A/N- A Who Down in Whoville made me a beautiful banner for this story. It's on my teaspoon and tumblr accounts.

~oOo~

October, 2016- Silver Springs, Colorado

Rose snuggled deeper under her duvet. autumn nights in the Rocky Mountains tended to get more than a bit chilly. But between her flannel jimjams, the pellet stove in the corner of her room and the thick down comforter encasing her, she was warm enough to drift off peacefully. Outside a light snow began to fall, by the morning there would be a light dusting on the ground.

Sinking deeper into sleep, Rose began to dream. Most of her dreams these last few years had been mundane, but occasionally she dreamed of apple grass or frozen waves. There was wistfulness deep down inside of her for what could have been. Rose rolled over; at least the nightmares had stopped.

A keening metal on metal noise, one that she hadn't heard in a decade, suddenly cut through the silence of the house. Rose bolted upright. "Shit," she muttered, throwing off the duvet. Even after all this time she would know that sound anywhere. Grabbing her dressing gown, she ran towards the source of the noise, down a flight of stairs through the kitchen and into the basement.

Standing tall at the bottom of the stairs was the TARDIS. Rose's heart skipped a beat. It had been far too long since she had seen the old girl. Oh, how she had missed the sentient ship. But why was she here? The Doctor had been staying on the periphery of her life since she had left. Why now? Why hadn't he bounded out of the ship yet? Was he alright?

She was just about to run upstairs and find her key when the door creaked open. Hesitating for a moment, Rose waited to see if the Doctor stepped out. When he didn't, she walked over and pushed at the door, letting it fly wide open.

Lying face down on the grating in front of the console was the Doctor. Her eyes went wide, and she rushed to his side. "Doctor, are you alright?" She rolled him over and pressed an ear to his chest. His breathing sounded normal, but something was off. One heartbeat, she only heard one heartbeat.

"Oh God. Are you sick? Are you regenerating? What do I do? Help me?" She was prepared to drag him to the infirmary when his voice filled the air.

"Hello!" She looked up at the monitor to see his face smiling back at her. "I'm sorry for the impromptu visit, but I asked the TARDIS to seek out one of my former companions because I need your help."

Of course he did, Rose thought, pulling her dressing gown tighter around her. It would be just like him to drop in after such a long time apart and ask for a favor. Completely and utterly rude, the Doctor was. Oh, there was no doubt she would help. Even now she knew that she wouldn't be able to turn down a request to help him.

"I ran into a spot of bother with a group called the Family of Blood. Rubbish name, I know. They are like mayflies. Let them alone long enough and they die off. If that's the case, then why am I here you may ask. Well…" On screen, the Doctor tugged on his ear. "See, they're after me and if they get ahold of a Time Lord they could live forever, spreading destruction across the Universe. And we wouldn't want that." He laughed. "So I had to do something that I thought I would never have to do. I turned myself human."

Rose felt like someone had punched her in the gut. What? How?

"There should be a fob watch nearby. Guard it carefully; it contains everything that makes me, well, me. The TARDIS will construct a backstory and implant false memories. She probably will also have a bag packed in the wardrobe for me. Maybe some papers and such, too. I don't really know what she'll do but as brilliant as she is, I'm sure she'll have thought of everything. Oh, and there should be enough residual memory for me to allow you, whichever you the TARDIS picked, into my life. In three months you can open the watch, and I'll be back to my normal debonair self."

He took a deep breath, and his smile faltered. "Rose, if the TARDIS brought me to you…" The playback stuttered and the screen froze.

She hit the screen a couple of times, but the playback refused to start again. Her eyes narrowed at the time rotor. "Any particular reason you don't want me to see that?" As expected, the ship didn't respond; she simply illuminated the corridor leading to the wardrobe room.

It did not escape Rose's attention that the TARDIS had moved her old room next to the wardrobe. As her fingers traced the intricately carved rose on the door she resisted the impulse to enter. When she had packed to leave she had left very little behind, so now it wouldn't look like her room anymore. She didn't want to ruin the memory she had of that room and the great times she had there by seeing it now.

Moving forward she entered the wardrobe and, true to the Doctor's prediction, there were several packed bags waiting for her. A large rolling suitcase, a stuffed rucksack and a computer bag were lying in a neat pile. On top of that was a folded pair of jeans, a jumper, a thick winter jacket, a wallet, keys and a manila envelope filled with papers.

"You better not expect me to change him." Rose shook her head and gave a stern look at the ceiling. The tone of the humming turned to something that sounded like giggling. Apparently the TARDIS found that amusing. Well, she'd changed him at Christmas all those years ago. What was one more time? Especially now that things were vastly different between them, Rose doubted she'd be nearly as affected as she had been way back then.

She picked up the keys and turned them over in her hand. There looked to be a house key and a car key, a Land Rover according to the key fob. How did the TARDIS manage this? Curiosity took over, and she rifled through the wallet and envelope. There was cash and some credit cards. Most of the papers were official looking papers: visa, passport, birth certificate, all in the name of John Smith. There were also lease papers on one of those fully furnished flats at the condos down the street.

Rose wrinkled her nose at the thought of the Doctor living there. When she first arrived here she'd stayed in one for a week before her furniture arrived. The flats were small and mostly used as weekly rentals for people who couldn't afford to stay at the resort during ski season or rented by hikers who didn't stay in them much during the summer. His whole place would fit in her lounge. Cold, dingy with only a kitchenette and a stall shower, the Doctor would hate it. The walls would feel like they were closing in on him in no time.

But it wasn't going to be the Doctor staying there. It wasn't going to be the Doctor that would be living here in her town, her refuse from the outside world. No, John Smith, a stranger who would have no clue who Rose Tyler was who would be living here.

Putting everything back in its place, Rose carefully hauled the luggage back through the ship and upstairs. It took her two trips, and when she came back to haul the Doctor upstairs she grabbed the pocket watch from where it lay on the ground near him. When her fingers wrapped around it, she heard his voice in her head.

Rose.

It slipped through her grasp and landed on the grating with an echoing clunk. Ok, that was weird, she thought, picking it back up by the chain and slipping into the pocket of her dressing gown. He had said that the watch contained his essence or whatever, and she knew that he was telepathic so it was possible that the him in the watch was trying to communicate with her. At a bare minimum she supposed that the Doctor was aware of her presence.

Still not sure what to think of this whole situation, she lugged the last of the Time Lords up the stairs. "Blimey, for a skinny bloke you aint half heavy." It took a few minutes and a couple of potentially bruised shins and maybe a bump to the head on his part, but Rose managed to maneuver him onto her sofa.

Quickly, she changed him into the clothes that the TARDIS had provided. It was probably for the best that he didn't wake up and accidentally find his sonic screwdriver or dimensionally transcendent pockets. She placed one of the sofa cushions behind his head and covered him with a one of the blankets she kept lying around for chilly nights. He looked so peaceful lying there sleeping. During her time traveling with him, she had rarely seen him sleep other than right after his regeneration. And on the occasions that he actually did sleep they were usually cuddled in the media room together or once in a while in her bed. Those latter times were only after one of them had had a nightmare and needed comfort.

The Doctor stirred slightly and hugged the blanket closer to him. Checking the clock, Rose noticed it was already half five. She wondered how long he would be sleeping before he woke up in a strange place on a stranger's couch. Letting out a slow breath, she ruminated on that. A stranger, that's how he would see her. Maybe that would be for the best. She could keep an eye on him from a distance.

There was work to be done before he woke up. Carefully, she folded his suit and stuck it in the hall closet. There would be time to stow it in the TARDIS later. She also checked out the window and saw a dark blue Land Rover parked a little ways down the street. With a press of a button she discovered that the keys that the TARDIS had left were indeed for that vehicle.

A plan was beginning to form in her head. She threw on a coat and a pair of shoes and hauled his luggage outside and stacked it in the back of the Land Rover. She tucked the envelope of papers into the computer bag. On her way back inside, she almost lost her footing on a small patch of ice. At this time of year early morning ice was uncommon but not unheard of, and this morning it would be surprisingly helpful.

She checked on the Doctor who was still sleeping soundly before going upstairs to change. On her way she grabbed a photo off one of the side tables. It was one of her and the Doctor at Christmas soon after his regeneration. Even though she didn't think that he would be in her house for very long she didn't want to take any chances.

A familiar tingle of excitement, anticipation and just the smallest hint of dread filled her. It might be a lot more domestic than before, but this was still an adventure with the Doctor. The fate of the world could be at stake. There was no denying that a part of her really had missed this.

~oOo~

The pounding in his head was the first thing that he noticed as he began to wake. His vision was blurry as he opened his eyes but even through the haze nothing looked familiar. Where was he? What had happened? Slowly, he sat up.

"Oh good, you're awake," a distantly familiar voice with a London accent said from nearby. "If you were out much longer I was going to have to call an ambulance."

Blinking rapidly, her face swam into focus. His breath caught in his throat. She was stunningly beautiful with softly curled honey-blonde hair, angular cheek bones, full lips and whiskey colored eyes; she couldn't have been older than her early to mid-twenties. Taking in the rest of her, he noticed that she was wearing simple dark jeans, a dark red jumper and trainers. For a moment he thought maybe he died and gone to heaven.

"Are you all right, mate?" she asked, breaking him from his appraisal.

"Yeah, but did you get the number of that lorry that hit me?' He rubbed a sore spot on the back of his head.

She giggled. "Sorry, no lorry. I think you just slipped on the icy sidewalk. Went outside to get the paper and found you. Good thing I did too; your lips were already turning blue."

He tried to stand but immediately sat back feeling dizzy. The woman laid a hand on his shoulder and sat down next to him. "You may have hit your head harder than I thought. I'm going to ask you a couple questions to see if you're alright. What's your name?'

Momentarily he closed his eyes. "John Smith." The name came involuntarily. That was good. Wasn't it?

"Where are you?"

"I thought I was in Colorado, some kitschy name… Serenity, no, Silver Springs. Yeah, that's it. But maybe I fell really far down the rabbit hole and am somehow still in London." He remembered getting off the airplane, picking up the car and even driving through the night to get here.

"Well, you seem alert and responsive to me." She grinned. "And don't worry, you're still in Colorado. You just happened to land on the doorstep of the only Brit in town. Are you here visiting? Ski season doesn't start for another couple weeks."

Pain shot through his head as he shook it. "I'm not here for ski season. I'm a writer. Mostly travel books, articles for magazines, but I was thinking about writing a novel." He winced in pain again.

"Ah, that's the American dream isn't it?" She grinned and stood up. "To escape to some remote destination and write a book that will change the world."

It was his turn to laugh. "See, I always thought the American dream was a house with a white picket fence and 2.5 kids."

"Why would anyone want half a kid?" She wrinkled her nose. "Let me get you something for your head. I'll be right back, and then I'll make tea." John nodded but before he could say anything she slipped through a door in the kitchen.

In her absence John studied the room around him. The furniture was posh but comfortable; there were photographs of various people hanging from the walls, and a large flat screen telly hung over a fireplace. Nice, but not entirely remarkable. At least that's what he thought until he turned his head. His jaw dropped open in awe.

The entire back wall was floor to ceiling windows, and she had a magnificent view of snowcapped mountains. The wind up at the summit must have been blowing something fierce because the fresh powder was curling like smoke. "That is gorgeous."

"Thanks. It's why I bought the house. You don't get views like that where I grew up." She came up behind him and handed him a couple painkillers and a glass of water. "Here, this should help the headache."

"Thank you, um…" Popping the pills into his mouth, he realized he didn't even know her name.

"I'm Rose by the way. Rose Tyler," she said, turning back towards the kitchen. "Tea?"

"Please don't tell me you use a bag," he whinged as he followed behind her and plopped down on a stool.

Rose rolled her eyes and turned on the electric kettle. "Beggars can't be choosers, Doc… John. No one else in this town can make anything close to my tea." She turned her back to him to begin her preparations. "My mother would have my head if I used bags for a guest."

He quietly watched her measure the loose leaf tea into the pot, take out mugs and pour the water when it was ready. It was only when she was pulling out a tin of biscuits that obviously had to be imported did a thought strike him.

"Why are you doing this?" He nodded to the plate she had just slid in front of him. "You just met me, and now you're making me tea and leaving me alone in your house. I could be a criminal or a rapist or someone with nefarious intent for all you know."

Rose licked her lips then her whiskey colored eyes narrowed, and he felt like she was staring into his soul. "Are you someone with nefarious intent?" she asked, slowly and deliberately.

A lump formed in his throat that he quickly swallowed down. "No," he whispered.

"Good." Her face lit up with a bright smile. "Besides it's not like I couldn't defend myself if you did. I've brought down scarier things than you, John Smith. And as to why I'm doing this… I'm a nice person who doesn't want a stranger freezing to death in front of her house. Think of what it would do to the property values."

"With a view like that I wouldn't worry about dead bodies piling up." He nodded his head towards the wall of windows and accepted the cuppa she offered him. "Although I would think that privacy might be an issue. Can't really dance around in your knickers, can you?"

Rose stiffened slightly. "You spend much time thinking about women you just met dancing around half naked?"

"Only the really pretty ones," he replied lamely and a look of hurt flashed across her face. Uh oh, he thought, maybe he had pushed this flirtation too far. He had just met her and she had been kind enough to not let him freeze on the sidewalk, and he had made her uncomfortable in her own home. "Sorry," he said after a long pause, looking down at his tea cup. "Got a little carried away there."

She let out a short laugh. "You're a flirt." She didn't sound angry. It was just like she was stating a fact. "There are plenty of young women in this town that will fall arse over teakettle for that smile and your accent. Americans love a British accent. But don't go thinking I'll be one of those girls." Her phone began to ring. "My love life is complicated enough, ta."

"Rose, I didn't mean…" He started but she shook her head.

"Drink your tea. I need to take this call." Turning on her heel, she left him alone in her kitchen.

"Well now you've done it, Smith," he reprimanded himself while stirring sugar into his cup. "First day in a new town, in the place you came to escape to and you've already almost killed yourself and managed to tick off probably the most attractive and witty woman you have ever met." Taking a sip of his tea, he hummed appreciatively.

"And she makes brilliant tea." He sighed and dunked a chocolate biscuit in his drink. There was something about Rose, something palpable. She was right about him though; he was a flirt. But it was all flirt and no follow through. His life traveling kept him on the run, and he didn't have time for romantic entanglements. And he was here to write a book, not to socialize.

Suddenly in the silence of the empty room he felt very alone. He never stayed in one place long enough to form lasting connections. When you're constantly on the run it's hard to put down roots.

"Sorry," Rose said, coming back into the room. "Work thing. Scientists and CEOs shouldn't mix. Now I have an issue that needs to be taken care as soon as possible." Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she motioned towards the front door.

Scrambling to his feet, he set down his cup and moved to grab his jacket from the lounge. "Um, right, well then it was lovely to meet you, Rose Tyler." He let her name roll around in his mouth, liking the way it sounded when he said it.

"You too, John." Her face lit up again with another genuine smile.

His hand slipped into his coat, finding his keys. "Rose, I was wondering if we could do this again. I mean, not the part where I almost split my skull on your sidewalk. But the talking and the tea. Your tea is very good, by the way. Maybe we could have dinner? I mean, just as friends to make up for earlier and to thank you for this morning."

Mentally he wanted to kick himself. Well, there was another thing he's cocked up, and it wasn't even nine yet. However the more he rambled the more her smile grew. "Dinner as friends? Alright. But not tonight, even though it's Saturday I have a feeling that I'm going to be putting in a full day at the office."

"Right, great, I'll see you tomorrow night seven o'clock, and it's my treat of course. But only as a thank you, not like a date, not that dating you would be a bad thing. I should shut up now. Yeah, shutting up now. Got a bit of a gob on me." He clamped his jaw shut, and she grinned.

"Oh, wait just a mo," Rose exclaimed and dashed out of the room, coming back a moment later with a small white card. "In case you need anything between now and tomorrow night, here's my card. The mobile number on it is the best way to reach me."

Holding it out to him, he noticed her fingers were trembling slightly. He stole a quick glance at the card before tucking it into his jeans pocket.

Rose M. Tyler

Senior Vice President Research and Development

Pinnacle Enterprises

He couldn't wait to find out more about this woman. With one final goodbye he bounded down the steps, excited about how today was shaping up. Little did he know that on the other side of the door Rose was pinching the bridge of her nose and thinking that this was going to be the longest three months of her life.