This story takes place between the classic "Doctor Who" episodes of "Terror of the Autons" and "The Mind of Evil" in Season 8.

The Third Doctor

Rose blinked in surprise when she landed because she was not in the TARDIS as she had expected. Instead, she found herself in a room that looked like a cross between an office and a laboratory. She was even more surprised, however, to note the pistol that was leveled directly at her when she turned around.

"How did you get in here?" growled the soldier who held the gun. Rose did not bother to answer. She just let her Torchwood training take over and kicked the gun right out of his hand. She then swept his legs out from under him and placed her "jumping" boot on the pressure point of his neck to keep him still.

"I don't want to hurt you," she told the shocked man underneath her. "I just want to find the Doctor."

Just then, however, Rose heard a door open behind her. She was about to whirl around to face the new threat when she heard an amused voice. "Did someone ask for the Doctor?" That question was followed by another slightly annoyed one, "Oh good grief, Benton, why are you on the floor…and what did you do to that young lady to make her so angry?"

Even though the voice itself was unfamiliar, Rose knew that tone and inflection well. Consequently, she felt her lips curl up in an unstoppable smile. Then, without turning around yet to face the newcomer, she gently removed her boot and reached down to help the man up off of the floor with a simple "Sorry about that."

Benton nodded curtly and quickly stepped away from her. Rose then turned slowly around to face the other man in the doorway. Her grin widened even further when at the sight.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed as she barely choked back a laugh. "Are you wearing a cape?"

The Time Lord closed his eyes for a moment as his memories of the woman in front of him rushed back in to fill the curiously blank spot in his mind. When the emptiness was filled again with the important knowledge of her and her mission instead, he realized that he had purposely forgotten about her until that moment out of sheer necessity. Now he could remember the pleasurable feelings associated with the woman, as well. Therefore, he opened his eyes quickly and grinned merrily back at her.

"Rose Tyler," he drawled in a manner full of mock hurt, however. "Are you implying that I don't look dashing?"

"Oh, Doctor, you are always dashing to me!" she exclaimed and launched herself into his open arms. He hugged her tightly, and looked down at her with fondness. He then turned to introduce her to the others in the room who stared at them with astonishment.

"Rose, this is my assistant, Jo Grant," he announced as he pointed out the young blonde woman behind him whom Rose had not really noticed her yet since the Doctor had commanded all of her attention at first. "And I think you have already met Sergeant John Benton," the Doctor continued as he gestured towards the man who still refused to meet her eyes.

{I must insist upon hearing that story later, my dear. Not many can best Benton.} He added privately as his own eyes twinkled with amusement and pride. He then looked back at his friends who had moved closer together and who still stared at them both in confusion. "Jo, Benton, allow me to introduce you to my very dear friend, Rose Tyler."

Rose smiled widely at them both, since the Doctor usually surrounded himself with interesting people, and shook their hands with enthusiasm. Benton loosened up a bit at her obviously good-natured response, but still excused himself immediately in order to report the Doctor's unusual visitor to the Brigadier. The Doctor then dismissed Jo, who continued to look at the two of them curiously, and gave her permission to take an extra long lunch break with her friends.

Her departure left the two alone together at last and Rose smiled again as she stepped back to fully examine the Doctor's appearance. The satin cape, velvet jacket, ruffled shirt, and impeccably styled curly gray-blonde hair reminded her of the opera for some reason. She admitted all of that out loud, but she privately added {All you need is a mask to be the Phantom} with a mental giggle.

The Doctor harrumphed, but then he smiled at her again. {Only if you will be my Christine.} He sent the thought her way before she gave him another affectionate hug.

"Come," he said aloud, as he pulled his dignity back around him like his cape – especially since Rose Tyler seemed to be able to push past his normally reserved nature in a way that nobody else could. It disconcerted him…even as he thoroughly enjoyed it, as well. "Let's go and see the TARDIS before the Brigadier gets here. He is not going to be able to resist meeting you after that entrance."

The knowledge that their privacy would soon be invaded caused him to quickly lead her to a secluded corner of the room where the TARDIS was inconspicuously parked. The ship hummed a subdued greeting to them both as they entered the console room. Rose could tell instantly by the tone that that something was amiss.

"What's wrong, Old Girl?" Rose whispered in concern as she patted the console.

"The High Council has stranded us here," the Doctor explained with a glint of anger in his eyes. "They didn't appreciate the fact that my last incarnation kept breaking their No Interference policy. Grounding us here was part of our punishment."

Rose was furious on their behalf and she even cried when the Doctor also told her about his forced regeneration and how Jamie had been sent away with all of the memories of his time in the TARDIS erased. The Doctor, while touched that she cared so much, was upset with himself for making her cry for him – again. Therefore, he held her hands, laid his forehead against hers (as he had in his first form), and sent waves of comfort to her until she recovered.

{Don't worry about us, Rose.} He sent his thoughts to her mind. {Those stuffy Time Lords will come to their senses soon. Meanwhile, I am making myself useful here with UNIT… showing them how things should be done… and now you are here, too!}

For her part, Rose could not help but to smile weakly at how superior and "Doctory" he sounded and how happy he seemed about her being there with him. Therefore, she just hugged him again. When she felt better, she had just enough time to clean herself up with the Doctor's proffered handkerchief and make herself presentable again before there was a knock at the TARDIS door.

The Brigadier strode in. "Doctor," he exclaimed. "Are you going to introduce me to the young lady who can bypass all of our security measures, enter my base without anyone noticing, and put Benton down on his arse without even breaking a sweat?"

The Doctor smiled at this description of his Rose. His Rose? Where had that thought come from? he wondered as he performed the necessary introductions.

The Brigadier was soon satisfied that, despite her unconventional entrance, Rose Tyler was not a security risk. After all, he was used to strange things happening around the Doctor and the pretty young blonde woman that he had just met obviously fell into that category. He could not help but to wonder, though, what the relationship could possibly be between the two of them - especially since she had declined the offer of a room on the base for the night by stating that she would be staying in her room on the TARDIS. That implied a long term residence of some sort. The man knew better than to ask, however. If the Doctor wanted him to know, then he would tell him. Therefore, he just took his leave and left them to do whatever it was that the Doctor normally did on his own.

"Now," the Doctor exclaimed as he rubbed his hands together in glee after the Brigadier left. "How about some lunch? In all of my lives so far, I have not had a chance to take you out for a meal in a restaurant, yet."

"That would be wonderful!" Rose exclaimed. "Putting cocky young sergeants in their place really works up an appetite, you know."

She smiled, her special tongue-touched one that the Doctor could not stop himself from returning, before he suggested that she go change into a more time period appropriate outfit before they left. While she was gone, he was careful to set the star scan and have it up and running before they left. As wonderful as it was to see Rose again, he could not allow himself to forget why she was there in the first place…or that she would probably be leaving again….way too soon.

Meanwhile, Rose went to the same room that she had used during her time with the previous two Doctors and noticed that the TARDIS had made it even more personal and welcoming for her. Rose was glad because she still did not think that she was emotionally ready for her old room, yet…or if she ever would be. However, she assumed that she would probably spend quite a bit of time with the various incarnations of the Doctor throughout his timeline before she got to where she needed to be. Therefore, it would be nice to have a consistent personal space to keep coming back to…a place to call home…until the problem with the stars was solved. After that, she chose not to think about what might happen then. It all depended on the Doctor.

Before she could get lost in the possibilities of that complicated situation, she found a cute little mini skirt outfit laid out on her bed that was similar in style to what Jo had been wearing. {Thank you, TARDIS dear!} She sent an appreciative thought out to the ship before she quickly changed clothes. All the while, she thought wistfully about the long ago days when she drove her future Doctors crazy by making them wait forever while she picked out just the right outfit and did her hair and makeup. However, she certainly had grown up a lot…in more ways than one…since those days.

When she was ready, she walked back out into the console room where her current Doctor waited. She smiled at him and his eyes widened in appreciation when he saw her. In fact, he visibly gulped when he noticed how much leg she showed under her short skirt. For some reason, it affected him in a way that seeing Jo in similar outfits never had. He recovered quickly, though, and offered his arm to her. They walked out that way together, while they laughed and reminisced about their previous meetings. Therefore, they were completely oblivious to the stares of everyone who saw them as they left the science building and entered the car park.

"Let me introduce you to my other girl…Bessie," the Doctor said with a twinkle in his eye as he gestured to the gorgeous yellow car who had her own special spot in the lot. Rose praised the vehicle profusely, and made him smile again, as he handed her into it and shut the door chivalrously behind her. The Doctor then reached into the glove box and pulled out a scarf for her hair.

{So thoughtful!} She thought to him as she also sent him a wave of gratitude and a mental hug.

As they drove across the city, they chatted about all of the adventures that he had experienced since she had seen him last. The Doctor could not help but to glance at her occasionally to appreciate the small smile of enjoyment on her face as she relaxed into the seat and admired the scenery while they talked. She deserves a little relaxation and respite from her worries, he thought to himself.

With that idea in mind, he took her to one of his favorite restaurants that he had discovered during his exile and they proceeded to have a wonderful meal there. At one point, Rose giggled and casually mentioned that their lunch was going to have to replace the chippie visit after the End of the World trip as their first date – for him at least. The Doctor thought back to when Rose shared her memories with his first self and was able to pinpoint the one to which she was referring.

He knew that she was joking with him, but he still marveled at the pleasant feelings that manifested when he thought of dating Rose in the human way – in any of his incarnations. Not that it mattered, though, because Time Lords did not date. Personal relationships were far more complicated…and much rarer…than that for them. However, he also knew that bit of knowledge would not stop him from thinking with secret fondness about such a possibility.

…

In fact, both of them thoroughly enjoyed their outing…until they headed back, arm in arm, to the car. It was then that their pleasant mood was suddenly interrupted by raucous laughter that came from behind them. When they turned around, unfortunately neither of them were surprised to see several scruffy and dangerous looking men had followed them through the car park.

"What are you? Some kind of magician or something?" one of them rudely asked the Doctor as he gestured at his attire.

"Something like that," the Doctor replied nonchalantly. He appeared to be completely unconcerned. However, he kept a careful eye on the men as they approached, and made sure to keep his body between them and Rose. Because they had no connection, he could not read their minds without touching them. Nevertheless, he was afraid that he knew what they wanted all of the same. Just a moment he was proven to be right when another of the men spoke.

"What are you doin' shaggin' an old man like him, honey?" The crude comment was directed at Rose. "Maybe you just don't know what a real man is." At those words, the group suddenly split up and two of the men advanced on her while the other two flanked the Doctor.

"I could show you!" the man insisted as he roughly grabbed Rose's arms and twisted them behind her back, while he also buried his face in her neck and ground his crotch into her backside.

The Doctor felt red hot fury engulf him at the sight of someone abusing his Rose in such a way. Before he could move, however, he felt the two men near him grab his arms to hold him back. He looked over at the woman first, though, before he reacted.

{Rose?} He sent out a wave of concern to her, but he was soon reminded that Rose was no helpless damsel in distress.

{Don't worry, Doctor. I've got this!} She responded in the way that only he could hear as she caught his eye and gave him a cheeky wink before she suddenly jumped into action.

First, she jammed her heel into her attacker's shin which caused him to swear…but he also let her go in his surprise at the attack. Rose then took advantage of her sudden freedom to spin around and punch him in the face before she jammed her elbow into his stomach. The action took his breath away and caught him off balance, as well, so she proceeded to toss him over onto his back onto the hard and unforgiving pavement where he finally laid with all of the wind knocked out of him.

"You, bitch!" growled his partner as he advanced on her.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed at the slur, and he saw black for a minute, but he waited patiently for his chance. He need not have worried, though. Rose chose that moment to spin into a roundhouse kick (that showed off even more of her impossibly long legs in that tiny skirt, the Doctor could not help but notice) and connected with the ruffian's chest with such force that it sent him flying into a nearby car with a meaty thud.

The two men that held the Doctor were so shocked by small woman's unexpected fighting skill that they accidentally loosened their grips on him. He took immediate advantage of their distraction and moved so quickly that both men were unconscious before they even knew what had happened. In fact, all four of the men were on the ground mere minutes after they had approached those whom they had mistakenly thought of as easy prey.

{Wow! What was that? You think you're so impressive!} Rose sent the slightly awed, yet still teasing thought to him. The Doctor smiled at her obvious appreciation of his skills before he replied back aloud.

"Rose Tyler, that was Venusian Aikido and I will have you know that I am indeed so impressive… and apparently you are, too! That was astonishing, my dear!" he exclaimed. He really was truly impressed because most of the women that he had traveled with tended to stay on the sidelines as much as possible during altercations. Rose, however, had jumped in without hesitation and handled the situation beautifully. It had surprised him at first, even though he knew from her memories that she had chosen to have extensive physical training in the parallel world.

At any rate, they shared a laugh and a warm look before they were interrupted by a groan that came from somewhere beneath them. It emanated from the first man who had attacked Rose. The smile fell instantly from the Doctor's visage as he stalked angrily over to him and leaned down.

"Now listen to me!" the Doctor whispered in a dangerous tone. "Leave! Take your friends with you and don't come back - or you will regret it! No second chances! No one molests my Rose and gets away with it!" The man must have recognized something in the ruthless tone because he immediately scrambled up and tried to rouse his friends as the Doctor and Rose climbed into Bessie and drove away without looking back at the pathetic scene.

The atmosphere on the ride back to UNIT was a bit subdued, however, since both of the car's occupants were deep in thought. The Doctor was concerned about his loss of emotional control when Rose was attacked. That was not like him at all. What was it about the woman that inspired such passion in all of his bodies? In fact, why did that particular word come to mind in the first place?

Meanwhile, for her part, Rose thought about the feelings that had slipped through the Doctor's shields during the attack. Fortunately, besides the indignation that they felt at being attacked in the first place, neither one of them had felt particularly overwhelmed during the situation and they were both confident that they could protect themselves…and each other. Despite that, however, Rose had still felt that wave of absolute fury that had rolled off of him when she was being manhandled by that cretin.

In fact, his reaction reminded her so much of the way her protective leather clad Doctor often acted - especially when she was being held hostage by both the Dalek in Utah and the fleet of them at the Gamestation. Does that mean that this Doctor cares about me the same way that my first Future Doctor did? Already? How do I feel about that? Rose wondered before she shrugged to herself. That answer at least was easy. She had loved her Doctor for a very long time…and they were all her Doctor - no matter which form they took. Therefore, she knew exactly how she felt about them all – just as she somehow knew that these earlier Doctors…as wonderful and impressive as they were…were just not ready for such knowledge.

Hell, even my Future Doctors could not admit it out loud! Rose acknowledged. Not even when it was their last chance! That depressing thought dredged up those doubts about her future that had been in her mind ever since she began her crazy dimension-jumping journey in the first place.

Despite that, Rose forced the gloom out of her mind as she instead suddenly remembered the comment that her current Doctor had made about her legs – even though she knew that he had not purposely meant to broadcast that one. In other words, to paraphrase Lady Cassandra on New Earth, {"He'd been loooooking!..."}

The Doctor caught the phrase, even though it had not been spoken aloud, and heard her ensuing giggle at the thought, as well. He looked at her a bit sheepishly when he realized that Rose had heard that wayward thought. However, any awkward tension was relieved when she caught his eye and laughed. He just could not resist the joyful sound and, before he knew it, found that he had returned it with one of his own. In fact, they were able to laugh and reminisce about their past…and their future…adventures for the rest of the way back to UNIT.

…

They soon reached his laboratory again. Rose was in the middle of an animated story about having to catch a shipload of escaped bouncing furball aliens in the middle of Cardiff during her Directorship there in the other universe. The Doctor just smiled indulgently at the amusing description as he opened the door for them both only to have Jo immediately accost him.

"Where have you been?" his assistant shrieked. "It has been hours!"

"Relax, Jo." the Doctor said reassuringly. "We just went to lunch. Afterwards, we ran into a little trouble, but it was nothing that we couldn't handle. In fact, I thought that we were both rather impressive." Rose giggled at the little joke and bumped the man with her shoulder while Jo looked on at their interaction in a mixture of amazement and annoyance. She had never seen the Doctor quite so relaxed, not even with her!

Rose then excused herself and left to freshen up in the TARDIS. Both Jo and the Doctor looked after her, thoughtfully, until the Doctor shooed his assistant over to the worktable to examine the results of a certain experiment that had been running for the last 36 hours straight. After he got her focused on recording the experiment results, the Doctor went to find his Rose.

She was in the galley, humming and making tea. The mysterious pink mug had made an appearance again and the Doctor smiled at its presence.

{Where did the TARDIS hide it in between Rose's visits?} he thought to himself.

{Probably in the same place she keeps my old room} Rose replied cheerfully, even though she knew that the question had not been directed towards her.

Damn! He made sure to keep the swearing thought to himself since Rose had apparently heard him earlier again. For some reason, just being around her apparently made all of his shields weak. He wondered what to think about that. Then he decided that it was probably best if he did not know. Instead he changed the subject as he asked her a question aloud.

"What would you like to do this afternoon, my dear? We still have a couple of hours until the star scan is complete, but we can do anything you want while we wait."

"Don't you have to work?" she asked curiously.

"There is nothing that can't wait until tomorrow." he replied. Even though he usually spent long hours in the lab during his exile, he realized that what he wanted at the moment was to spend as much time as possible with Rose before she had to leave – especially if he turned out not to be the Doctor who could help her with her mission.

Rose thought about it for a moment before she answered. "Well…since we have already had our adventure for the day, I think that I would like to explore the TARDIS," Rose replied. "That is, if the two of you don't mind. I haven't seen anything but the same couple of rooms for years. You're welcome to come with me if you want."

"What a splendid idea!" the Doctor enthused. "Jo planned to go to the pub with some friends tonight and she has been staying in her UNIT apartment lately, anyway. Therefore, we should have the place to ourselves. We can wander around and work up an appetite, and then ask the Old Girl to set us up a picnic in the Garden Room for dinner. How does that sound, dear Rose?"

She replied enthusiastically with her first Future Doctor's favorite phrase, "Fantastic!" Then they were off as soon as the Doctor let Jo know that he was finished in the lab for the day and for her to lock up when she left.

…

The two of them wandered happily around their favorite sentient ship for a couple of hours. During that time, they found not only the common rooms, but also spaces that the Doctor himself did not remember and some that he did not even know about in the first place! Therefore, they spent time in the observatory, laboratory, music room (where Rose smiled at seeing the second Doctor's recorder on display), art studio, ballroom, and even the gymnasium.

In that particular room, Rose looked longingly at the sparring mat. She thought about the Venusian Aikido that she had seen in action earlier and was extremely tempted to ask the Doctor to show her some of his moves. However, she stopped herself just in time and blushed furiously, instead, when those words brought back a completely different set of memories of a different Doctor. The current Doctor noticed the blush and wondered about its cause, but he wisely chose not to comment on it.

During their random wanderings, they even solved a mystery. They found a room full of nothing but shelves that were lined with mugs, teacups, and other drinkware. "I guess this explains where my mug goes between visits. All that is…all that was…all that ever will be – mug style!" Rose remarked with amusement, to the Doctor – who laughed at the thought of applying Time Lord philosophy to drinkware.

Rose's humor soon turned to wistful nostalgia, however, when she saw the mugs that her leather clad Doctor and pinstriped Doctor had preferred. She touched each of them lightly and ran her index finger around their rims as she thought about all of the times that she had drunk tea, or sometimes even coffee, with one or the other of her Future Doctors, in the galley, library, and console room. She continued to look around to see if she could recognize any more of the cups in the room and found herself smiling widely again as she found Jack's favorite mug, as well as the set they had used when she had tea with the last Doctor and Jamie during her previous jump.

Just then her stomach growled audibly. "Time to eat," remarked the Doctor sagely. He offered his arm to her again and led the way down some winding corridors to the garden room. They wandered down a few paths until they found their picnic spread out under a beautiful silver-leafed tree that Rose had never seen before – not even when she had visited the garden room in the future TARDIS.

"Oh…it's beautiful!" she breathed. "What is it?"

"It is called an Arborus Argentum and it is native to my home planet," the Doctor replied as he patted the tree trunk fondly. "I often come here and visit her when I get homesick during this ridiculous episode of exile."

Rose smiled at him fondly, but thought sadly of her future Doctors who apparently did not even have a tree left to help with their longing for Gallifrey. "Would you like to tell me about your home – your planet?" she asked - full of suddenly irrepressible curiosity. Her future Doctors, for obvious reasons, never even mentioned Gallifrey if they could help it.

The current Doctor just gave her a curious look, however, as he wondered why she did not know much about his planet – even after traveling with him for so long. Perhaps my Future Selves have been banned for bad behavior, he wondered. That sounds likely. Perhaps it was even a personal choice to stay away since my future…interactions…with Rose would definitely be frowned upon by the Council – especially since she is human.

At any rate, since she did not volunteer the information, he chose not to ask. There was probably a very good reason for her lack of knowledge. Perhaps it even had something to do with what was hidden behind one of those memory doors in Rose's mind – the ones that she would not allow him to access. He decided to ignore that disturbing thought, however. While they ate, he proceeded instead to tell her about his family, his time at the Academy, the stuffy High Council, and his decision to "borrow" a TARDIS. His stories allowed the time to pass pleasantly enough until the TARDIS chimed at them.

"I guess that means the star scan is complete, my dear," he inferred. "Let us go find out the verdict."

The two of them cleaned up their picnic and headed back to the console room where they found that, once again, the star scan showed no anomalies. Despite herself, Rose started to get discouraged. "Do not worry," the Doctor said reassuringly and put his arm around her as she leaned against him for comfort. "The TARDIS will make sure that you get to where you need to be. It might just take longer than expected. Fortunately for us all, she is also a magnificent time machine, and therefore, we will have all of the time that we need!"

That thought really did reassure Rose. After all, she had to admit that she really wanted to spend as much time as she could with as many Doctors as possible! In fact, if it was not for the issue of the missing stars that continued to hang ominously over her head, she would say that she was happier than she had been in the long years since the old carefree days before her forced separation from the Doctor. After all, being with him…and the TARDIS…felt like home more than Pete's World ever could without him.

Consequently, she gave the man a hug and asked if he wanted to have tea in the library before bed since they seemed to be starting a new/old tradition. She even promised to not fall asleep this time around. The Doctor readily agreed to the pleasant-sounding plan and even offered to fetch the tea while she went to get ready.

…

Rose soon joined him in the library. She was dressed in the same pair of pajamas that she usually wore during her jumps and her hair was still damp from her shower. The Doctor allowed himself the small thought that she always looked lovely no matter what, but before he could continue any further down that slippery slope, he was interrupted when the dear girl asked him if he would read to her again.

He certainly could not refuse and so he settled down in his armchair while she stretched out comfortably on the sofa. Rose knew that she would have to leave again in the morning, but for now she was content to be with her Doctor in the TARDIS. That was how it should be! Consequently, she just lay there while the timbre of his voice…so very different from the other versions of him whom she had known…washed over her and gently seemed to smooth away the trouble in her soul. When she finally found that she could no longer keep her eyes open, though, she reluctantly excused herself, affectionately kissed the Doctor on his cheek, and padded off to her bed.

For his part, the Doctor fondly watched her leave. However, he could not quite control that confusing bit of disappointment that he felt because he did not get to tuck her in this time around.

…

When the morning arrived, the two of them shared a subdued breakfast together. Despite the fact that they both knew that they would see each other again, Rose realized that it was getting harder for her to leave her Doctors and the Doctor realized that it was getting harder for him to let her leave. Consequently, after the meal, as they stood at the console to say goodbye, they shared a warm embrace.

The Doctor also leaned down (since he was so much taller than she was this time around) to kiss her forehead. After all, he was finally beginning to realize that he could trust himself with her lips. And what kind of thoughts are those for a Time Lord! He scoffed at himself, but his smile was genuine when he looked at her.

"Until next time, sweet Rose," he whispered as she typed in her jump sequence, gave him one last sweetly sad smile, and vanished from his sight.