Chapter Eight - Human Frustrations

Rose jolted to her feet. "Doctor!" She held Dee close to her leg with a protective hand on the side of his head. "Did you follow me?" But, the Doctor didn't seem to be paying much attention to her, his eyes were latched on the little boy hiding behind her leg.

The Doctor knelt down so that he was almost eye level with the boy hiding behind Rose's legs. "Oh come on, you know I'm alright. I could sense you right when I arrived. Could you sense me and Lilith?"

Dee gave a slight nod. "Mum said there might be danger," he said timidly. "So I'm hiding behind her just in case."

"Well, danger tends to stay behind her at any rate so that's not exactly the safest place to be," the Doctor replied, glancing up at Rose mischievously. "Isn't that right Rose? You always managed to outrun danger so it was behind you instead of in front."

No Answer except a stony gaze.

The Doctor stood back at his full height. "No hug?" He held his arms up in invitation. After a moment of standing there, he let his arms drop and he put his hands in his pockets. "Ah, you're angry. A slap then? Your m u m's already given me one of those so you may want to do it on this side if you want me to feel it." He indicated his left cheek. "No? Okay, I lied, it's the other side. I didn't want to feel it if you slapped me."

"Four years," Rose finally said, brushing her hair out of her face when the wind blew. "I hadn't planned for you to come back this early. How long has it been for you?"

"Three days, maybe?" The Doctor replied. "Hard to know when in the TARDIS. Just left you and the kids on Gallifrey -- oh, pardon, -- New Gallifrey and came back to… well, you and the kids." He offered her an amused smile after a brief confused expression, which she did not seem to even think about returning. "But enough about that, not all that important right now, really… Well, it is important but I shouldn't really be telling you the lot should I?"

"There's only one," Rose said quietly. She eyed him speculatively. "If it's only been three days… who's Lilith? Is she the new girl?" When the Doctor nodded, Rose scoffed, "You work quick, I'll give ya that much."

"She's just a friend," The Doctor replied lightly. "Fellow Time Lord you could say. Wanted to come along to see Dee as a little one. She's a bit fond of him as an adult you see…"

"His future girlfriend?" Rose asked in surprise, the vinegar taken out of her indignation.

"No!" The Doctor exclaimed. He caught himself and smiled weakly, adjusting his tone to a more calm one. "No. It's sort of complicated, more of a love/hate relationship between them really. I'll let her explain it later. So, what about you Rose Tyler? What have you been doing for four years?"

"Keeping Dee off the Torchwood radars by working with them," Rose replied, brushing her hair out of her face again. "They're pretty good at tracking down alien life and technology as long as it's not right under their noses." She gazed at him, sighing heavily. Then, without warning she leapt forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I've missed you."

The Doctor grinned and picked Rose up about her waist, hugging her. Rose's only response was trying to hug him even tighter, trying to get him even closer.

"I just can't hug you tight enough," Rose breathed when The Doctor set her feet back to the ground. "So if there's no eminent danger, no sort of alien threats on the horizon… Why'd you come?"

"Well, with New Gallifrey and the entirety of space and time about to collapse in two days, I figured I should come back and make the most of things before risking my life once again," The Doctor replied. He had actually been trying not to dwell on all the things Lilith had been telling him when the two of them were huddled together on the Gallifreyan platform, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt to let her know a little of the information beforehand. "Well, actually, Lilith told me I needed to so… here I am. Said it could be my last chance, so I took the chance." He felt a slight tug on his coat so he looked down at the little boy gazing up at him with nothing short of worship. "Yes?"

"Can we go on a trip soon?" Dee asked sweetly.

"Dee," Rose said in a warning tone. "You're too lit--"

"Certainly!" The Doctor boasted, scooping the boy up. Rose pursed her lips and glared at The Doctor, however, the Doctor was oblivious to look. "But not right now. Maybe tomorrow or the next day. If there's one thing I certainly cannot do, it's stay in one place for too long. So where do you fancy going?"

"I don't know," Dee replied.

"Well," The Doctor sighed, looking at Rose. "Takes after you does he? Not knowing where he wants to go in a ship that can literally go anywhere at anytime…" He nodded toward the complex. "Let's go, I'm sure Lilith has had plenty of time to drive your mum insane by now."

888

The girl had not driven Jackie Tyler insane just yet, but she had managed to drive the woman from the flat for the night. In fact, she had nearly driven everyone from the flat for the night with her constant bantering about her beloved brother -- even though only the Doctor knew who it was -- and how he was one of the first "new" Time Lords that ended up teaching at the re-established Gallifrey University because he decided to "go domestic".

It had turned out Lilith rivaled the Doctor when he was in a frenzy. She had only calmed down once the Doctor threatened to zap her mouth away with the sonic screwdriver.

"It doesn't have a setting for that," she had challenged. Her confidence faltered when The Doctor gave her an unwavering gaze. "Does it?" She had even taken a few uncertain steps toward Rose, in an attempt to hide behind her.

The Doctor flicked a few switches and then pointed it at her with intent. "Try me," was all it took to make the girl grow quiet.

Later, when Rose and The Doctor had retreated to Jackie's bedroom -- because Lilith had collapsed onto Rose's bed some hours earlier and Dee's little bed was also in the room -- Rose had finally asked, "Does it really have a setting for removing mouth's?" She leaned back against the door and candidly turned the latch.

The Doctor took the sonic screwdriver from his pocket and studied it as he plopped down on the bed. "Not that I know of. But it could have. All I have to do is modify it a little and it will have." He grinned cheekily and re-pocketed the sonic screwdriver. He took off his coats, kicked his trainers off, and whirled his feet onto the bed. "So… Questions? I know you have them, so ask away Rose Tyler."

Rose took a seat on the edge of the bed next to the Doctor.

The Doctor clasped his hands behind his head as he leaned back on the pillows, watching the play of emotions cross Rose's face as she mentally searched for the right thing to ask first.

"He only had one heart," she stated.

"That's good," The Doctor replied with a slight smile. "Second heart only comes after the first regeneration. Perfectly normal." He suddenly sat up, so that his face was level with hers. "How long did the pregnancy last? On Gallifrey, there wasn't any, the kids were loomed… Came out all shiny and new. They could walk shortly after coming out of the loom."

"Six months," Rose replied. "He was about six months old when he took his first steps, and about a year old he was already a pro at walking and running. At two he was already carrying on conversations. The pediatrician was amazed. Wanted to know what I was feeding him to make him so smart. Didn't know why I laughed when I told him 'lots of bananas'."

The Doctor blinked. "Well… I think what happened was, The Gallifreyan aspects sped up a few human processes while the human aspects slowed down a few of the Gallifreyan. The two bloodlines are sort of working together. It's like nothing I've seen before…"

"There's just so many things," Rose sighed. "But above all of them, since I know you've seen him…" Rose put her hands over the Doctor's. "What's he like… in the future? Is he safe?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. He's brilliant, actually. You lot had me going for a while actually. Had me thinking you had met some other lad made yourself a tribe of your own."

Rose's eyes widened. "I have more? I mean, we… You and I have others? You mentioned 'kids' earlier, too."

The Doctor nodded again. "Four and Lilith."

Rose gasped. "She's… she's ours then?"

The Doctor smiled gently. "She belongs to everyone… She's a child of Gallifrey, Rose. Her mother is the Empress of Time and Space."

Rose gave an awkward look. "They got one of those?" The Doctor nodded slightly and Rose couldn't help but ask, "You never mentioned 'er before."

"I didn't think she actually existed!" The Doctor laughed. He sat up so that his face was only a few inches from hers and he was gazing down into her eyes intently. "Funny thing, hearing fairy tales growing up and then one day finding out they're all true… How would you feel if you ever found out there was a real Puss in Boots or Mother Goose? It's one thing to hear stories about the Warui Ookami Cluster -- That's where Barcelona is by the way -- but to find out the Empress was real…" His voice trailed off and he gave Rose an odd look. "Extraordinary…" He muttered on with something that vaguely resembled sounding like "how far it reached".

Rose caught his eyes as he gazed at her, the disbelief in his eyes only served to fuel her even more questions. But, she felt as if she had gotten the important ones, about Dee, answered. Perhaps later she would have more, but for right now, Rose was becoming very aware that her Doctor was sitting on a bed, right in front of her.

"Doctor," Rose said softly. She put on her best imitation of innocence. "You do realize that, since I had you leave me here, there's been no one else."

The Doctor gave her a somewhat cocky little smile as he sat back and folded his hands behind his head again. "No one at all? Not even Mister Mickey when you were in dire need?"

Rose wrinkled her nose slightly and shook her head. "No one," she confirmed. "Oh 'e tried a couple of times after Dee was born. Friendly dinner and movie sort of excuse. Went back to his place, he tried to make a move… I started talking about you." Rose preened proudly. "Nothing puts 'im off quicker than talking about you."

"But I'm fun to talk about," The Doctor said in a mock offended tone. "Why wouldn't he want to talk of me? I only took his girlfriend off to see space and time and started a new Human-Time Lord hybrid race with her. Most races would be thrilled to join with the Time Lords, well if they knew what Time Lords were… which most don't. Ah, I think I see the inherent problem. Tell me again why he wouldn't he like talking about me? Because last I checked, I was brilliant."

Rose patted the Doctor's leg. "And full of yourself." She rubbed his leg slightly and raised her eyebrows suggestively. "'ey Doctor… It's been four years."

The Doctor nodded casually. "I know…" He startled slightly. "Oh… And you've just locked me in this room with you, haven't you?" He suddenly looked a little worried when Rose reached up to play with the lapels of his overcoat.

Rose looked at him with desperation, clutching the lapels tightly in her fists. "As I said… It's been almost four years. It may have only been a few days for you but I've been four years without any sort of relief from normal human frustrations."

"Part of me thinks that I would much rather take on the entirety of the assembled fleets of the Daleks than to get between you and my trousers," the Doctor smirked, loosening his tie a little.

He remained looking cool and calm, as if he didn't care that Rose was currently ready to tear him to pieces -- in a good way, mind -- at any given moment. Instead of pressing the matter, Rose forced a smile and delicately smoothed down the front of The Doctor's shirt.

"Oh, it's not that important, Doctor. After all, it's only been four years," Rose picked a tiny ball of lint off The Doctor's lapel and flicked it away. If he could play hard to get, so could she, though Rose doubted she would be able to win the battle of the wills in the end. "I can wait until you've gotten frustrated too."

She patted his leg playfully, stood, and then headed for the door. Before she had turned her back on him, Rose had seen The Doctor do a double-take and sit up in surprise. Rose tried not to smirk.

"I'm taking it the 'hard to get' act doesn't work on you anymore," he said with a exasperated sigh. "Guess this means I have to take more direct tactics then? You know, there's this one planet we should go to. They get severely offended if you don't just out and say what you are wanting."

Rose bit her bottom lip and leaned her forehead against her bedroom down, trying not to laugh.

"I actually made that mistake once," The Doctor continued. "Bad idea to play coy with those people. They ended up chasing me back to the TARDIS with sticks. Not just any sticks either, sticks with the tips sharpened. When they first threatened me, I ran for it. And that body wasn't nearly as young and able as this one, so it wasn't an easy task."

Rose turned and leaned her back against the door. "Now you're just trying to make me laugh."

He had leaned back on the headboard again with his hands tucked behind his head. "Actually I was telling the truth. But that's not what really matters right now is it?" He patted the bed next to him. "Because there is a nice comfortable bed right here. The little one and the crazy one are sleeping, your mum is out for the night. We should make the most of it while we can."

Rose bit down on her bottom lip and rocked on her heels.

She just couldn't grasp the thought that the Doctor was there in front of her. He wasn't angry with her or annoyed with her, as far as she could tell. In fact, him and Dee had acted like old pals getting reunited after a long time apart. She couldn't have asked for a warmer response from him, considering the circumstances. Nor could she have asked for a warmer look in his eyes than the one he was currently giving her while he stroked and patted the bed next to him, trying to coax her over again.

"Come on Rose," the Doctor said in a low, slightly pleading tone.

She couldn't help but comply.

After all… it had been four years for her.