~oOo~

Several minutes later, John was standing outside Rose's office door, his new security badge pinned to his chest. Because she was talking on the phone facing the window with her back to him, he couldn't hear what she was saying, but with the sun pouring through the window, she was surrounded by an almost ethereal glow. A sense of déjà vu washed over him, and a voice whispered in the back of his mind. I want you safe, my Doctor. He shivered at the phantom message and went back to simply observing her.

Rose listened to the girl on the phone as she prattled on about a trip to the planetarium that Sarah Jane's son, Luke, and his friends had taken her on. It was something the group of friends did regularly now. Sophie's second Saturdays they were calling the outings. "Gran is calling me," Sophie said sadly. "I miss you so much. I'll talk to you soon, yeah?"

"Of course, sweetheart, I love you and miss you too," Rose said softly into the phone. Her thumb absent-mindedly stroked the ring finger of her left hand. "Talk to you soon, my love."

"Love you, too. Bye." The phone clicked off and Rose sighed. She missed Sophie dearly and hated that her move here had made seeing her near impossible. At least they had phone calls. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

She could feel his eyes on her as she set down the phone. "Hello, John," said Rose, turning around. "Did you get bored sitting around at your flat?"

"A little bit, maybe a lot." John shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Ok, probably a lot. Didn't feel like writing anymore, and I figured I could rescue you from this place." As if in disgust, he wrinkled his nose. "Who would want to be cooped up in an office all day even with that magnificent view?"

Tipping her head to the side, she smirked. "Well, being cooped up in here is the exception rather than the rule, and sometimes when something in the lab is stressing me out I come here and stare at the mountains. I find it relaxing. The view from here is one of my favorites."

"Oh, I didn't mean the view of the mountains." His voice dropped an octave. "I meant the view I'm seeing. The one of you."

Rose swallowed and somehow managed to hold his gaze. This human man, the one who was not the Doctor, had spent the last two weeks or so making his intentions towards her quite clear. Nevertheless, there was no way she could act on his advances. The Doctor didn't feel that way about her, and in a little over two months John Smith would cease to exist.

That last thought poured over her like a bucket of cold water. Looking down, she broke the moment between them. John was fun, sweet and entertaining. He was easily her best friend here stateside, and in a few short weeks she would have to let him die. No, she couldn't let herself think like this; it wouldn't do any good.

"Would you like to see the place?" she asked, trying to shift the focus onto something other than whatever was happening between them. "It's a pretty nice place, if I do say so myself. State of the art technology, lots of techno babble and mad scientists to talk it with. It seems like something that you'd love."

He stepped out of the way of the door frame and back into the hall. "I'd love to see what it is that you do here all day with that clever brain of yours." Once she was across the room, he took her hand and looped it through his arm.

"This way." She indicated a door at the end of the hallway that needed a pass card to open it. "You are about to enter the nerve center to the entire factory. Where some of my dreams become realities, and some of my realities become dreams. "With a swipe of plastic the door opened.

John gave her a lopsided grin. "Rose Tyler, did you just quote Willy Wonka?"

"Might have done." She hummed In a World of Pure Imagination. "The 1971 version is my favorite. I somehow missed seeing the 2005 version. I think I was out of town."

"Gene Wilder was a genius in that," John stated definitively. "His character was both delightfully childish and utterly terrifying. By far my favorite as well."

Rose half expected him to go into a discussion about the similarities and differences between Dahl's book and the real life of Mr. William Wontka of the planet Cholada. It was a conversation that she'd had before with her first Doctor just before he took her to experience those chocolate waterfalls first hand. Instead they discussed Rose's company.

Pinnacle Enterprises, as John quickly learned, was founded in 1910 in New York City by a man named Lloyd Webb. In 1912, his wife was diagnosed with consumption. "Or as it's know now, tuberculosis," Rose explained. "And mountain air was supposed to do wonders for the illness."

"Ah, so he moved the family here for the love of his wife," John replied thoughtfully.

Pushing open a door to a lab, Rose grinned. "Exactly! In 1912 Lloyd had a massive house built. It's still standing. Used primarily as the town's library and public offices. The family took residence in 1913, and he ran his lab out of the cellar. It's a bit romantic, don't you think?"

"Oh, very much so," he agreed quickly. "Turning your life upside down to prove your love for a woman and yet still managing to keep be who you are and do the things that you love. Yes, very romantic."

A deep blush formed on her cheeks, and he thought that she looked all the prettier for it. "So the company is still privately owned, along with a half dozen other companies, by the Webb family trust. The home office is back in New York, but I run the majority of the day-to-day operations here. Our clients range from governments to Fortune 500 companies to individuals looking to trick out their homes."

"I'm so proud of you," he exclaimed, the words slipping out of his mouth. "I mean you're doing a brilliant job here, and I'm sure that your family must be so proud of you."

"They are. Thank you." Rose looked away and bit her lip. A moment later she was tugging him towards one of the scientists. "John, this is Dr. Malcolm Turner, one of my brightest inventors. Malcolm, this is my friend, John Smith."

After several minutes of discussions with Malcolm, John wouldn't hesitate to say that this place was quite impressive. Loads of brilliant people building loads of brilliant things, and Rose knew everything about every single project. Her eyes lit up the most, however, when she drug him to her lab and talked about her own projects. The computer that you could strap to the back of your hand that would translate hand movements into written words was remarkable. Then there was her pet project, a universal translator that fitted just behind the ear and tapped into the speech centers in your brain.

"It sort of gets in your head, but you can sever the connection whenever you want," Rose said excitedly as she placed the small device on him. "I'll speak, you'll hear the words in Spanish or whatever, and you'll know what I'm saying." When she started speaking again, in Spanish, he understood what she meant. Well, not the words really, since he didn't speak a lot of Spanish. He understood how incredible her invention was, and he fell just a little deeper.

"Right now there are only four languages programmed into the translator right now: Mandarin, English, Hindustani and Spanish." Removing the device and stowing it carefully back in its box, she slipped back into talking in English. "The top four spoken languages in the world, and the set-up is simple: plug my little translator into your phone, use the app to select your native tongue and off you pop."

"That's going to revolutionize global communications," he stated, completely gob smacked. "This must be what it feels like to be in the presence of someone like Alexander Graham Bell. Only I knew you before you were famous."

"Nah, Alex was much more interesting than me and such a charmer…" Rose's eyes went wide. "I mean, I imagine that someone like Mr. Bell would be far more interesting than I am. It's not like I had a time machine and went back to meet him." Her eyes wouldn't meet his.

"If I had a time machine," John said teasingly. "There are a couple of things that I'd want to do."

"Oh really." Rose raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

Slowly he reached over and took her hand in his, and he began to draw small circles with his thumb on the back of it. "There would be so many great people to meet: Shakespeare, Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, and of course you."

In confusion, her eyebrows knitted together. "I've already met you. That's why we're here now talking, as friends."

"Well, yes, I know that," he laughed. "I meant, I'd go back and find a way for us to have met sooner. I wish I'd known you since we were kids. You in pigtails and me in my big coke bottle glasses. We'd have thousands yesterday's together."

Rose pulled her hand away. "You can't say things like that, John. Life is messy, and you can't go back on your own timeline. It has to move forward. You can't just go back. My life is complicated and... and we've only known each other a few weeks."

"Exactly! I've known you a few weeks and you've already turned my life upside down. In such a good way." He took step forward and she took a step back, shaking her head.

"It's not the right time, John. I need time. Right now, I just..." Her tongue darted out of her mouth to moisten her dry lips. "Right now I can't... We can't."

His face fell and his shoulders sagged. "Right." It was too much too soon. He'd pushed her too hard, and now she was going to push him away completely. His heart felt like it was breaking. Oh, there was no doubt that he was the biggest git that had ever lived. "Sorry, I'll just go then." He turned and headed towards the door to the lab.

"John, please wait," Rose called as his hand reached for the door. He stopped but he didn't turn around. "It's not that… It's not that I don't like you. I do, but like I said, things in my life aren't cut and dry. I just…"

Finally he turned to look at her. The normally confident woman that he had known for such a short period of time look nervous and unsure of herself. He'd done that to her.

"Can't we just be friends for now, John? The best of friends?"

Numbly he nodded, frozen to the spot, watching as she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around his neck. A hug, she was giving him a comforting hug after he'd crossed the line. His arms came round her, and he squeezed her tightly. If this is what she was willing to offer for now, he'd take it.

Rose let herself stay in his arms for longer than she should have. It was her first hug from this man (well, a man in this body) in a decade so she shouldn't be held responsible for her actions. She had hated seeing that pained look in his eyes when she shut down his advances, but it would be so much harder for her to watch the Doctor walk away when this is all over. That is what she still wanted, wasn't it? Her life here on Earth because his wasn't worth the risk to her heart?

A knock on the door broke her from following that train of thought. Extricating herself from his arms, Rose went to open the door. Clara was on the on the other side with a very irate looking Dr. George Redfern. Fan-flipping-tanstic.

"Yes, Clara?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but Dr. Redfern would like to discuss the incident in the lobby with you?" Clara said, casting a disdainful look at the man in question.

"What incident in the lobby?" Rose hated not knowing what was going on.

George pushed forward into lab, knocking Clara out of the way with his rotund stomach. "The one involving that…that…that jerk right there." He wagged a fat finger at John. "Who came to my daughter's place of business, propositioned and then harassed her when she turned him down. I want him arrested."

History was repeating, Rose thought as a gnawing feeling grew in her stomach. Joan was a pretty young woman, probably just the Doctor's type.

"Now see here," John started to protest but Clara cut him off.

"When you see the footage, Ms. Tyler, you will see that it was Ms. Redfern who acted completely inappropriately and unprofessionally." Cautiously she stepped between the two men. "Dr. Redfern is simply upset that his daughter was disciplined and a write up added to her file."

"I firmly believe that footage was tampered with," Dr. Redfern bellowed.

"That is enough, George!" Rose's tone was firm and unyielding. The man instantly quieted down. "I want you and Joan to wait for me in my office while Clara and I review the video. John, I'll call you later."

"I'll meet you in security, Rose," Clara said as she pushed Dr. Redfern from the room, letting the door close behind them.

"Rose, please just let me explain," John pleaded. "She started it. Wouldn't just let it go. Please believe me."

When she had traveled with the Doctor, he had been a flirt. Both versions of him had been, but he'd never been forceful about it. And no man or woman that she could recall had ever been opposed to it. Best to give John the benefit of the doubt. "I'm sure it was all Joan. Wouldn't be the first time she's grossly stepped out of line. Stop by my place later. We can watch a movie. I'll make popcorn."

"Yeah." He paused for a moment. "So…should I just see myself out?"

Rose laughed. "Come on, I'll escort you up front. I'm not sure I trust leaving you in the labs unsupervised. You'd blow something up within the first five minutes."

"Oi! I'm not that bad," he protested and she giggled. "Alright, maybe you have a point, but you still wounded my manly male pride."

This time she took his hand and led him back towards the lobby. "I doubt there is anything that I could do to damage that ego, John. But as recompense I'll cook you dinner."

"I like it when you use those big words, Rose Tyler," he murmured as they neared their destination.

Rose gave him a tongue in teeth grin. Her vocabulary had certainly expounded since she left him, just one of many things that were different about her now. "I read a lot. Now shift and meet me at my place around seven."

"Alright, alright..." He held up his hands. "I can tell when I've overstayed my welcome. I'll see you later."

"Not if I see you first," Rose replied before heading back to her office.