~11~

The sound of whirring engines filled the air, and Eleven sprung up out of his seat. He wondered who would follow the Northern man out of the ship… Would he be meeting his future? Or maybe his distant past? An image of a recorder and dark hair flashed through his mind and he grinned, bouncing a little. This could be brilliant! He rubbed his hands together and stepped forward as the TARDIS finished materializing, door swinging open.

His hearts sunk a little as a man in a brown, pinstriped suit half-ran out, looking around. Their previous incarnation followed with the same energy, almost running into the other man as they stopped.

Both of their eyes found him at the same, and Ten looked him up and down.

"Hello," said the Doctor, with a thin smile.

His past self looked at him curiously, seeming not to feel the same disappointment Nine had had.

"Good hair," he said, nodding, "not sure about the bow tie though."

"I reckon he should burn it," added a Northern accent, as Eleven straightened the offending item with a slight scowl.

Ten smirked a little, putting his hands in his pockets.

"How far away are we from you?" he asked the older man.

The Doctor hesitated slightly. The other time lords, who studied him with matching expressions – a mix of curiosity and mild suspicion (he called it his 'investigating face'), didn't miss this.

"He said a long time away," said Nine, apparently deciding they didn't have time to be enigmatic when Rose was in danger.

For the first time Ten noticed the other two people in the room, who were watching them from the corner, both looking at what looked like a transported panel.

"Oh, hello," he said, walking over to them with a smile. "I'm the Doctor."

"Yeah," said Katia, "We sort of figured that."

"You must be the police slash hitchhikers then," he said, glancing over to Nine, who nodded.

"You're… different," Tithos said, looking the new man up and down.

"Always good to see sharp minds in law enforcement," said Nine.

Ten ran a hand through his hair with a pleased smile. "Well," he said, pretending to be modest, "I have been given the occasional compliment."

Nine gave him an are-you-serious look, crossing his arms.

Eleven clapped his hands together, seizing on the opportunity to change the subject.

"So," he said, "three TARDIS', one missing Rose – I think the numbers are in our favour, gentlemen."

"Two missing Rose's," corrected the tenth Doctor with a frown.

"She's with you?" Eleven asked, voice loosing it's previous bounce, as he realised he didn't know what point in his timeline the man had been pulled from.

Ten's frown deepened. "Of course she's with me. Where else would she be?"

"Yes," said Eleven quickly, "of course she is. Not that she is now, since she's missing. But she's not visiting Jackie. She isn't having chips in London with that boyfriend of hers and making her mum do the washing. Isn't that funny - a whole TARDIS at her disposal and she still makes Jackie wash her clothes!"

He trailed off, hoping the rambling had distracted everyone from his slip up.

Ten's face relaxed, and Eleven decided to let the man believe his implication, that Rose wasn't going to leave, that he had nothing to worry about. It wasn't true, of course, but it was the kindest thing to do.

"I always tell her the TARDIS could do it," Nine said, sounding amused, "but no, Jackie Tyler has better cleaning technology than the man with an actual time machine." He shook his head.

Ten looked between the two men. "Well, that way she can visit home," he said, as if it was obvious.

Nine frowned at him. "I'd take anywhere she asked me to," he said, almost sounding hurt. "She doesn't have to make an excuse."

"You don't do domestic," Ten reminded him with a point of the finger.

"You do?" Nine said, raising his eyebrows.

Ten rubbed the back of his neck a little sheepishly. "Occasionally."

Eleven looked between the two men, feelings caught somewhere between sad nostalgia and amusement.

The younger man had no idea how much he would change for Rose, how many little rules he would bend. He'd have Christmas dinner with her family, for one thing. Of course he'd do anything for her already, he even took her to the day her father died – paradoxes be damned, her wish was his command. But back then so much of his love - 'no, best not use that word' – had translated into a need to impress her, to see her grin, without also becoming a need to make the people she loved happy too.

Of course, if he was to accidentally make Jackie or Mickey happy it wouldn't have been a bad thing, but he would never have really tried to please them. He liked Mickey well enough, even asked him to travel with him, but he'd never felt the slightest bit of guilt over running off with his girlfriend and getting him accused of murder. Well, not really.

And then he regenerated, thinking of her as he died, and he became someone painfully well equipped for the slow path. Someone who could become a part of her family... Who was a part of her family, even if there were still times he found that hard to admit to. He'd defend Jackie and Mickey in the same way that they defended him and Rose – out of loyalty and, as it happened, love.

Eleven's eyes went over to the younger man again, who was looking at his next incarnation with disbelief.

"You better not be taking her mother with you," he said.

Ten crinkled up his face. "No," looking disgusted, "not even for Rose."

Nine snorted slightly. "Jackie Tyler…" he started to say, but he was interrupted.

"Oi!" said Ten, "this better not be rude!"

"You were rude," the other him nodded back.

"I'm allowed to be – she likes me."

"She came onto me!" said Nine defensively, before cringing a little.

"Yeah, and then she slapped you," he reminded him, rubbing his face as if he could still feel it.

"Anyway, that was only once – and don't remind me…" he continued, shaking his head at the memory of the first time he'd met Rose's mother.

Eleven remained silent as his mind went back to the last time he'd seen her.

The Doctor watched as his twin asked Jackie about the baby, and she told him they'd named it after him.

"Really?" the other man said, looking a little touched.

"No, you plum, he's called Tony," Jackie smiled.

For a second the Doctor's hearts broke a little looking at them, realising that for them, this was the start of a new relationship.

He knew Jackie thought of him a little like a son now; her protectiveness of him was obvious, and she certainly treated him like family. She actually bought him chocolate the last Easter they were together – Rose had been a little embarrassed at first, but then the Doctor had given Jackie a hug, which delighted both women more than they let on. And she'd even asked him to come to her birthday party. Well, not so much asked as demanded. It hadn't been too bad, even if she had told her friends he was Rose's boyfriend. If he was honest, he didn't mind them thinking that. He sort of liked it. Well, more than sort of.

But once he left, the Doctor – the other Doctor – really would become her son in law. They'd still be arguing and teasing and talking about Rose, but now they'd also have family functions and holidays and worrying about each other's health.

They both had a family through Rose, but his twin was the one that got to keep it. He was the one that got to have a mother.

His eyes found Rose again, and suddenly loosing his adopted family again didn't seem so bad. It would sting a little, but he could brush it off.

He wouldn't get over her.

The Doctor blinked away the memory as he noticed the other men staring at him.

"Well?" Ten asked expectantly.

Eleven looked at him blankly.

"Where's your TARDIS?" the third Doctor asked, a little impatiently.

"Ah! Yes! Sorry!" said Eleven, annoyed at himself for slipping up again.

He pulled out his sonic from his jacket with a flourish, delighting in the impressed looks from the other two, Ten looking down at his own sonic with a pout.

"Oh! That reminds me!" said the middleman, pulling out the second sonic and throwing it to Nine, who caught it.

"Where'd you find it?" he said, grinning.

"In a field," Ten replied, "next to some cows."

Eleven pressed the button on his more impressive screwdriver, holding it in the air, and his ship materialized behind him.

Ten raised his eyebrows.

"That was… that was pretty good," he said.

"Fantastic," beamed Nine, "now we can triangulate Rose's position, using her key, and calculate where the time pocket is! Then we beam her out of there like it was nothin'!"

"Three ships, two keys… this is going to be easy," said Ten, a little smugly.

Eleven unlocked his TARDIS and walked inside, leaving the door open the other men to follow him in.

"You've redecorated!" said Ten, and Eleven turned around smiling.

He looked like a little kid, eager to show off his new toy.

"I don't like it," said the other man finished, looking around in distaste.

Nine strode over to the console; taking charge in the same way he'd done in Ten's TARDIS.

"Right," he said, "the controls here are a little different, but I'm a genius, me, so it shouldn't be a problem… Ah-ha! Got it! Okay, bow tie, I've set you up, pretty boy, you go to your TARDIS, and I'll go to mine – we should be able to see each other on the view screens."

He walked over to the door, and turned around when he realised Ten hadn't moved. The man was standing with his hands in his pockets, swaying a little on his feet.

Ten noticed his past self looking. "Oh I'm pretty boy?"

Nine rolled his eyes. "Come on," he said, walking out, this time followed by the other man.

Eleven clicked his fingers, closing the door behind them.

He heard the other men giving instructions to Katia and Tithos, telling them to have the transporter waiting for co-ordinates so they could beam Rose to safety.

He maintained the signal his ninth form had started, fingers moving quickly and expertly, but his mind wouldn't focus.

When his last regeneration had walked out of the TARDIS his hearts had sunk, not because he didn't like him, or he had wanted to see the future, but because that life, at the end, had been his most painful since the war.

At first it was brilliant, travelling with Rose and acting like little kids, giggling and running and being, well, in love. But then she'd left, and he'd been heart broken.

He hadn't really been okay again until Donna travelled with him, as much as Martha had helped. Donna had been a proper best friend.

And then Rose came back, running towards him like an impossible angel, and for a second he'd been the happiest he'd been in a long time. Surrounded by all his friends, his family, flying the Earth home.

But then he had to send Rose away. He had to watch another man kissing her, watch her kiss him back. And he had to walk away, knowing that they would have the only life he really wanted, in that body anyway, the only one he could never have. He got to have Rose forever. And the Doctor got to loose her again.

And then he lost Donna as well. And she'd died. Well, the version of her that he loved had, anyway. She wasn't his friend anymore, and she could never come back. Never even remember him.

He hadn't been alright on his own... he had gone too far, and he knew it.

All he could do was sit in a café with her grandfather, hearing him remind him that he needed her, when he could never rely on her again.

And then, after all that, the Time Lords had returned. And he had to destroy them again.

It didn't hurt anymore. At least, not as much. Regeneration did that – it eased old wounds. It was a fresh start, a new beginning. Now he didn't ever think of Donna Noble without a reminder. She wasn't a voice in his head anymore. Neither was Rose. They were memories now, not a part of him.

At least that was what he'd thought before he'd come here.

Meeting Nine was difficult, but Ten was worse. When he looked at Nine he remembered Rose running towards him, and when he looked at Ten all he saw was her walking away.

Eleven shook his head, as if the action would shake out the thoughts.

"Focus," he told himself. Ignoring his own order, he pulled out a biscuit from inside a pocket and popped it into his mouth. He munched happily for a second. Jammie dodgers. Genius.

"Hey, bow tie," Nine's voice said, "stop eating and look up here."

The Doctor looked up at the screen to see Nine looking down at him with a slightly amused but disapproving expression.

"You got it to work!" he replied. "Nice one."

"And for my next trick," the younger man said, flicking some switches.

Ten's face appeared on the screen next to him. He was eating a banana and typing something into the console.

"Pretty boy!" said both Doctor's, and Ten spun around.

"You got it to work!"

"That's what he said," said Nine.

"How come you're not making him stop eating?" said Eleven.

"It's a banana," the other man replied, like it was obvious, "bananas are good."

"Good source of potassium," agreed Ten, still eating.

"No, I don't like bananas," said Eleven, looking at it with distaste. "A little Scottish girl gave me one and I thought she was trying to poison me."

"Oh I like Scotland," said Ten, "that's where we met that werewolf, remember?"

Eleven made a happy "oooh" noise as he remembered, moving his hands exitedly. "We got knighted!" he said, grinning at Ten.

"And exiled!" said Ten, who was smiling back.

"I don't remember that," said Nine.

"Hasn't happened to you yet, grumpy," Ten told him, waving a hand. "Wibbly wobbly-"

"-timey whimey," Eleven finished. They grinned at each other again.

"Right," said Nine, "thanks for that. Now can we get back to work?"

"Yep. Sorry," Ten said, tugging on his earlobe. He ran around his console, pushing a lever down. "I've pretty much got my part of the signal done, how are you two coming on?"

"Almost there," Nine replied, moving some buttons. "Rose Tyler, I'm coming to get you," he finished, and Eleven wondered if he was really talking to them.

"We all are," the Doctor said, before looking over at another screen. "I'm ready here!" he announced.

"So am I."

"And me."

"Oh, who's da man!" said Eleven, and then cringed awkwardly. "Just as bad as the first time I said it… Anyway, you," he pointed to his ninth form, "send your part to sand shoes, I'll do the same, and then he can run them out to the others."

"They're not sand shoes," said Ten defensively.

"Yes they are, and they look ridiculous – now go give them those co-ordinates!"

"You're the one in tweed," muttered Ten, but ran out of the TARDIS, and the Doctor heard him giving the co-ordinates to the krylanoids.

"Now," Nine said, still on the screen, "if I'm good, and I am good, we should be able to send both Rose's back at once."

"We are good," said Eleven. He paused. "You know," he said, "we could continue this conversation out side?"

"Ah. Right."

Both men left their ships and walked into the room.

They walked up to each other and shook hands.

"Good to see you again," said Eleven.

"And you," Nine replied.

"Oi! You lot!" Ten said, and they ran over to the transporter controls.

Ten was sonicing the panel, when he stopped and looked up at Tithos.

"Did you leave the router for this in an old house?" he asked him, curious.

"Yes," the man replied, looking a little surprised, "we figured no one would go in."

"I like exploring," said the Doctor, as Ten turned back to the panel.

"Ah-ha!" he said. "Got it!"

Nine grinned. "What are you waiting for?" he said. "Beam her back!"

Eleven froze for a second, hearts racing. He was actually going to see Rose again. The last time he'd seen her she hadn't known who he was yet, but now… Now she'd know him. She wouldn't recognise him though. He could lie to her; say he was hundreds and hundreds of years into the future.

No, he couldn't lie to her. He'd only ever lied to her to save her life, and it had broken his hearts then. But what if she asked him where she was? The Doctor knew his past selves were only easy to subdue because they were scared to look at the future, but Rose wasn't like that. She would want to know. She would ask. What could he tell her?

He clenched his hands as he saw Ten finish pressing the right buttons.

There was a crackling sound, and a young girl materialized in front of them.

~10~

"Rose!" his past self said, running over and sweeping her up in a huge hug.

"Doctor!" she replied, grinning in relief at their reunion as she threw her arms around him.

She went to move away from him, but Nine held onto her for a little longer.

Rose laughed in his arms, oblivious to the pained look on the faces of the other men.

"Missed me then," she said, finally managing to pull away.

"I always say don't wander off," he said, trying and failing to sound stern.

His face looked concerned as he ran a hand over her cheek. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Rose, "don't worry about me. She just scanned me a few times, asked these weird questions… then she put me in this… Well actually I don't know what it was. It felt like a cupboard. It was all... black. And then I sorta fell asleep."

"Probably a stasis chamber," Nine told her, frowning. For a second there was a hint of anger in his eyes, and then it vanished.

He grinned at her again. "Rose Tyler," he said, enjoying each syllable.

Rose smiled up at him. "How'd you find me?" she asked, as he took her hand in his, running his thumb over her skin affectionately.

Nine tilted his head to the four other people. "They helped."

The tenth Doctor stared at her, unable to look away even if he'd wanted to. She seemed noticeably younger than his Rose, even though they were only a little over a year apart. Her hair was still long, and she was wearing the union jack shirt she'd tried out the night they met Jack. He fought the urge to run over and hug her.

"Hello again," Rose said, giving Katia and Tithos a small wave.

Her eyes fell on the two strangers. She frowned for half a second; a little amused by the younger man's outfit, but then smiled.

"I'm Rose," she told them, "Rose Tyler. Who are you?"

The Doctor's hearts clenched painfully. Of course she wouldn't recognise him. It shouldn't bother him. But, predictably, it did. He could see his future self tense a little beside him, and figured he must feel the same.

"I-" he hesitated, stuttering a little.

"Rose," said Nine, turning her to face him as he took her other hand, "I have to explain something."

She frowned at him, confused. "Okay..."

"Time lords have this nifty little trick," he began, "it's a way of cheatin' death."

Rose didn't interrupt, biting her lip as she listened.

"When I'm about to die-"

"You're not are you?" Rose said quickly, eyes wide.

Nine smiled down at her. "Don't worry," he said, "I'm fine."

Rose sighed in relief, and he continued.

"When I'm about to die, I can regenerate. Repair all the cells in my body."

She nodded. "Okay," she said, "that's… alien."

"That alright?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling at the reference to their first conversation.

Ten felt an odd surge of jealousy as Rose stood there smiling up at someone else. Obviously that was ridiculous, it was him she was looking at, even if she didn't even know it yet, but still…

"Good," Nine continued, interrupted his thoughts. "Anyway, it doesn't just repair the cells, it changes them."

Rose bit her lip, not understanding. "What'd you mean?"

"I'm still the same man," Nine explained gently, "all my memories, all my feelings, they stay. But my body changes. My face changes. I'm a new man, but the same one at the same time."

Rose shook her head. "That's… crazy," she said. "Are you winding me up?"

Nine rolled his eyes. "'Course I'm not! Those two over there, pretty boy and bow tie, they're me. But from the future. They're the versions of me that live on after this one dies."

Rose looked over at the other men in amazement.

"Seriously?" she asked them. "You're… you're both the Doctor?"

Ten smiled at her. "Hello," he said.

"Hello," she replied softly, still looking slightly dumb struck.

She looked over to Eleven.

"And you're him as well?" she asked, trying to rap her head around it.

"Afraid so," he replied, shrugging a little. He ran a hand through his hair.

"But you're so... you're so young!" Rose said, before looking back to Ten. "And you're… I don't even know," she shook her head again. "This is weird."

She turned back to her Doctor. "That's alien," she repeated herself.

"Is that alright?" he asked her again. This time she could hear a hint of concern in his voice, as if he was worried he might have scared her away.

"'Course," she said, smiling up at him weakly, still in shock.

"Fantastic," he beamed at her. Rose couldn't help beaming back.

Nine pulled her over to the other two, finally dropping her hand as they reached them.

"Right," he said, "let's beam the other Rose over."

"Wait, what? There's another me?"

"My Rose got taken as well," said Ten, not looking at her as he soniced the panel.

"Your Rose," she repeated.

"I can't get a lock," he said, frowning. "It keeps slipping! No, stop it!"

Nine pulled out his own screwdriver and pointed it at the panel. "Take two," he said, "two sonics should handle it."

Ten hit the side of the panel in frustration. "Why can't we get a lock?"

Katia pushed Rose out of the way and examined it. "I don't understand," she said, "its state of the art – we were the first division to get it – how can it not be working?"

"She must have her in some sort of holding cell – oh that woman does not know who she's messing with," muttered Ten angrily.

Eleven pulled out his own sonic, and all three of the Doctor's tried to focus the signal. After a few seconds the panel sparked and flared, and Ten dropped it quickly, rubbing his hand.

"I just told you that was new!" said Katia.

"The router might not have blown," Tithos said, "we could still find the signal."

"We'll have to trace it in the TARDIS," the Doctor said, still rubbing his hand. "You two go find your router, the rest of you come with me – we're taking my ship."

Eleven nodded, still surprisingly quiet, and went inside the TARDIS.

The Doctor gestured for the other two to go first, and Rose gave him a shy smile as Nine pulled her inside, holding her hand once again.

"It looks the same!" he heard her say, and smiled.

Ten followed, closing the door, and ran up the ramp.

"Right then," he said, "Allons-y!"

The three Doctor's got to work retracing the signal as Rose sat watching them in amazement. A few minutes past, and then she spoke again.

"For you to change, you have to be dying, is that right?"

"Yep," answered Nine, not looking over.

"And you two are future versions of my Doctor, yeah?"

"Yep," Ten repeated his past self, not looking at her. "I'm the next one, and bow tie is… Well, he's one of the one's after that. Actually," he looked over at Eleven, "you never said when you were."

Everyone looked at him expectantly.

The Doctor watched his future self look away from their gaze, hesitating slightly. He had the distinct impression he was trying to hide something, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was. But his curiosity always got the better of him.

"Well?" he said.

"Okay, okay..." said his future, "I'm the next version of you. So that takes the fun out of that regeneration."

Ten frowned. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Didn't want to spoil the surprise," he said, voice pleasant, but clearly restrained.

"Right, fantastic, now we've sorted that out," said Nine, "why don't we start flying this thing?"

Ten, remembering his Rose was still in danger, moved back quickly.

Rose studied the scene curiously. Now that they were talking it was odd how alike they were, even when they seemed so different on the surface.

Then she remembered what she'd been trying to ask before.

"You're both from the future," she said again.

Ten looked over at her. "I thought you would have gotten it by now."

She frowned at him. "You're still rude then," she said.

He grinned at her, delighted by the familiar banter.

Rose ignored his smile, looking at her Doctor. As her eyes travelled over to his past self the Doctor's grin vanished, unfounded jealousy returning to him.

"So something's going to happen to you," she said, her voice wavering very slightly.

Nine looked over at her, seeing the worry in her face. "Not for a long time," he said, "I promise."

"But… you said there's another version of me with him," she said, biting her lip. "So I'm still alive when-"

Nine moved over to her quickly, flight preparations forgotten as he took her hand.

"I'm not gonna let you die when I'm around Rose," he told her.

She laughed. "Thanks," she smiled at him. Her smile faded away as she started speaking again. "But… you're nine hundred years old… I just figured you'd sort of… live forever."

The Doctor smirked at her. "No one lives forever, Rose," he said.

She looked down, and Nine noticed her lip quivering slightly. He moved her head up gently, looking at her. Her eyes were watery.

"I don't want you to die," she whispered.

He pulled her into a hug, squeezing her.

"I won't," he told her, "I'm just gonna change, that's all."

Rose buried her face in his neck. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her, apparently oblivious to the slightly jealous looks from the other men, who awkwardly, and unconvincingly, pretended not to be watching them.

They stayed like that for a few moments.

"I don't want you to change," she whispered.

Ten's hearts stopped for a second, and his mouth fell open slightly.

Nine glanced at him, not letting her go, and he closed his mouth.

She couldn't have known they could hear her, would have assumed their hearing was the same as a humans, but that didn't make her words any less hurtful.

His mind flashed back to the first night of his regeneration, tucked in Jackie's spare bed. Aware but unable to move, only half conscious, as he heard Rose crying for the man she thought had left her.

"He wouldn't do this, the real Doctor, the proper Doctor… He's left me."

The Doctor stared at them, unable to tear his eyes away, wishing that it were him hugging her.

'Of course she doesn't want him to change,' he told himself, 'she only met you today. It's normal. Totally fine. When she meets you she'll… she'll like you just as much as him.'

Even though he knew it was true, he still felt as if she had rejected him. Putting his hands in his pockets, he finally looked away.

He turned around to face Eleven, about to tell him they should get back to work, but stopped when he saw his future self's face.

He was watching Rose and their past self, just as Ten had been, but the look on his face was filled with more longing, and a different sort of sadness – one that seemed to be deeper.

The Doctor frowned, and Eleven noticed he wasn't being ignored anymore.

He smiled at the other man, pulling a biscuit out of his jacket.

"Jammie dodger?" he asked.

Ten looked down at the biscuit, and then back up to the man's face. "Let's just find Rose," he said, still not brave enough to ask what he really wanted to know.

~9~

The Doctor held onto Rose tightly, unaware of his other selves eyes on them. He wanted to try and assure her that he would still be the same, no matter what happened, that he would still care about her, but he didn't know how to.

So instead, he just kept hugging her.

"I don't want you to change," she whispered.

He felt a swell of affection for her, dampened slightly by the knowledge that the other men must have heard her.

He glanced up at Ten, meaning to give him a reassuring look, but was caught off guard by the almost pathetic expression on his face, and averted his eyes again.

Part of him thought that his future self was being ridiculous, looking like an abandoned puppy when Rose was really hugging both of them, but he could imagine his own reaction if their roles were reversed. Even hypothetically thinking about her preferring someone else to him was enough to make him hold onto her a little tighter.

Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed the other Doctor's were getting ready for flight, and he reluctantly moved away from Rose.

He looked down at her, making sure she was okay. Satisfied with the small smile and nod she gave him, he sprung up to help the other men.

"You traced the signal, then?" he said, starting to push and pull various levels.

"Yep," said Ten, not looking at him, "without any help from you."

"I was busy," the Doctor replied, voice a little lower than previously.

The other man shot him a dark look before staring down at the console again.

Eleven glanced over at his past self, frowning. He looked up at Nine.

"No time pocket is sneaky enough to stop us," he said, trying to improve the atmosphere.

Ten ignored the comment, and concentrated on his part of the flying.

Nine frowned at the man, previous sympathy gone. Now he was just being juvenile. His Rose had brought Adam on to the TARDIS, and he hadn't ever been this rude.

Of course, Adam, who fainted almost as soon as they walked onto Satellite 5, turned out to be more of an embarrassment to her than a potential boyfriend. But the point still stood.

He felt Rose walk up next to him, and automatically moved to take her hand, even when he was trying to co-pilot a time machine.

Rose, however, walked past him and over to Eleven, who was eating yet another biscuit, brushing crumbs off his tweed jacket before spinning the paperweight like control.

"Hello," she said, smiling a little shyly at him.

She had been planning on talking to the next Doctor initially, but she didn't like to think about him replacing the man she knew – anyway, he seemed to be being oddly grumpy at the moment.

The Doctor looked up, surprised she was talking to him.

"Rose Tyler," he said, smiling at her.

There was something else in his eyes, it might have been grief, but it was too well hidden for Rose to pinpoint it.

"You look like you're my age," she said, laughing in spite of her worry for her own Doctor.

"I promise I'm not," he said, eyes twinkling a little.

Rose smiled at him again.

Nine watched their interaction curiously, glancing up at them as he continued his co-piloting.

"So, do you always keep food in your pockets?" she asked him. "Do you have another banana in there as well? 'Always bring a banana to a party?'"

He looked slightly disgusted. "No. No bananas. Bananas are evil, Rose," he pointed at her, as if he had just given her very important information.

Rose smiled that tongue in teeth smile of hers, laughing at him and shaking her head, and for a second he looked as if he might melt.

Nine empathised. It was a good smile.

The TARDIS lurched suddenly, and Rose clung onto Eleven to stop herself from falling.

"Sorry," said Nine, "that was us! Takes a bit of force to enter a time pocket!"

Rose's hands were still on the future Doctor, and he looked up at her with an expression she didn't quite understand. Then suddenly, without warning, he was hugging her tightly.

Rose laughed again, slightly shocked by the unexpected move, but hugged him back. When she pulled away his eyes were twinkling in the same way. It was so familiar, but at the same time so different.

The Doctor watched, unsure how to feel, as his future self put a hand on Rose's face, stroking her cheek softly.

At first she seemed a little startled by his tenderness, but then, recognising the familiar gesture, put her hand on his and smiled.

Eleven muttered something in a language Rose was surprised she couldn't understand, and Nine couldn't help but smile to himself, remembering the sound of the words.

"You look beautiful."

Ten muttered something, and Nine looked over to see him still pouting grumpily. He rolled his eyes. How did Rose ever put up with this version of him?

The TARDIS lurched again violently, and all four of them were thrown onto the floor.

Nine and Ten landed on their backs next to each other, but the others were obscured from view.

"Is everyone alright?" called Ten, apparently snapped out of his sulking. "Doctor? Rose?" the last name was said with far more concern.

"We're fine over here!" Eleven called back, and Nine saw Ten's pout reappear for a second, but thankfully he seemed to brush it away this time.

"Fantastic," said Nine, pulling the other man up with him, as the other Doctor helped Rose up on the other side of the console.

The three time lords, and one human, looked at the door at the same time.

"Well boys," said Rose, disguising her nervousness, "now it's my turn to meet the future."

Hello everyone! I thought I'd better give you a long chapter to make up for my awful lack of updates - I've been having the worlds most annoying computer problems. Please let me know what you think :) x