This story takes place between the classic Doctor Who episodes of "Fury from the Deep" and "The Wheel in Space" in Season 5.

The Second Doctor

Rose landed with a thump, and staggered a bit before she regained her balance. However, to her relief, there was no nausea or fatigue after her time jump. Not having to cross dimensions makes all of the difference, she thought cheerfully. Having the TARDIS direct the jumps probably doesn't hurt either! she added as she patted the ship's console gratefully before she took a good look at her surroundings.

The first thing that Rose noticed was that the current console room looked almost identical to the one that she had just left. In fact, she could have easily assumed that it was the exact same one - in the same place and time. However, the young and handsome kilt-wearing man who stood off to the side and gazed at her with disbelief proved to her that it was not.

{Hello!} She sent out with a little cheerful mental wave. There was no response, and no recognition, so apparently the young Scot was not the Doctor. Time for the direct approach then, she thought.

She gave the man a big friendly smile and spoke reassuringly. "Hello! Sorry to just drop in like this, but I'm looking for the Doctor. Is he here?" Before the man could move past his surprise enough to answer, though, another voice spoke up.

"Did you say something, Jamie? I thought I heard someone. It sounded like a woman." The speaker came around the corner out of an adjoining corridor at that moment. He stopped immediately as he saw the newcomer, however. He took a long look at her and blinked a couple of times as his carefully locked away memories unfolded. Then a wide smile crossed his face as he cheerfully shouted. "Oh my word, it's Rose Tyler!"

The dark mop-headed man with the long black coat, checked trousers, and polka dot bow tie crossed eagerly over to his visitor. Before she could say anything, though, he swept her up in a big hug before he set her gently back down on her feet. She patted his cheek affectionately and giggled while she adjusted his bowtie.

"Hello, Doctor," she said. "Long time, no see!"

He grinned down at her and nodded. "Yes, it has been," he replied. "Longer for me, than for you, though…I would think." He smiled again as he heard her reply in his mind.

{Well, I did just leave a certain white-haired gentleman standing at the TARDIS console, you know.} She sent out before she favored him with her special tongue-touched smile. The Doctor took a moment to admire it before he grabbed her hand and led her to his bewildered companion for introductions.

It took a few minutes, but eventually the Doctor was able to convince Jamie that Rose was indeed a friend from both his past…and his future…and not some horrible shape-shifting monster that had somehow materialized into the TARDIS. Once Jamie was able to move past his suspicions, however, he was happy to realize that the attractive woman was from Earth – even if she did turn out to be English. After all, he had learned from Ben and Polly that times had changed things between their two countries and that English did not always have to equal evil.

The Doctor then explained to Rose that they had just landed on the planet, Isthle, to investigate a distress signal. He also mentioned that, while he would have been happy to see her at any time, he was especially glad that she arrived when she did because his other companion, Victoria, had just chosen to leave them for a new life. Therefore, both men felt a bit bereft at the lack of female company.

{Especially Jamie, poor fellow,} he added in a mental sidenote, but Rose could see that the Doctor was unhappy about the situation himself. She reached over to squeeze his hand again and was glad when she was rewarded with a sudden smile.

While Jamie looked on with interest, the Doctor then reassured her that he remembered her mission. As he set the TARDIS's sensors to check for spatial anomalies in the current star patterns, he picked up her hand, squeezed it again, and sent her a message that only she could hear. {I sincerely hope that this me can be the one to help you. Maybe you will be able to stick around for a while then. No need to jump off again to the next one in line!}

Rose could not help but to giggle again as she reached up to brush a strand of the Doctor's floppy hair off of his brow. She had liked his first incarnation very much, but she had to admit that she enjoyed this more lighthearted personality, as well. The Doctor seemed to understand what her gesture meant since he smiled at her cheerfully and asked if she would like to join them in their search.

"After all, it's still early morning," he prompted. "We should have plenty of time to answer the distress signal and make it back to the TARDIS before the star scan is complete. There's a lot of universe to look through, you know!"

Eager for an adventure, Rose agreed, and the three of them set out immediately. As the Doctor and Jamie (with Rose between them) headed away from the TARDIS and towards the source of the distress signal, however, she was struck by a nostalgic memory of once being in the same exact same position between her leather clad Doctor and Jack. As always, the thought of those two men…and their time together…triggered a moment of intense longing inside of her. After all, both her sexy brooding Doctor and her "Anything Goes" best friend were gone for good.

Or were they? Rose's breath hitched as she suddenly realized something that she had not even allowed herself to consider before. If these earlier Doctors could not help her, then she might possibly be able to see them…or at least that version of her future Doctor…again. She did not know whether it was selfish to wish for such a chance or not, though.

She knew that it would be better for the universe…no…the multiverse…if the problem with the stars could be resolved as quickly as possible. However, would it not be better for her to be able to give her first future doctor a proper goodbye? After all, even if she knew exactly how she had felt about him back then, she never had the opportunity to even tell him…much less do anything about it.

At least she had been able to experience some sort of closure with his successor – even as inadequate as it was. However, with her first future Doctor, she did not even have that much. I might be able to fix that…and so much more, she realized and she blushed a little at the interesting direction her thoughts had taken. In fact, her current Doctor looked over at her a bit strangely when he felt the wave of longing as well as another…unexpected…emotion leak through her shields.

{Are you…alright…my dear?} He asked uncertainly…and he sounded so much more like the kindly white haired Doctor that she had just left, that she had to smile – despite her embarrassment.

{Oh yes, indeed! I was just a bit surprised by a future memory,} she replied quickly (and a little sheepishly) as he nodded simply in understanding.

She quickly pushed such questionable thoughts out of her head for the time being, however, as she took the hands of both her companions instead, and asked about their recent adventures while they walked. Consequently, they were soon deep into a conversation about their experiences with Daleks and Cybermen. When the Doctor told her that his first "renewal" had come after his last Cybermen encounter, Rose cried for the white-haired Doctor…and maybe a little bit for herself, as well, as she remembered Canary Wharf.

The Doctor held her hand tightly, sorry to have caused her pain (even indirectly) while Jamie awkwardly patted her on the back until she felt calm again. As she clutched the Doctor's hand in her own, and took comfort from the warm familiarity of the action, (After all, how many times had she held her future Doctors' hands in much the same way?), she then proceeded to tell Jamie about her own personal tragic encounters with the metal monstrosities. She even told him about the painful time when she and her second future Doctor had to deal with both sets of them at once!

Jamie was shocked to discover that not only had Rose faced both of those enemies multiple times and survived, but that she had also been stranded in a parallel universe for years because of them! The Doctor was less surprised by the stories, however, because he had already seen her memories of the encounters. Nevertheless, it did serve to reinforce his belief about just how special Rose was both now and to his future selves, as well.

He did not say any of this out loud, of course. He just assured Jamie that her stories were indeed true. Then they all compared notes about the best ways they had all found to defeat their common enemies. This time, however, Jamie respectfully hung on to Rose's every word – especially since he now knew that the lass was a lot more than just a pretty face.

…

When they finally reached the nearby town, the stories and discussions ceased. Instead, the Doctor dug a little scanner out from his pocket and searched for the exact location of the distress signal they had come to investigate in the first place. When he got a hit, he asked his companions to wait for him while he checked out the nearby spot from which it seemed to generate.

While he was gone, Rose thought about Jamie's heritage and his apparent trustworthiness, and made a decision. First, she swore him to secrecy, and then told him the highlights of her Scotland trip with her second future Doctor. She even told him all about how she and the Doctor had saved Queen Victoria from the werewolf. Jamie was still laughing at the thought of the Doctor's banishment when the man himself appeared at their side and exclaimed, "When I say run…RUN!"

They did not make it, of course. Instead, they were captured and dragged into the local jail on some trumped up charges of conspiracy to commit Grand Theft Spaceship or something similar – especially since the distress signal that they were looking for was not actually a distress signal after all. It had turned out to be more of a highly sophisticated intergalactic car alarm, instead.

It did not help, either, when they put Rose into a different cell than the two men. After all, she was down the hall and they could not even see her. The Doctor, especially, began to worry when she did not immediately answer the mental inquiry he sent to her. Both of them did hear her swear loudly, though, and their worry increased when that sound was followed by a shout, and a loud "crunch!"

{Rose, Rose, are you alright, my dear?} The Doctor called again frantically to her mind.

"Of course, I am! After all, somebody has to save you two, yeah?" the woman herself exclaimed cheerfully as she rushed to unlock their door with the keys that she had just taken off of the now unconscious guard. Jamie was obviously impressed with her and the Doctor beamed at her with delight. However, his smile disappeared when she told him that she had decided to introduce the guard to some of her Torchwood martial arts training when he had gotten a bit too handsy with her.

"Did he hurt you?" the Doctor exclaimed angrily…and his formerly cheerful face quickly became infused with fury at the news, instead.

Rose could even see that his fists were clenched together beneath their restraints. Consequently, she hurriedly opened the cell and rushed over to him to reassure him that she was okay. She patted his cheek with affection and then his breath, despite his respiratory bypass, actually hitched with surprise when she stepped even closer to him. He only had a second to wonder about that, however, before both he and Jamie watched with astonishment as she reached inside his jacket, and started to rummage through his pockets.

"Rose, what are you doing?" he asked cheerfully as he recovered from his surprise and his good humor suddenly returned along with her reassurance and obviously continued well-being.

"Just looking for something to release your hands, Doctor," she replied. "Those restraints don't unlock with a normal key, you know." Consequently, she continued to dig around in his huge transdimensional pockets until she grabbed something unexpected. She grinned mischievously.

"Why Doctor!" she exclaimed with a flash of that special smile, "Is that a recorder in your pocket…or are you just happy to see me?"

"Oh my giddy aunt! That's enough cheek out of you, Rose Tyler!" the alien commanded in a serious tone that was belied by the faint blush on his cheeks and the twinkle in his eye. Meanwhile, Jamie just guffawed loudly on the other side of the cell.

Rose, however, just smiled broadly at her Doctor's obvious discomfiture and continued to search. A moment later, she pulled out something that resembled a Swiss Army Knife - except that it had attachments that were so alien-looking that she could not even begin to guess at their function. Nonetheless, she was able to find one likely candidate that looked like a cross between an ice pick and a screwdriver. She used this one to pop open a joint on the Doctor's restraints and finally give him back his freedom of movement.

Rose rubbed his sore wrists for him for a moment to help restore his circulation and he was surprised once again by his reaction to her closeness and touch. He did not have long to dwell on the pleasant sensation, however, because they still needed to release Jamie. After they took care of that little detail, Rose grabbed a hand from each of her male companions and the three of them sneaked out of the building where they were being held. The sound of laughter followed them all the way back to the TARDIS.

Once they had arrived, Jamie disappeared into his personal quarters for a while. Rose, however, insisted on going to make tea while the Doctor and the TARDIS flew them into the vortex. She returned with a tray that contained tea for two and, the Doctor noticed with some amusement that Rose had somehow reaquired the same pink mug that she had used during her last visit…but that he had not seen since. After their pleasant tea break, though, the Doctor checked the star scans again with Rose by his side. His face fell as soon as he saw the calculations.

"No," he whispered to Rose. "The stars are all here. I'm not the one to help you."

The woman's smile wavered briefly, as well, before it returned full force as she gave him a gentle little hug and sent him a reassuring thought. {You are helping me right now!}

That restored his smile, and he brightened up as he told her aloud, "I insist that you sleep here again, though, before any jumping recommences. After all, there's no telling what kind of crazy situation that you will find yourself in with the next me. Therefore, you need your rest!" Rose found that she had no desire to disagree with the chance to have some more time with this version of her favorite alien, and so they made their way to the galley to prepare dinner together.

Jamie rejoined them for a companionable meal, after which they all retired to the library. Rose had showered and changed into some modest pajamas first – just in case she fell asleep in the library again as she had done with the previous Doctor. The current Doctor, however, gave her a quick look of surprise but decided to not say anything when he realized that it was quite a sensible thing for her to do.

Instead, to both Rose's amusement and Jamie's consternation, the Doctor insisted on serenading them with recorder music from his armchair while they lounged side by side on the sofa. Nevertheless, when he was asked to do so, Jamie did consent to accompany the Doctor and sang several Scottish folk songs in his clear, strong brogue. Rose even surprised herself by singing along when the Doctor played a couple of songs that she recognized. Both of the men thought her voice was lovely and felt even more admiration for her than before.

All in all, it was a nice evening. However, Rose's body felt the stress and exhaustion of the fighting and running more than she realized and she soon fell asleep in the Doctor's library again. This time, though, it happened with her head on Jamie's shoulder. Jamie smiled at the blonde head so close to his own, and offered to carry her to her room. The Doctor, though, felt an irrational flash of jealousy at the suggestion and he immediately insisted on doing it himself.

Jamie just shrugged, even though a bit disappointed since he would not have minded sneaking in a good night kiss with the pretty lass. However, he was suddenly struck with the shocking thought that maybe the Doctor had the same idea himself. Did the Doctor even do anything like that? Jamie wondered and snickered at the thought as he bid his host a good evening and went on to his own room.

The Doctor, to his great surprise, soon realized that he did have the same idea, but he managed to restrain himself admirably. After, he had carried Rose to the room where she had showered and changed earlier, he tucked her in gently. He then contented himself with stroking a stray hair from her forehead as he contemplated how much this precious girl had already come to mean to him in just the short amount of time that he had known her. He then realized with surprise that one day he would have known her for his entire life – at least through his Tenth incarnation, and quite possibly longer!

He just could not imagine how strong his feelings would be after all of that time if he was already contemplating the act of kissing her at the current moment. He then recalled the memory that she had shared with him of his Ninth self, who had sacrificed an entire regeneration in order to save her life, and he nodded in sudden understanding. After all, he could guess how it was going to be…and even though it was still unbelievable that a Time Lord would somehow become emotionally entangled with a human…he found that he could not deny that the idea intrigued him – especially when the human was Rose Tyler!

In fact, he felt that intrigue try to manifest in a physical way, as well, when he remembered the flash of what could only be called want that he had felt escape from her shields earlier in the day when she had confessed to being surprised by a future memory. Apparently, the future was going to be very interesting with her around, indeed! He thought about it all for a moment and then smiled at the sleeping form on the bed before he purposely pushed such ideas out of his mind. (After all, it was clearly not the right time for them!) Then he walked out of her room and closed the door quietly so he would not wake her. Behind him, however, Rose smiled in her sleep as she caught a flash of his departing thoughts as they leaked around his shields and into her dream.

…

The next morning, after the Doctor insisted on a meal to keep Rose's energy levels up, they all met at the console to say goodbye. Once there, Jamie braved the Doctor's disapproval by swinging Rose into a hug and was pleased to receive a friendly kiss on the cheek in return. The Scotsman then reluctantly left the room to let the two have a private goodbye.

The Doctor gazed sadly at Rose without speaking as he wondered how many times he was going to have to say goodbye to the wonderful woman over their apparently lifelong acquaintance. Rose's thoughts were in a similar place, as well, and her sorrow at having to leave yet another version of her Doctor behind showed clearly in her demeanor as she reached up to affectionately press her lips against first one cheek, then the other, and then on the tip of his nose in farewell.

However, she was able to shake off her melancholy enough to send another tongue-touched smile his way when she saw his look of pleased surprise by the unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome, physical contact. Then, with just one final wave of farewell, Rose sent the TARDIS a mental message that she was ready. She initiated the jump sequence and was gone once again before her mop-headed Doctor could recover enough to say anything.