Who's scared of the Big Bad Wolf?

by PepperonyOwl

AU GITF. Her first Doctor had loved Rose enough to put her first; her second Doctor loved her like a goddess - distant, but fiercely. Neither of them ever understood her sacrifices, how many dimensions she'd seen, how many wars, how many she'd loved and lost. Her third Doctor learned that Bad Wolf was a name to be feared; in every dimension. And she was his.

14. Facets of Love

Hi everyone,

This chapter took a bit longer. My characterisation of Martha took a deep nosedive in a fit of outrage at her jealousy and, well, suffice to say my beta was kind enough to tell me 'if that's how you want to portray her' and thereby making me feel incredibly guilty for nearly dumping you with what would've been a subpar character and an unfair assessment of her (note to self, reverse psychology works!). So, big thank you to TheCleverDoctor for gently bringing me back on track and reviewing everything and to cecilehem for sharing with me what you thought of Martha and allowing me to give her some more shape and form.

Anyway, it's also why this took quite a bit longer than it should've. I had to think of entirely new scenes and rewrite quite a bit, but I do hope that you will all come to enjoy the end result.

So a big thank you to all my new reviewers and thanks for the PMs! Feel free to PM me more and review lots :) This chapter is dedicated to my fabulous beta and all my reviewers:

greeneyesCutie

Tiggrchic982

cecilehem

50penny

Eagle Hawke

Darkwolfberlin

ambertardis22

Marcela

Kylaia78

Guest ~MA

hyperdragon97

Seralina

TechiePandah

SeriamenEthereal

Eleanoralovesananias

---

They were all incredibly cheerful and unlike his previous incarnation, he certainly didn't mind the hugs being passed around. The Doctor grinned and finally laughed out loud when Jack insisted on pulling his metacrisis into a hug as well as him. Snorting with laughter, he quickly ducked out from beneath the Captain's arms – leaving his half-human self to suffer under Jack's tender mercies – and engulfed Sarah Jane in a hug instead. A son! Sarah Jane, his Sarah Jane, had a son! Brilliant!

He laughed, tightening his arms around the older woman, celebrating not only the fact that disaster had been – rather narrowly – averted, but also that most of his friends had escaped unscathed.

"My Sarah Jane..." He had barely time to finish the words before his metacrisis took her out of his arms and engulfed her in his own hug.

Well, that would take some getting used to; he'd have to figure something out because he definitely wasn't sharing Rose. Still, refusing to let his good mood be dampened so swiftly, he sought out Donna for a hug instead. The redhead laughed happily but he quickly noticed her eyes were fastened on a man behind him; it only took a moment before he realised she'd set her sights on Jack. Chuckling, he released her and instead quickly drew both Martha and Rose into his arms.

Martha laughed and returned the hug for a moment, before leaving them to find others to share in her joy. Rose remained in his arms and he was aware that his smile had softened imperceptibly. She was here, safe, and all was well, the universe rescued, the price paid. Despite everything that had happened, it had still gone a lot better than he ever could have hoped for, especially considering their enemy had been a Dalek empire at the height of its power, the sole focus of their intelligence the total eradication of all Time Lords and Tardises – and the rest of the universe, of course.

His hand found her cheek, marvelling at the softness beneath his hand and the warmth radiating from her skin for a moment before he sought out her hand, intent on returning to the festivities. They had all the time in the world now. There was no need to rush, no need to prolong every second, thinking it may be his last in her presence. Though he'd quickly come to the conclusion that there would be no adventures until they'd talked; much as he hated it normally, avoided everyone at even the slightest hint that they wanted to discuss emotions, his feelings, he was actually looking forward to it. Grinning widely at his Rose, the woman he loved, his hearts jumped when her entire face lit up, reciprocating his smile. He loved her. Well, he sent a quick glance at his metacrisis, he supposed they both loved her.

He turned away, intent on pulling her with him into another group hug when he heard her suck the air in sharply; hissing the moment his hand had slipped into hers. Even as he turned to face her, having instantly recognised the sounds of his companion in pain, he became aware of the ridges in her palm and on her fingers. With great care, intent on causing her no further harm, he took her wrist, tenderly, and lifted it up before gently unfurling her fingers so he could inspect the damage. He winced when her hand opened up and he saw her palm and fingers covered in angry, raised red welts. Recent, he noticed immediately and then reprimanded himself internally; of course it was recent. She'd held his hand earlier and definitely hadn't been in pain then – and there had only been her usual, soft skin touching his, not this.

"Where did you-" he cut himself off, remembering only to vividly the moment she'd shared her memory with him and recalled her hand pressed against the barrier. Of course; he'd felt it too when he had touched the dome imprisoning them, except he'd been clever enough to retract his hand quickly.

Sighing inaudibly, still in slight disbelief that somehow his blonde companion had managed to injure herself when there had been no need or cause to, he turned to interrupt the festivities.

"Is anyone else hurt? We are on our way to the medbay."

Jack stepped forward automatically, brows furrowed, hand outstretched towards the blonde companion at his side. "Rose...?" he queried, obviously trying to ascertain the degree of her pain and injury.

The Time Lord, well aware that any moment now Jackie could start a tirade, quickly shook his head. "Just a minor scrape," he said, hiding Rose's hand behind him. He had no intention of starting a fight with her mother about injuries Rose may or may not be obtaining with startling frequency on their adventures.

There was a momentary pause where half the room awaited an explosion on Jackie's part – which, luckily, never came and he was not one to question to question ridiculous luck; well, not this time, anyway – and they then quickly confirmed that no one else had sustained any damage.

"Jeopardy-friendly," he muttered to Rose and was rewarded with a quick quirking of her lips as they both left the console room.

"Have fun playing Doctor," Jack teased just as they entered the corridor and he couldn't help but close his eyes, cursing the immortal silently. Sure enough, his metacrisis suddenly needed to follow them to the medbay – because, of course, two Doctors were needed to deal with one hand. Behind them he heard his companions start laughing and Jackie start moaning about her girl and two of him. Rolling his eyes, still very carefully holding Rose's hand to ensure he didn't cause her any further pain, he guided them to the right room, knowing that Donna would likely lead his companions to the kitchen in the meantime and feed them.

"Up," he instructed once they'd arrived in front of the bed he used for his exams, letting Rose go to quickly search for the right instrument while his metacrisis undoubtedly had a look at her hand himself. He was utterly exhausted – he couldn't remember the last time he'd actually slept – and it took him longer than it should have to remember where to look.

"That is not a scrape," the half Time Lord protested obviously the moment he'd seen her hand and he rolled his eyes again, searching through the drawers. He knew the other man was just as concerned about his blonde companion as he was – which was probably his only redeeming characteristic at the moment and also what saved him from a more biting response.

"Have you met Jackie?" he asked only half-sarcastically. He hummed in satisfaction once he'd found the right instrument, quickly returning only to find Rose still standing, staring between the two of them, clearly fascinated.

"He's half-human," he found himself saying with eyes narrowed at the other man, automatically on the defensive, "he's only half as clever as me."

"Oy, watch it!" His metacrisis responded quickly, eyes equally narrowed towards him. He had to admit, it was somewhat disconcerting to have a copy of him – someone who looked, sounded and talked like him; well, like an odd mixture of him and Donna – walking around.

Rose's lips curved upwards into a teasing smile, her tongue poking out between her teeth – something which he knew distracted them both to his frustration; that was his smile! His! The other version of him had no right to see her like that!

"Well, even if he were only half as clever as you that'd still make him incredibly bright."

The Doctor paused for a moment, unsure if he should feel flattered at the compliment or be annoyed at the one towards his metacrisis. Obviously seeing his indecision, Rose giggled and, unerringly, both men turned towards her, both grinning automatically in response to her happiness before glaring at the other for their response.

"So," she interrupted them again, using her good hand to quickly hop on top of the bed, "what's the plan, Doctors?"

Remembering that she was likely in pain, he quickly focused on the task at hand – literally – and gingerly took her wrist to look at the injury again, before explaining his approach to her.

"Right, yes. We're going to check for infection first and then we've got the Derma regenerator. It will probably take a few minutes to heal fully and it might feel a bit uncomfortable or tense like skin stretching, but you should be in no more pain. Actually," he put the tools beside her, glancing up from her hand to inspect her eyes and checking for any obvious signs of pain in her eyes and the lines of her face, "how much pain are you in? Do you want a painkiller?"

"Nah, I'm fine."

He huffed quietly, scanning her again to ascertain she was not lying, well aware that his companion was rather prone to downplaying her pain level if she thought he would feel guilty – or angry. Once he was sure she was actually speaking the truth, he quickly used his sonic to scan her hand, ensuring there were no bacteria to cause an infection before he started healing her.

Taking her by the wrist, he held the regenerator just a few inches above it, ensuring he didn't accidentally touch and aggravate her injury, before changing the setting to human. Wouldn't do to accidentally give her Slitheen skin – Rose would definitely not be happy with him; never mind what Jackie would do to him. Grimacing, triple-checking he had the right setting, he activated the regenerator and then looked up at his companion, realising he'd be standing here for several minutes while she healed.

"So..." he started, at length, looking her over again though this time it was out of curiosity about how she'd changed, rather than a clinical assessment of her injuries or pain. "Since when have you been telepathic?"

His metacrisis' head snapped around to face him. "She's telepathic?"

Oh, but of course. That had happened after his regeneration, so the other him wouldn't know about that. He wondered absently if his metacrisis had any memories of Donna's as well rather than just character traits.

"Yep. She sent me a memory."

"Sent?" His counterpart sounded as surprised as he'd felt when he had felt her light, gentle touch, her golden light filter into his darkened mind and her memory and emotions on display for him. "But how- That's impossible!"

His own lips quirked up, ensuring his hands hadn't moved – one holding her wrist in place and the other for the regenerator – before facing his half-human self.

"Not for Rose Tyler it isn't. We should've learned a long time ago that the use of that word only ever seems to make her more determined to break ever rule. So, Rose Tyler," he turned back towards the blonde who'd watched them both curiously, "how did you do it?"

To his amusement, his companion merely shrugged one-sidedly.

"Dunno," she admitted. "I wanted to remind you – but I couldn't really say it out loud in front of the Daleks; don't think you would've listened anyway. Couldn't speak in your tongue 'cause, well, that's private."

Her cheeks coloured red and once again he couldn't help but admire her. He'd never restrained her, never told her he didn't want others to hear him or her talk in Gallifreyan and yet she had never spoken it in front of others unless he initiated it – and even then only in whispers.

"So that's all I could think of."

"Brilliant!" The metacrisis declared in a hushed whisper though he was undoubtedly still confused about why she didn't think he'd listen to her. Though always reluctant to agree with himself – even if it wasn't quite a different incarnation – he nodded. Few would've even thought of it, never mind being willing to share something so intimate. It was one thing to share words, another thing to share a memory, emotions and all.

"Still doesn't explain how you did it though – or how you even thought of it," he commented, looking at her, wondering why she wouldn't tell him.

"Nothin' to it, really. Told you I travelled, yeah? Saw a lot of parallel worlds, some with more than just Zeppelins in the sky. On some of them I met some telepaths." She offered them both a slightly mischievous grin but he couldn't help but notice the darkness swimming in her eyes, the pain and anger that broiled just beneath the surface and he wondered what had actually happened, what had made her look like, well, him in a way he'd never wanted her to.

"Didn't like havin' them in my head but they did tell me a bit about how to communicate. Never got the chance to – or wanted to – try it till now."

"You succeeded on your first attempt?" his metacrisis sounded incredulous and he couldn't help but echo the sentiment mutely; it had taken him months upon months to perfect.

"Were you intending to only send me the words?" he asked before Rose could respond, curious now, wondering if she even knew what she'd shown him.

The first thing all children on Gallifrey were taught was shielding – your thoughts, your emotions, hiding everything as it would otherwise drive their society insane, hearing everyone else, feeling what they felt, hearing their every thought and impulse. No, before they even learned to speak, they were taught to hide. Consequently, by the time you were taught to share your memories – something only done with family, lovers or the court as it was far too intimate to allow strangers or even friends to partake in – it was beyond difficult. The loss of privacy, the idea of making yourself so vulnerable, opening yourself up like that to anyone, was a difficult concept to grasp.

It had taken him months but many other took years to learn. The idea that Rose had intended to do this and felt comfortable opening herself up to him like that, made his mouth dry and his heart race. He knew she trusted him – had demonstrated that on so many occasions – any yet this was a different kind of trust.

He remembered only to vividly how much she'd rejected the Tardis at first when she'd found out she was in Rose's head, translating the words, how much she'd panicked and how she'd hated the idea. It was one of the many reasons – or excuses – he'd found not to tell her about what telepathy meant to him, how much he craved for her to fill the void in his head – and also the reason why he had felt so ashamed every time he found himself subconsciously reaching out towards her, longing to touch that golden light that hummed at the periphery of his mind at all times.

Except it didn't anymore. Since she'd broken through the walls between the universes, it was still there but it was not the bright shining light it used to be; it was hidden, clouded over, distant but no less vivid, no less familiar to him. It was obvious now though, that she'd learned to erect a wall around her mind to protect her thoughts. He sincerely hoped she'd had more pleasant teachers than he had had.

"Yes and no," she responded with a smirk on her lips and he chuckled lightly at the unspoken challenge, though when he refused to prod her further, she gave in easily, looking at them both, her eyes sparkling with renewed interest.

"Why are you both so curious about this?"

Ah, the crux of the problem. Obviously; Rose was never one to let him get away with vague answers and questions unless the situation demanded it or it was personal. And, unfortunately, neither of those was an argument he could make at the moment since he was the one asking her and there was no danger. But neither could he just jump right into the deep end of the pool and tell her about his desires to share in her mind; she'd run screaming.

"Very few humans are telepathic at all," his metacrisis jumped in before he could.

"What do you mean? I thought with all your previous companions, we all had to have the Tardis in our heads to be able to travel, yeah? I mean how else would we understand all the other languages."

"Different thing," he explained quickly before his metacrisis could. He'd become intimately acquainted with the feeling of jealousy around Rose – always a pretty boy or two following her like lost puppies – but this was different. This was him – another version of him, of sorts, but still him; which meant, unfortunately, that he was actually a serious proposition. Especially if one took the half-human part into consideration. And he really didn't like the way her amber eyes had focussed solely on the other him for their discussion. He'd prove to her that he was the clever one, the original, the best version of himself.

God, this was worse than competing with his previous and future incarnations and he was snarky even then.

"Pretty much every being in the universe is telepathically receptive. But remember Gwyneth? She was the only one who could reach out like that to them. Receiving is completely different to sending." The Time Lord paused for a moment, trying to think of an adequate description before one occurred to him.

"Think of it like a pet – you talk to them and they get part of the message, but they don't respond back. They can't. That's what humans are like – you're all still like children, still learning. By Jack's time you'll be further along and more likely to be able to send thoughts, but in your time it's rare; as in really, really rare."

"Wow," Rose said dryly, her voice slightly mocking though for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. "first pets, then children. We must all seem like silly apes to you, yeah? So... unevolved."

Flabbergasted, he stared at her, unsure how to answer that. Yes, of course they were still incredibly far behind; that didn't mean they were any less exceptional though. Just as he was attempting to figure out how to respond to her, Rose burst into loud laughter, shoulders shaking and her entire body quivering; only his own strength ensured he didn't cause her any accidental damage, his grip on her wrist firm even as he stood there, unsure how to take her sudden laughter.

Nevertheless, his lips quirked up inspite of his confusion, unable to help himself when Rose was so clearly unable to stop despite her attempts to calm herself, head thrown back, laughter bubbling out between her lips, eyes shining brightly as her body shook slightly. She was utterly captivating. He was tongue tied, like a fumbling schoolboy in front of his first crush, unable to do anything but stare at her in helpless fascination, everything else forgotten.

"Sorry," she apologised once she'd managed to quiet herself down to mild giggles, wiping away tears that stood in the corner of her eyes. He couldn't help but notice that she sounded far from apologetic. "You have a way of saying things I'm always torn between feeling outraged and flattered. You often phrase things so they're half-insult, half-compliment and I'm never sure which way to take it."

Time was up, his internal clock reminded him and he busied himself, looking at her fully healed hand. The skin was new and slightly pink, but with the boost to her system he'd given her with the sonic earlier – not that she needed to know that – she'd be fully healed by tomorrow morning with no lasting damage done. Turning off the regenerator, he carelessly placed it aside, knowing the Tardis would place it back to where it belonged.

He knew that the mischievous glint in his eyes and the smirk on his lips had Rose on edge, could see she was cautious of whatever he had planned, but she still ended up being surprised, her eyes wide when he took action, both his hands placed on either side of her on top of the mattress, leaning in slightly until her scent all but surrounded him.

"Trust me," he assured her, his voice low and husky, "it was a compliment." He never faltered, his eyes never leaving her amber ones, intent on absorbing her every reaction. He was flooded with satisfaction when he saw her mouth drop open and her cheeks flood with colour when he gently lifted her hand to his mouth, placing a kiss on the newly grown – and incredibly sensitive – skin, allowing his lips to linger for a moment longer than was strictly necessary before letting her go.

"There, all healed," he declared smugly and to his amusement Rose seemed to take it as a challenge – though, ultimately, it didn't matter. Her attentions were entirely on him, his metacrisis forgotten beside them.

"Oh? Was that your professional assessment then, Doctor?"

"Hey! What are you implying? I'm the epitome of professionalism!"

To his shock, his blonde companion laughed out loud at that suggestion. "You're the epitome of something alright, but professionalism is definitely not it."

"Oy," his metacrisis butted in, "I am always professional!"

He really didn't know how they'd gotten here from conversations of telepathy. That was the thing with Rose Tyler – conversations with her tended to get sidetracked and he'd end up expounding on the virtues of opals over diamonds, the original question long since forgotten. She was clever like that, made others talk – and they always loved to talk to her. His Rose always said just the right things, made just the right noises, made you feel like you were on top of the world and tease you just right to make you want to impress her. It was part of her charm; but not one he was intending to submit to this time.

"I've seen you, Doctor. You can be fascinated, intrigued even, brave, persuading, charming, a little mad and brilliant, but professional you're not. Do you even remember sticking your fingers into jam jars while we were talking to a mother about her possessed child?"

"Well, so maybe not always professional," he allowed, despite his original intention of returning to his question, his pride now well and truly under attack, especially since it was her doubting him. "But I could be, if I wanted to."

Rose laughed again, using both her hands to smoothly jump of the bed and land in between him and his half-human self.

"Who said being unprofessional is bad?" she teased him, amber eyes twinkling with mischief and he chuckled slightly, accepting that once again he'd have to wordlessly acknowledge his defeat at her hands. And when her hand landed on his cheek, softly caressing him, her heat sparking the flame deep inside his chest, burning ever brighter under her warm gaze, he silently admitted to himself that maybe losing every once in a while wasn't so bad. Not with her.

"Explain to me," his metacrisis interrupted them, his eyes dark and forbidding and fixed on him solely, glaring at him over her head, "what you meant by 'yes and no'."

Predictably Rose blinked in surprise for a moment before turning so she could look at them both, her hand seeking out both of theirs he noticed with a slight hint of displeasure.

"Well, I meant that yes, that communication with you was my first attempt and that no, I had intended to send you more than the words. Why, did you not get the full memory?"

His metacrisis looked at him in askance and he found himself shaking his head, looking at the blonde in his arms, intent on ignoring the other man.

"I did. But not just the words you spoke back then, but your emotions too."

The other Doctor hissed as he sucked in a large breath all too fast, obviously understanding just what that meant to him – to both of them – and what he wasn't saying, though Rose just looked faintly concerned.

"Yeah, 'course. If it had just been the words, I could've said them again. Didn't think they'd reach you, though. Davros took advantage of your weak spot; your guilt complex."

She patiently ignored the outraged "Oy!" from the metacrisis who still did not know what had taken place and simply continued, "you wouldn't 've listened, though, I don't think. Your head was too full of pain, of loss and guilt. Didn't know how to get you out but you needed to know that no matter what, none of us blame you if something happens to us. Despite everything, you're still just one man and you're fightin' the entire universe. I would never blame you for anything that happened to me on any of our journeys. It's my risk to take, my choice to make, my life is no one's responsibility but my own. And I think your other companions think so too."

She took a deep breath, her eyes steadfast on him, refusing to give an inch, refusing to show any of the regret, the blame and anger he was looking for, refusing to show him any sign that she was doing anything other than telling the truth until he was forced to bow to her will. Rose honestly and fully believed in what she was saying. She really did not blame him, would not blame him, no matter what happened, despite how often he'd nearly abandoned her or had nearly caused her death.

Rose finally spoke up again, knowing somehow – the same she always seemed to be able to read him – that he had accepted her assertion; though he knew it would never lessen the horror, she did manage to lessen his guilt somewhat, "the only way I could think of was to share my memory with you of that time when van Stetten's Dalek had me cornered and I thought I'd die. I thought that if you could see it from my perspective, could not just hear what I said then but also feel it, know that I truly did not blame you – not then and not now – you'd understand. I thought it would help... did it? Did I... help?"

He didn't understand, couldn't fully comprehend all the connotations to her question, an emotion underlying the question he couldn't decipher, but the answer was still easy and he didn't hesitate, didn't even need to think.

"Yes," he said quickly, his voice soft and warm, his hand automatically tightening around hers in reassurance. "Yes, you did. More than you'll ever know."

Her smile lit up the room and he felt his hearts skip a beat in response, tempting him to taste her as he'd longed to do for such a long time; but, unfortunately, he was well aware that he first needed to sort out the issue with there being two of him. With a regretful sigh, he placed a gentle kiss on her temple, gathering her into his arms for a moment, allowing himself that tiny reprieve before guiding her back to the corridor, wondering quietly why his other self, the metacrisis, was not more interfering. He was jealous, that much was obvious, but he had yet to make a serious attempt to usurp him in Rose's affection and that, while enjoyable while it lasted, was never a good sign.

"I want comfort food," Rose said suddenly just as they left the medbay and it took him a moment to catch up.

"Oh no."

He knew his mistake the moment he'd done it; he'd turned to face her but her lips were drawn into a pout and her amber eyes were pleading with him, big and large and directed solely at him. He stuttered, his breath faltered, and his hearts urged him to give into her.

"C'mmon," his half-human self wheedled and for the first time he found himself grateful for the other's interference, "we could take you to a restaurant where you can see the stars-"

"-or pink waves," he added in, eager to distract her and suggest anything other than that vile concoction she insisted was 'comfort' food. He didn't understand how that disgusting stuff could ever possibly give her comfort – never mind being designated as food at all.

"-at the end of the universe," his metacrisis cajoled – or attempted to, anyway.

"-or on Earth," he suggested, hopefully. Anything was better than that.

"-Paris even? Chocolate fountains?"

It was decidedly odd, being on the same side as his half-human self, but needs must, he decided silently.

"Anything, anywhen – even with your mother – just not that... that stuff you insist on eating. It's revolting. I've got quite the refined palate this time around, you know. I could take you anywhere, cook you anything. Please..."

And no, he was not above begging. Not when it came to important things like the end of the universe and even less so where his companion's dubious choices with regards to nourishment were concerned.

Still, whereas he found himself only rarely able to deny her at all, his blonde companion was apparently immune to his pleading and his puppy dog eyes – even when there were two of him – and just shook her head, laughing slightly.

"You don't need to eat it, Doctor. It's for me. I need some comfort food."

In that moment he abruptly decided that there was no way he would ever tell her that once or twice – okay, so rarely... well, okay, so occasionally, when Martha and Donna had succumbed to their needs and fallen asleep, he'd cooked that disgusting thing himself; he'd never eaten it – he privately thought it would be a rather sad way to bring about a regeneration – but just the smell had brought him a small measure of comfort, remembering the many occasions he'd sat there, watching her eat it.

"Why not have chips?" he whined finally, attempting one last time to stop her.

He still hadn't quite figured out how to explain why exactly he still had supplies of her comfort food when they both knew it was unlikely anyone else would ever enjoy the same predilection she had for that food and he really, really didn't want to explain that he didn't mind it as much as he protested to; the taste was atrocious, sure, but Rose always cheered up immensely and usually would share stories from before they met.

But all too often for his taste she'd enthral him, seduce him until he wanted to impress her, make him too oblivious to his surroundings so when she offered him a taste, he'd just open his mouth, having forgotten what she was eating and too used to sharing their foods to remember the danger in time. And, well, even if that didn't happen, he thought it might ruin the mood if he asked her to brush her teeth or eat something else before kissing him. Just a tiny bit. Not that they were that far yet, despite what had nearly-almost-sort of taken place earlier.

"Comfort food," she simply replied, her voice firm and he knew he'd lost the battle.

"Comfort food it is," he confirmed sullenly, his shoulders drooping as he led her towards the kitchen like a doomed man headed towards the gallows. And, unfortunately, his Tardis – the traitorous ship that she was – made the walk as short as possible rather than prolonging it as he'd asked. It wasn't fair. He'd spent millennia with her and yet here she was, picking favourites – and it wasn't him, either of him.

---

He gritted his teeth, staring at the full Time Lord, wondering if the other him even appreciated just how much the metacrisis had restrained himself, allowing the other man as much time with his Rose as he could without exploding with jealousy. He knew that in the end, Rose was better matched with him; he had her human lifespan, after all, and they could live out their lives in her world. He still didn't know what he thought of a quiet life – especially without his beloved ship – but for Rose, he had found out a long time ago that he could and would do almost anything. But even his restraint had its limits and his jealousy was was rising and he was dangerously close to snapping.

He'd let the other man kiss her hand and her temples, knowing that soon he'd have the rest of his life to spend with their blonde companion, but it still didn't soothe any of the anger inside him. What was even worse, the other him had, from what he could gather, actually been allowed to share in her memory. That she would have shared something so intimate, so personal with the other him, aggravated him immensely. Even worse still, he knew he had more human limitations placed on him; a rather advanced human, yes, but he'd never be able to fully bond with Rose telepathically. That wouldn't have been a problem before today, mainly because he had never truly considered a possibility before, but now... Now everything inside of him ached for it and yet this him was too human to allow him to initiate a full bond.

Still, nothing was ever perfect. He'd learn to live with it – they would. Together. Rose and him for the rest of their lives; and yet the full Time Lord seemed intent on prolonging every second in her presence. The walls between the dimensions were currently still gaping open, but they were diminishing with every passing minutes and he didn't like just how irreverent the other version of him seemed of that fact. Sooner or later, he'd have to confront himself about it.

When they reached the kitchen, loud laughter echoed down the hallways and unwillingly he found himself smiling slightly at how at ease his companions seemed with one another. Despite his gripes when they ganged up on him, he was rather proud of them, each and every single one of them, and he was glad they could see just how brilliant they all were in their own ways.

He was amused to note that, once again, Jack was regaling everyone with a story of how he'd ended up fully naked, running from someone. Scarily enough, most of those stories actually held some validity as he'd found out over several adventures with the other man; he still wasn't quite sure why more often than not Jack was the only one who ever ended up naked, but as the immortal seemed to enjoy rather than be perturbed by the frequency of his indecent exposures across several galaxies, he'd left the matter alone, happy not to think too deeply on the matter.

"There you are!" Donna exclaimed once she saw him. He could see that everyone else was still having trouble differentiating between them, unsure what to make of the fact that there were two of him now.

"Took you long enough," Jackie said, her eyes narrowed suspiciously at them and almost automatically he took a half-step back. Okay, one thing he hadn't taken into consideration. If he went to Pete's world with Rose, not only would Jackie be his mother-in-law of sorts, but he also wouldn't be able to run very far. Up until now, when that woman had looked dangerously close to slapping him, he had been able to escape with the Tardis to the other end of the universe in a matter of seconds – far enough that he was sure even someone as determined as an angry Jackie wouldn't be able to catch up – but soon, he'd be stuck. He gulped, forcefully reminding himself that Rose was worth it. And no, he was not slowly wilting under her glare.

He had really behaved himself, though, a quiet voice in the back of his head piped up; it was the full Time Lord who had taken more liberties, not him. Fortunately, he was not suicidal and he doubted he'd be spared from her mother's ire if he were to tell her anything, so he quickly stepped away from Rose and instead busied himself preparing her comfort food, the motions all too familiar, leaving his other self to handle the dragon. He'd have his hands full with her enough in the future, let the other him take the damage for now. Besides, that him could regenerate at least.

"Mum!" Rose protested, always having his back, even when all his other companions just seemed to laugh at his precarious situation. "'s not like that! Shame on you, Jack! What have you been telling her!"

Ooh, good one. Diverting the attention to the handsome immortal who was well known to flirt with almost anyone – including Jackie, probably – and hopefully letting his charm take care of the rest. Not that he didn't have charm – he fiddled with his tie slightly and smoothed over his blue suit jacket – but he'd rather eat Rose's comfort food than flirt with Jackie. Pete – both of them, actually – had his utmost respect for handling her on a daily basis. She was lovely, yes, but not when faced with a suitor of her daughter and someone who endangered her all too often for Jackie's tastes.

...Hold on, was that what he was now? A suitor? He grimaced at the sound of that. Would he have to court her? Bring flowers and chocolates and doing other things he'd sworn he'd never ever do? Well, he'd never ever do unless Rose was upset – but those were special circumstances. They didn't count, he reassured himself silently.

He cursed quietly, realising he'd very nearly allowed the milk to burn. Acting quickly, he remedied the situation, listening to the argument that was slowly getting out of hand behind him.

"I only told her about our time in the gardens of Lorel."

He suppressed a groan and heard his other self mutter a curse in Gallifreyan at the immortal and Rose's short giggle in response.

"Doctor, I don't think that's anatomically possible," she reprimanded him and his eyebrows raised themselves in surprise. He certainly didn't remember ever teaching her any of those words; Rose Tyler was rapidly becoming an enigma to him. She knew and could do a lot of things she shouldn't have been capable of. He definitely needed to talk to her – they both did.

"But, I'll admit that if anyone can do it, it's definitely Jack," she added with a laugh and he found his lips curving up slightly at that suggestion before taking the pot of the heat. The rest was nearly ready as well.

"So it's true then?" Jackie's voice was harsh and he cringed slightly. Oh, this was not good. "An entire society running around starkers? And you took her to it, did you? Taking advantage of my little girl, are you, Doctor?"

Unable to help himself, he turned around fully, gaping at the furious mother of his companion.

"I- No!" he exclaimed, but the Time Lord finally jumped in, explaining where he had been too taken aback by the sudden turn of events to clarify what had actually taken place. At least Jack had the decency to wince on his behalf, undoubtedly only now realising what he'd unleashed.

"Jack," the Time Lord said, sending a sharp glare at the immortal, something he could definitely only agree with, "was in charge of the coordinates this time. Trust me; that was also the last time I let him handle the coordinates. Jack was the only one outside and I had to come to his rescue, but Rose was inside the Tardis the entire time," his other self said firmly and he nodded to confirm that's what had actually taken place.

Unfortunately, Rose decided this was the moment to grow a conscience about that particular misadventure and piped up, voice quiet and hesitant, "weelll... most of the time?"

His head snapped to her and he could see his other self looked just as surprised as him at that revelation. "What do you mean 'most of the time'?"

There was a faint blush on her cheeks as she looked at him – ha! Him, not the full Time Lord version of himself! Take that! – before she obviously regained her composure slightly, giving him a teasing grin, her tongue poking out between her lips in a way that made him realise for the first time just how strongly one singular, human heart could pound against his ribcage.

"Just that; or did you think the key to your cell just appeared via magic?"

Sarah Jane laughed out loud, diffusing the tense air ever so slightly. "Oh, was he stuck in prison – again!?"

"Oy!" he shouted in unison with his other self before frowning. He'd actually thought one of the other people he'd chatted with earlier had procured the key for him. He'd never thought that Rose would... well, he'd never dared to imagine her, to be entirely truthful, running around naked. Now it made sense why the key had been thrown to them; their society wasn't shy about nakedness, but Rose's certainly was. She'd obviously thrown them the key and then run and made it back to the Tardis before they did, somehow. His lips twitched slightly though he forced himself to turn around before his imagination provided him with detailed pictures.

"Is no one else bothered by the fact they were running around starkers or locked in prison?" Jackie at last seemed to have given up on being angry, instead looking bewildered between his chuckling companions. Even Mickey had joined in the laughter.

"It happens," Sarah Jane tried to explain, shrugging lightly. "There are so many different cultures and civilisations out there; you're bound to get something wrong every now and then and it's not as rare as you think to end up in prison."

Donna nodded, adding "besides, it's not as if he ever stayed imprisoned for long."

"And, odd as it sounds," Jack jumped in and he closed his eyes, suppressing a groan, expecting the immortal to land him in an even worse situation rather than aiding, "being imprisoned isn't always so bad."

Judging by Jackie's incredulous stare, he was unfortunately not wrong about the other man contributing to making the situation sound even worse

"What Jack is trying to say, mum," Rose quickly jumped in, her tone slightly desperate, "is that some of those prisons were beautiful rooms in castles... right, Jack?" she added between clenched teeth, sending the immortal an impressive glare.

"Right, yes, of course. That's what I meant," the other man nodded quickly, sending the older Tyler woman his most charming grin – which, luckily, seemed to melt even the most suspicious glare of Jackie.

"Comfort food," he announced quickly before they could start another discussion which would this time probably end with Jackie throttling him for doing god-knows-what to her daughter. He had yet to dare and remind her that she had come onto him the first time she met him; he wasn't sure if it would help or only aggravate the situation and with his luck he suspected it was the latter.

"Yum!" Rose declared, quickly grabbing a plate for herself before turning around to look at the rest of the room. "Does anyone else want any?"

He gave them a horrified look, hoping that none of his other companions had adopted her dubious tastes, when Martha looked enquiringly at the two bowls he held in his hand. "What is it?"

"Fishfingers and custard," he said venomously with as much disgust as he could muster, hoping to put any enquiring minds off tasting the odd concoction. Luckily, everyone else in the room seemed to be of the same mind as him, giving the blonde weird stares which she, unfortunately, seemed completely immune to and showed no sign of succumbing to peer pressure.

"You eat that?" Martha asked, lips curled up in revulsion towards the food as he himself held. He thought vaguely that she at least had yet to try it; Martha had no idea what horrors awaited her if she were to ever try it.

"Yep," Rose confirmed happily, grinning at the look on their faces, shrugging as she sat down. "All the more for me, then."

"It's my fault," Jackie suddenly lamented. "Didn't have much money one Christmas. She's been convinced ever since then that it's fantastic," the Tyler woman shook her head despondently. "No matter what I tried, she insisted on eating that."

Huh, he thought vaguely, that could actually explain it. As lovely as Jackie's turkey was – he had tried her new creations like the fish-meat mix lasagne and the cranberry sauce; if anyone could be driven to adore fishfingers and custard, he suspected Jackie Tyler's newly invented recipes definitely stood a good chance of doing just that.

"Actually," his Time Lord self suddenly spoke up, addressing him just as Rose was indulging on her third fishfinger, "you've got new tastebuds – never know, you might like it."

Feeling utterly betrayed he stared at the other man who only looked at him with a self-satisfied smirk on his lips. Rose's head popped up, looking utterly adorable with a bit of yellow custard on her lips, her eyes wide and pleading and he found even his half-human, half-Time Lord self with a bit of Donna mixed in was entirely unable to resist her.

With a deep sigh, resigned to his impending death, he sat down beside her. At least he'd die semi-happily, enjoying the warmth emitting from her body – though he found it wasn't as marked a difference now that he was human as well and his body temperature matched hers. Still, her scent was intoxicating – even mixed with custard and fishfingers as it was.

"Whipped," Mickey suddenly said from across the room beneath a poorly hidden cough and he shot Rose's ex a hard glare, annoyed when the other boy merely raised an eyebrow in turn. No respect; he could make entire empires fall, watch worlds burn and yet... and yet...

"Maybe you'll like it," Rose offered, her eyes wide with a hint of hope and he bit back yet another sigh. Helpless, that's what he was. Hopelessly resigned to do his best to fulfil his companion's every whim, apparently. It would seem that even the Oncoming Storm dare not crush Rose Tyler's smile.

"Yeah," he offered insincerely, "maybe." When hell freezes over. Which, of course, implied there was such a thing as hell, which there wasn't. Maybe when Woman Wept warmed up? No, that would inevitably happen as the closest star would gain in radiance shortly before it would turn into a supernova.

Before he could think of another example, Rose had taken the opportunity and held out half a fishstick in front of his face, liberally covered in his homemade custard sauce. He normally enjoyed this part of their interaction – where she fed him chips with her hands and he got to taste her, to kiss her fingers under the guise of eating, but he couldn't help but blush, noticing that this time they were not as alone as he was used to being with her in the Tardis. This human body was not as easy to influence, he noted, as his fully Time Lord one, and it took a moment to make the blush disappear. Time Lords, even half human ones, simply didn't blush.

Refusing to make even more of a fool of himself, he took one of the forks he'd placed on the table in case anyone else did dare to try Rose's 'comfort food' and gestured mutely for his companion to put it on there, unwilling to make even more of a spectacle of himself than he already was.

"Don't hold back on our account," Jackie said dryly, her eyes narrowed sharply at him, daring him to do as she said. Luckily, he was not quite that stupid. He'd rather die eating Rose's favourite concoction and with her at his side than having Jackie be the last thing he saw and feeling her fingers around his throat.

To her credit, Rose ignored her mother's suggestion and put it on the fork. He was courageous – he really was – but it took a brave man indeed to try this repulsing food again, remembering just how horrid the first few times had been only too vividly. Swallowing, well aware of the wide eyed expectant stare of his favourite companion, he finally submitted to his torture and before he could find any other reason to prolong the inevitable, he quickly shoved the fork in his mouth.

He was only too aware of the silence around him and for a moment – just a second – he thought it might not actually be as bad as he thought. About to say just that to her – wanting her face to light up – the taste buds on his tongue finally actually sent the signal to his brain and before he could stop himself, his entire face twisted into a grimace and he spat the food right back out, ignoring his companions' exclamations of disgust at the action. He found himself grabbing at his tongue, trying, in vain, to scrape the vile taste of his tongue.

"Huh, still disgusting then," his other self remarked with barely hidden amusement. If he weren't so occupied getting that taste of his tongue, he'd have forced ten of these things down the other man's throat just for that. By Rassilon, Jackie should be punished for ever introducing this thing to her daughter.

He scrambled to the sink, gagging slightly, letting the tap run and attempting, futilely, to get the taste off his tongue. The Tardis laughed in the back of his head and it was all he could do not to tell her off; if he did, he suspected he'd find the water would probably suddenly taste oddly like pears. She'd done it once before when he'd really annoyed her and it was not an experience he was looking to repeat.

"Here," Rose, goddess that she was, offered him a banana shake and, had he not known she would taste like the food he was trying so desperately to get rid of, he might have been tempted to kiss her as thank you... Okay, so he was still tempted to kiss her, but the banana shake definitely took precedence. Well, sort of definitely. She had saved him, after all. And she did look rather delectable with that apologetic expression and her white teeth flashing out to bite her bottom lip. He wanted to bite that bottom lip, too – just gently, mind, not to hurt her. Would she enjoy that? He wanted to find out. He wanted to find out a lot of things, he realised.

Suddenly the bottle in front of him waved side-to-side temptingly and he dismissed those thoughts. Right, room full of friends and family, he reminded himself. Not the best time to indulge in his thoughts – or in Rose. Giving her a quick grin, he quickly opened the bottle and downed most of it in one go before abruptly remembering that he was now half-human and, apparently, without a respiratory bypass. Embarrassingly enough, he ended up in a coughing fit with Rose gently stroking his back.

Yeah, that cinched it. This was definitely not his day. Well, her hand on his back was rather nice though... Unbelievable! No one should have this kind of power of him. He was utterly helpless, doomed to accept whatever punishment she saw fit to dole out and still accept her apologies when she hadn't even said a word. This wasn't right!

"'m sorry, Doctor," Rose said, her voice low and disconsolate as if she'd read his mind. Sighing to himself, he gave her a quick hug – mindful of her mother just on the other side of the table – before responding.

"Not your fault," he said and his eyes found those of the Time Lord who was staring at them with darkened eyes. Yes, he reminded himself, it hadn't been her fault at all. He glared at the other man.

---

A long time ago, Martha Jones had learned that sometimes it paid off to keep silent and observe. And that's what she was doing now. Watching, observing, noting what was said and what was conveyed without words, noting the gestures and touches, the looks that passed, trying to form a picture of the woman who had been mentioned so often and whom she knew so little about about.

For a long time, she'd felt like second best. She had been young and yet Martha had been well on her way to becoming a fully qualified medical doctor when she'd first met the Time Lord. The Doctor, however, was a hard man to impress whereas he had swept her off her feet well before he'd even kissed her, he had seemed immune if not oblivious to her charms. It had seemed that nothing was ever perfect or good enough, always compared to the seemingly flawless Rose and though she'd made her peace with it, she'd thought, having realised long ago that no matter what she did, she would never live up to someone who only existed in his memory, seeing her here and now, had brought all the old feelings back to the forefront.

Martha had thought she'd grown beyond comparing herself to others. She now worked for UNIT as a fully qualified Doctor, had achieved her dream and gone beyond it. Even her family had, after the year that never was, grown much closer and while yes, there were still fights, they no longer relied on her to mediate between them, freeing her of much of the responsibility and pressure she had always been under in her family. And, though she doubted she'd ever stop being swayed by the Doctor in a lot of ways, she was no longer infatuated with him as she had been before. Yes, he was brilliant and amazing and impressive, but she had learned that he would never come to see her that way, no matter what she did. And more than that, she had learned that while she wasn't a match for him he also wasn't one for her.

The Doctor would never open up to her unless forced and she did not understand the many things he always left unsaid. She didn't doubt that he could teach her, that she could grow to understand them if he took the time to explain; but he didn't and never would explain unless she pestered him; that was not something she wanted in a relationship. The Doctor didn't see her or treat her as an equal. And Martha had learned that she didn't want to be a stand-in, didn't want to chase after someone else's ghost, didn't want to feel like she had to prove herself, day after day. She wasn't perfect – no one was – but she was pretty damn good. And Martha refused to chase after someone who could not show her that they appreciated her just as she was.

And yes, okay, in the beginning she'd been petty and jealous of this wonderful Rose who had captivated the Doctor so. For the longest time she had been under the impression that Rose had left him, the Doctor, of her own volition; that she had gotten tired of the life or the man or not truly understood just how brilliant he was. And she hadn't understood; how could someone – anyone – ever leave this life and the man in it behind when he was so clearly head over heels in love with them, when they were together as he'd said? How could this woman just have upped and left?

And the more she was mentioned, the more references the Doctor made to Rose, to how she would have handled the situation had she been there, the more she grew to resent the other woman because despite the fact that she had left him, despite abandoning the man she loved and this life, the Doctor seemed incapable of forgetting her. And yet he still refused to see her, to notice any of her charm or her brilliance or how often she'd helped him. Martha Jones, to the Doctor, ranked second best to a woman who had left him behind; and that simple fact made it worse than anything.

But she persisted. Not just because of the Doctor – though she could admit now that it had been a healthy part of her decision, her desire to make this man look at her once, just once, the way he looked when he spoke of Rose – but also because she enjoyed being part of something greater, enjoyed being able to help people like she'd set out to do as a Doctor only on a far grander scheme.

His revelation to Jack – one which she overheard – about Rose being trapped in a parallel universe had finally allowed her world to make sense again. Of course; how could he ever let her go when she had seemingly sacrificed herself for him. No one, Martha had thought, who was loved as much by anyone as the Doctor loved Rose, would ever willingly leave – and that, finally, she understood.

Then, during the year that never was, Martha learned that she wasn't satisfied being second best – not for anyone, not even him. Martha Jones was brilliant and though the Doctor had shown her how to reach for the stars, had told her she was great, he had also been the one to make her feel like she wasn't good enough. Over time she had come to realise that though he had kissed her that first time they met, he had done his best to establish boundaries early on, emphasising that she was a travel companion – never a girlfriend. And yet they had been in such close quarters, he'd held her hand, he'd run and he'd been so clever, so absolutely brilliant, so mysterious and engaging he'd drawn her in like a moth to a flame and she had been blind to the fact that he was that way with everybody.

But by now she understood that the Doctor would never see her that way, would never come to see her as anything more than a companion and though she would have liked to say that if he were to declare his love for her now, she would still refuse him, a part of her knew she would be tempted – sorely tempted – as she had witnessed his devotion, his love and his passion first hand and longed to experience it at least once when it was directed at her and her alone. But she knew now, unlike back then, that he would never be a good match for her.

It had taken time, but as she ran all over her own planet, sharing her stories of him, others had pointed out to her what she'd been oblivious to; eventually, she would grow old, she'd age, gain wrinkles and grey hair, lose her youth, her vitality and her beauty. And he would remain the same. Young, fit, good-looking and Martha knew herself well enough to understand that she would grow to resent him with time. It wasn't his fault but even if he did not care, if he were to truly remain the same with her, no matter what age she was, she knew she would not be able to accept it, would doubt him and one thing she didn't want, was to be alone in old age.

And while she'd enjoyed running, ultimately, family was paramount to her. She would always want to return to them, wanted to attend gatherings and celebrations and to share her life with them. And one thing had become startlingly clear to her during the year that never was; at some point, she wouldn't want to run anymore, at some point, she would want to build a family, live on Earth and have a career – and the Doctor would never stop running. During all the time she'd been with him, he'd barely even stopped to breathe. When they weren't outside finding trouble, he was fixing the Tardis and the one time she'd asked for down time, he'd given it to her and been absent the entire time until she'd caved and just wanted to run again rather than be alone in this vast ship.

He'd eaten, occasionally, but never had he cooked for her or sat down with her, never had she seen him so relaxed, so content. With her, he'd always seemed to twitch, his fingers drumming, his body in constant motion, always needing to run and the main reason why she'd even begun to pity Rose; though now she could see just how foolish that had been. He'd needed to run with Martha Jones; with Rose, it seemed, he was content to just be near her and even the adrenaline junkie inside of him seemed satisfied just hovering protectively over the woman he loved.

Just a day ago, she couldn't have imagined ever seeing him like this; calm, at peace. It was like an oxymoron, something humans did, humans needed, but not Time Lords, she'd assumed. The Doctor she had known had always been buzzing with barely contained energy, always raring to go, no matter what time of day or night; these men, both of them, were happy, joking, laughing, teasing and relaxed.

It was as though they were different men altogether and Martha couldn't help but be curious; what was it about Rose Tyler that changed him so? What made the blonde so different from Donna and Jack, from Sarah Jane, from herself? How had she made a man – or an alien – as incredible as the Doctor fall for her so hard he refused to even take note of anyone else in his vicinity even long after he'd deemed her gone and unable to return? Why was she so special? What did she have that no one else did?

So, when the Doctors both escaped with Rose, she followed, ignoring the silent reprimand in Jack's eyes. She had to know, she just had to. Not because she wanted the Doctor, not out of misplaced jealousy or anger, but rather because she wanted someone to look at her the way he did at Rose; she wanted to find someone who saw her, truly saw her, and had even half the Doctor's love and devotion for her that he did for Rose. Well, okay, and maybe a bit of jealousy – but it wasn't fair. She had become a doctor rather quickly and at a young age, had proven her brightness and coped with the stress of medical school, work and family and yet this young blonde woman who spoke like she had never gone to University and, from what Jack had said, had worked as a shop assistant, had managed to charm this brilliant, clever man and no one could explain to her why.

So yeah, she snuck out after them and after a few moments, she found them, sequestered in the library. Her curiosity warred with her conscience for a moment, but in the end curiosity won out. Quietly, she opened the door until she saw them and crawled in, hiding herself.

The Doctor in blue was seated with his back to her, leaning against the end of the couch. Rose's head was on his knees – she was stretched out over the length of the sofa – and he was playing with her hair. The other Doctor, the real one, was on the floor but he had bedded his head on the blonde's stomach, her leather jacket open, revealing a burgundy shirt beneath. Rose had taken to massaging the real Doctor's head and for a moment, Martha felt like she was interrupting something intensely private with the way they looked at one another and how open he was around her – open in a way she'd never seen before and she dared to think he would've never let her see, had he known she was there.

"Library's changed a bit," Rose commented before Martha could convince herself to leave and, feeling a slight relief at the fact they were talking, she settled down again to watch.

The real Doctor with his head on her stomach just hummed contentedly and she couldn't help but smile slightly, unable to fully ignore the mental picture of a purring kitten. The man in blue answered the blonde's unspoken question.

"We – me and Donna – went to a planet called the library. Met some shadow creatures-"

"Urgh! Don't tell me, the Vashta Nerada?"

To Martha's surprise, Rose appeared to be right. The Doctor in brown certainly looked taken aback, head lifted slightly – though she noted he didn't try to stop the affection the blonde was bestowing upon him, rather content for her to continue her massages – and eyes blinking rapidly for a moment which she'd long ago associated with genuine surprise.

"Yeah – how did you know?"

"Told you; had to travel across several parallel dimensions to find you. You, Doctor, are a hard man to find. Anyway, point is, one of them had these in it. They'd killed half of Great Britain already – though it wasn't called Great Britain. Only there for a short time, luckily. They were everywhere, every shadow, swallowing up the light as they came closer, devouring every living thing they came in contact with, leaving only a carcass behind, bones stripped bare. Creepy as all hell; I was happy to get out of there."

The blonde shuddered and though she found it hard to imagine, Martha couldn't help but cringe at the picture Rose had painted; turned out, apparently, she'd been right to be afraid of the dark as a child. She was just glad that the Doctor had met and undoubtedly put an end to them here, in her world.

"I would've never known," he said abruptly, his voice, dark and ominous, sent a shiver down her spine. "I would've never known you were lost. I very nearly lost you, permanently. How many, Rose? How many worlds? How often did you barely escape certain death?"

Martha's breath stilled; what? Surely someone had fought this thing, would've beaten it back, even if he wasn't there? The Doctor, the man who fought the monsters – but surely he couldn't be the only one in all the parallel worlds? Just thinking of how many ploys they'd foiled in her travels with him, she dreaded to think what places Rose had found if they were all like that, without anyone to save them.

To Martha's surprise, Rose seemed to draw an entirely different conclusion from the Doctor's question.

"So you couldn't beat them back either, huh?"

Only then did she notice the tension in his jaw, the squared shoulders, the darkness in his eyes.

"No," his response was curt, barely suppressed anger in his voice. After a moment, without further prompting from the blonde – or at least none that she could see – he elaborated. "Not fully. The library will forever be lost. We saved them... Well, most of them. One had to... She sacrificed herself. They had this, well, this computer. It had saved them, all four thousand people, in its memory. I just had to reverse engineer it, download them. Made the Vashta Nerada an offer; didn't want to, not after what they did, and especially the price we paid for it, but I'm still him... I'm still the Doctor."

Martha stared, confused, at them, wondering what was going on. He sounded like he was trying to reassure Rose, but of what? Of course he was the Doctor. That was his name, wasn't it? And what sort of statement was that? What did it mean?

"Never cruel or cowardly," Rose said in response though Martha was having trouble making sense of it, watching as the blonde lay a hand on the real Doctor's cheek, stroking it softly, soothingly.

"Never give up." The man in blue said, whispering the words like a mantra, a prayer.

"Never give in." The real Doctor said, his eyes dark but his lips curled up slightly in a half-smile. The words meant something, she could feel it, like a shiver down her spine, something you felt when you experienced something so momentous that even if you did not understand its full significance, a part of you couldn't help but appreciate that whatever it was, it had just changed everything.

A pause; both Doctors seemed content that Rose at least understood, happy to simply enjoy her presence and the blonde appeared equally pleased, giving the half-human Doctor a warm smile. So far, Martha decided, everything she'd seen had only raised more questions and answered nothing. Then, suddenly, the blonde woman sat up slightly, her hand on the Doctor's cheek and her amber eyes looking at him intently.

"You haven't stopped running for a very long time, have you, Doctor?"

"I- What?" His voice was higher than normal, Martha noted with amusement, realising that apparently even the Time Lord could not only be surprised but also be unable to lie to their lady loves. It was interesting to see such a different side to the man she normally saw, the man who had an answer for everything and was utterly unflappable.

Rose, however, was apparently well used to him as she just chuckled lightly. "You look absolutely exhausted," the blonde asserted firmly and Martha gaped. The Doctor, in all the time that she'd known him, had never once been fatigued, filled with seemingly boundless amounts of energy, day and night – she'd even doubted him when he said that he slept; she simply hadn't been able to imagine him being still for long enough to get any sleep. And today in the kitchen and even now she had been observing him intently and there was nothing that showed her he was tired as Rose seemed to think he was.

But to her surprise, a tired smile graced his lips and she watched as the Doctor rubbed his forehead and the very human motion suddenly allowed her to see at least some of what the blonde had talked about, the exhaustion seemingly pulling on the Time Lord's limbs now that he no longer had to hide it.

"How could you tell?"

The blonde just shrugged. "Your eyes, how tense you are, the slight jitteriness, how it takes you a fraction of a second longer than it should to respond to simple questions... it's not like you're very good at hiding it."

The man in blue seemed content to just watch but the real Doctor's lips curved up in a real smile that took Martha's breath away in its simple honesty and the affection written in his face.

"And yet, no one but you has ever been able to notice it."

"Possibly, but you've not really ever let them see you, have you?"

The blue half-human Doctor spoke up, his voice light but firm, "I didn't let you either. You just..." he paused for a moment, obviously searching for the right word, before continuing, tone changing to teasing, "forced your way in. You drove me up the wall until I inadvertently told you more than I wanted to. Not been able to fool you since."

The blonde let out a short laugh before giving him a mischievous grin. "You make it sound so bad."

Martha had to grin at the light banter between the two, though she was glad that Rose at least had pointed out to the Doctor, that all his companions had wanted to, but had not been let in by him and had therefore not seen what she had so easily recognised.

As her laughter evaporated, Rose suddenly turned serious again. "When was the last time you slept?"

"I still travel with humans, you know," the Doctor defended himself quickly, "got to stop and give you your seven hours – or nine, in some cases," he added with a not-so-subtle look at the blonde positioned slightly above him, "so you can sleep your life away."

Martha could admit to herself that she doubted she would've recognised it as swiftly as Rose did for the diversion it was; she thought that in all likelihood, she would've probably been insulted at his comment rather than noticing he had not answered the question directly.

"Which, in Doctor-speech, means you've run yourself ragged until you collapsed in utter exhaustion. Pause. Repeat. You've probably kept finding more people to save while they were asleep, like you did with me when we first met."

Martha only just stopped herself from laughing at the Doctor's expression; he looked absolutely flabbergasted when confronted with Rose's deduction, eyes comically wide and his mouth opening and closing as he undoubtedly sought to defend himself but was unable to find the right words.

"I didn't think you knew," he finally said.

"'Course I knew. Well, not right at the start, but then I started to notice; you smelt of it, sometimes. Or you had a bruise I knew you didn't have when you'd gone to bed with me. Figured you'd run out to find more trouble at night."

She thought she was probably doing a fair impression of the Doctor's face moments earlier and she didn't know which surprised her more – okay, that was a lie. Had it been a day ago, she would've probably sworn up and down that for all his flirtations, the Doctor was asexual for all that he said and did on their adventures, she'd never seen any inclination of his to suggest otherwise. But now – he slept with her? Maybe not slept-slept but still lying in the same bed? She definitely remembered Jack telling her they weren't kissing or officially together in a way she understood. But she definitely understood sleeping together and it wasn't something friends frequently did with one another; well, not that she knew anyway.

And the other thing that bothered her – she had been convinced that the Doctor needed her; she'd saved him, saved others, helped him, surely he needed help that was why he travelled with others. But no, apparently he'd gone on adventures without her, without Donna, without problems and she'd never even noticed. Every time she lay down he was out there, saving another civilisation, another planet. So what were they? Useless? Someone to show off to? If he didn't need them, then why would he allow them to travel with him in the first place? Why invite them if he needed no one?

"Took quite a bit of time until you learned to relax, but then you started eating dinner with me and breakfast without looking so guilty. And then you actually fell asleep sometimes next to me or you read books all night or tinkered with some trinkets, but point is, you stayed. You didn't run, you didn't feel that incessant urge that told you to run and that had kept you up all the time before, at least I don't think you did anymore."

The Doctor's eyes were shimmering with so many emotions that Martha's throat tightened and she averted her eyes, knowing that they weren't meant for her and that he would never have opened himself up like this to her, would have never allowed her to see this vulnerability. This was for Rose and Rose alone; he allowed her to see all of him and Martha felt more acutely than ever that she'd overstepped her boundaries by witnessing this moment.

"No," he admitted, his voice hoarse and his tone conveying so much affection and warmth that she felt herself blush even just hearing him. "No, you're quite right. You made me stop; no, no, no. That's not right, that implies I had to be coerced. You, Rose Tyler, did the impossible. Again, I should probably say," he added with a quick mutter and a teasing grin, before becoming serious again. "You made me want to stop running, just for a bit. But then, when... when you weren't... here, I couldn't stop. Not for anything or anyone. I tried to, sometimes. Got lost in the memories, but you were the only one in my entire life who has ever made me think that maybe, walking and living life at a normal pace every now and then wouldn't be so bad. Didn't know how to anymore when you weren't here to show me."

"Silly Doctor," Rose's throat was tight with tears and it reflected in her voice as she choked slightly. "You didn't need me to show you how to, you always knew how. You just needed someone to tell you that it's okay to stop, that you deserve to stop, that, sometimes, the universe will just have to wait or let someone else save it. It's not all on you, never has been, but you're so afraid, so guilty, you refuse to see it. My Doctor."

And then Martha saw what Jack had meant; entire worlds would rise and fall apart with Rose's words for the Doctor. She was his universe, the sun really did rise with her and hers with him. Or them. There was so much love, so much tenderness, so much concern and affection in their every word, their every action, Martha wondered how they had ever survived without one another. Neither cried, they didn't kiss, they didn't even hug; just looking, just touching, gently, never moving, allowing each other to see past what they hid from everyone else, allowing their vulnerability and their strength to shine through for the other.

"We need you," her blue Doctor finally said, his arms wrapping around Rose's waist and pulling her against him while the other Doctor half-kneeled at her feet, one hand on her knee the other covering her hand on his face, a mute request for her to remain as she was.

"You don't need me," Martha blinked slightly out of her stupor, surprised at the harshness of the blonde's word though the tone of her voice was still gentle as she corrected him. "Just like I don't need you. We're good, even without one another. Look at everything you've done, everything you've achieved. Just look at the brilliant, brilliant people you've had with you!"

She felt as confused as the Doctor looked but after a pause, Rose continued and explained.

"The difference is that when I'm with you, you add to my life, you help me achieve my dreams; when you're out there, you don't stop at making the universe a better place but everywhere you've gone, you leave people behind who've been changed for the better. You were right, back then, on the beach. I could live a normal life – or as normal as could be, working with aliens – just like you could keep on living like this, the last two of the Time Lords. But together, together we can balance each other, help each other; being together, for us, doesn't detract from one another, we only add to it. I never have to be afraid that I can't trust you, that you'd betray me, that you won't support me or laugh at my dreams. You have always been there for me. Always. When no one else was, when I was afraid, when I didn't know what I could do, you showed me. I'm a better person with you, because of you. You showed me the universe, showed me all I could be and in return, I showed you that I will never judge you, that with me, you don't need to pretend, you don't need to be alright, that sometimes, it's okay not to want to save someone – and yet you do it, regardless, because you know that everyone still has the potential inside them to change and you refuse to accept that anyone, no matter their crime, is irrevocably beyond your powers to save, that anyone is too broken, too damaged, to be healed. Despite what you may think or want, despite how tempted you may be, you don't ever give up, you don't ever give in and you face all your choices with courage few have ever had to muster. You are my Doctor, both of you, despite your choice to fulfil the prophecy. You are my Doctor and nothing you do or say can ever change that."

Martha stared. She was well aware that she should have left them to their discussion a long time ago, that she'd not just crossed boundaries, she'd leapt well beyond them and that every second longer in their presence was an invasion of their privacy, but her heartbeat echoed loudly in her ears, her hands trembled and she was only faintly aware of her tight throat and the wetness on her cheeks.

This, right here, this was the kind of love everyone dreamed of, the kind of love she'd longed for, the one that was written of and spoken of and so few ever got to experience. This, right here, was something Martha wanted in her own life, had longed for, this unconditional, unquestioning support; a love which didn't fade with age or time apart, which didn't falter or rely on diplomacy and compromises to function or required utter reliance from one partner on the other rather a love based on complete equality, full understanding and unlimited faith.

It took her a few moments to gather herself and just as she decided that she shouldn't intrude on them any further and leave them, the Doctor in brown spoke up again and inevitably her curiosity reared its ugly head and she found herself halting her movements, interested despite her better judgement telling her she should really leave them alone.

"Would you repeat what you said that day, on the beach, for me?"

"Do you mean the bit where I told you to shut up?"

The corners of her mouth curled upwards in a smile; she rather doubted that had been what he meant and yet she couldn't help but be amused by the feisty blonde's easy teasing, her joviality and how she generally treated like the Doctor. Not reverent, not like he was so much older and more experienced than her, but rather as if he was her best friend, her partner, her equal.

But the Doctor, the one clad in brown, remained serious, his eyes steadfast and Martha watched as Rose adapted and echoed his mood, reflecting the same gravity which would have normally been funny on anyone else and yet the looks they exchanged took her breath away; so many words, never spoken but conveyed so easily without even needing to lend voice to them.

Martha didn't know what she had expected, but the words still took her breath away fully as she watched, wide-eyed, as Rose addressed solely the Doctor on the floor, the one dressed in blue seemingly content to observe rather than interfere or be part of what was transpiring.

"I love you." Such a simple sentence, so few words and yet no one could deny the effect of it and yet she hadn't hesitated, had undoubtedly given him just what he had requested without asking for anything in return. The amber eyes of the woman were filled with warmth, with love, adoration, affection, with longing and desire, with pride and though her words were softly spoken, they carried throughout the library, the emotion behind them lending them uncharacteristic fierceness and strength.

"Arkytior," Martha wasn't sure what the words meant, but the Doctor's voice was choked, the language melodic and spoken with so much feeling that for a moment she thought they were the reciprocal form of her words in his tongue. She had half-expected them to kiss, to fall into each other's arms, yet they remained as they were, separated by a few inches, touching only gently, but in that moment she saw far more emotion than he had ever revealed to her before. He didn't cry though she had expected him to, having seen his face, his hands, trembling just inches shy of touching Rose's face as if he still daren't imagine she was real, she was alive. The Doctor in blue remained quiet, letting them have their moment though Martha did not know why he didn't feel the same needs as the Doctor did, why he had not succumbed, as the other man had, to his desperation.

The Doctor kneeling in front of Rose looked like a man drowning and she was his only anchor, his saving grace, as if the universe would swallow him whole the moment he allowed his eyes to fall from hers, the moment she left his sight. She had seen the world in shambles, had seen people driven to desperate deeds, but this man was god-knows-how-old and yet he looked so devastated, so alone, so lonely, it tore her heart into shreds to realise he had thought he would remain like this for the rest of his lives, that he would never know anything else, not anymore, not with Rose trapped in a parallel world.

And the blonde – she'd had the courage to travel, on her own, knowing that if she made the wrong choice, there would be no one there to save her and she would die, utterly alone, on a planet, in a universe, a dimension not her own and no one would ever know what had truly happened to her.

"Say it again. In my language." It was a desperate plea, disguised as an order in the hope of lending strength where there was none to be found, in the hope of having Rose listen to him. Fool, Martha thought. Rose would do anything he'd ask, she understood that now; he need only ask and, she suspected, sometimes not even that.

"I- I don't know the words," the blonde hesitantly admitted, looking genuinely apologetic but the Doctor didn't falter, didn't look fazed and Martha's heart leapt into her throat as she slowly realised that it had been his plan all along. He wanted to tell them to her. And she really, really shouldn't stay here and listen to this, she knew, but she was frozen in place, unable to do anything but watch as everything slowly unfolded in front of her.

"I love you," he breathed out, his voice trembling with the force of his emotions.

Martha wondered vaguely what that language was; Time Lord-ish? Gallifreyan? Gallifreyish? Either way, it was absolutely beautiful, like a melody all on its own, each sound smoothly turning into the next. She watched as Rose blinked twice, rapidly, undoubtedly willing away tears at his words. Though he'd pretended to simply teach her the words, there was a softness in his tone, a hesitancy to his words, his voice thick with love and affection that no one could have missed.

And he didn't waver, not for a second, refusing to let his eyes leave Rose's, allowing everything that he normally refused to say shine through for a moment, before both returned to their pretence. Martha felt like alternatively hugging them and hitting them, wondering why they felt the need to hide their feelings when they were so beautiful, so breathtaking and so definitively reciprocated.

"I-" Rose paused, clearing her throat before attempting a second time. "I admiration you."

To Martha's surprise, both Doctor's suddenly grinned, the brown clad Doctor ducking his head down for a moment, lips twitching irrepressibly until he finally chuckled gruffly.

"I admire you, too," he finally said, voice light with laughter and Rose stared at him, looking as confused as she felt.

"Ah, well, I do... too?"

The half-human Time Lord shook with laughter at this point and it finally dawned on Martha; Rose must have made a slight, nearly unnoticeable mistake in her pronounciation.

"I know," the Doctor finally said, still grinning with barely hidden amusement, "that's what you said."

At his words, the blonde started pouting. "What did I do wrong?"

"Ah, vowels not quite long enough and you put an extra r in there. So, technically speaking, you actually used the noun rather than the verb. If you-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Just- just shut up for a moment, yeah?"

Rose closed her eyes and Martha knew that the other woman was doing what she herself had done, recalling the memory and reviewing his exact words so she could repeat it correctly. The Doctor, however, seemed uncertain as to what she was doing and was therefore completely taken aback, when the blonde woman spoke up again.

"I love you."

Martha would have thought that the emotion would have faded with the laughter, but the intensity was still there, Rose's tone conveying her earnestness and affection but it was the look in the Doctor's wide eyes that took her breath away, the unhindered view of his surprise and the way they filled abruptly with such love, such utter devotion, she could only stare helplessly, frozen in place, unable to move away with her legs trembling and her heart aching. The Doctor, just about to reach for Rose, suddenly stopped and for a moment, Martha thought he'd somehow realised she was there, but when he spoke up, it wasn't for her.

"What... what do you want in return? You must know I can never give you what you want and I can't say what you want to hear. So, what do you want in return?"

Martha felt like she might cry for him or slap the Doctor for Rose, make him understand that not everything in the universe had a price, but instead of insulted – or worse, hurt – the blonde woman just looked puzzled, frowning at the man in front of her.

"What I want in return?" she echoed, eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Many people have loved me, Rose. You're not the first one." Oh, she was definitely going to slap him this time if the other woman didn't get there first. "And that's the thing with humans; you always want something; so what is it? Do you want me to live in the parallel world, is that it? Do you want me to give up the Tardis? To stop running, saving people? What is it?"

Had he really experienced so little genuine love that it was hard to fathom for him that Rose wanted nothing in return? She barely knew the woman, but Martha was certain that the love she'd seen in her amber eyes was not based on any conditions or criteria. It was as endless and ever-expanding as the universe; for as long as Rose Tyler lived, of that Martha was certain, she would love the Doctor.

While she would have rather liked to claim the same, loving that man as a friend unconditionally, she was not sure she could lay claim to that. She loved the Doctor, but only the parts of him that she knew and only now did she realise that all she had seen, had been what he had wanted her to see, never more. But that simply meant she'd have to make more of an effort from now on, she determined, get to know the man who had saved the world and learn to love him, as a friend. Because he deserved that at least – and so did she.

"Nothing," the reply was simple, firm, a crooked smile playing at the corners of Rose's mouth and there was sorrow in her eyes – not pain, not hurt by his words but rather sadness because she understood he genuinely believed them.

"No one wants nothing," he scoffed and Martha bit her lip to stop herself from interfering when she had no right to.

Rose just laughed.

"I didn't say I didn't want nothin'-"

"anything," the Doctor corrected and the blonde rolled her eyes.

"Anything, then. Of course I want things, I want lots of things. Never said I didn't. I want to keep flying, I want to stay on the Tardis forever, I want to watch my little brother grow up and I want to stay with you, always. But none of those affect whether or how much I love you. That's not love, Doctor, not to me it isn't." Rose shook her head slightly, as if to emphasize her words, her hand on her chest, over her heart.

"I don't love you because you can fly through time and space, I don't love you because you got the Tardis, I don't love you because you saved me or because you saved the entire universe, time and again," Rose's hand gently caressed the Doctor's face, as if she knew that though her words were spoken with the greatest care, she would hurt him.

"I love you because you are the best man I've ever met. I love you not inspite of your mistakes or faults as you perceive them, but because of them, because they make you the man you are today. I have seen the very best of you, those days when you save the universe with a twist of your wrist and a snap of your fingers, when you make me feel like I could touch the stars with my feet still on the ground," Rose's smile was tender and warm, softening the blow from her next words, "and I've seen the very worst of you. I've seen empires, entire planets fall, I've seen the numbers of the dead growing higher and higher, I've seen the emptiness in your head, in the universe, I've seen what pain and torment you can inflict. I know why they call you the Oncoming Storm, why you are a renowned warrior and how you battled for centuries, fighting, killing, going against everything you believe in because you had no choice. And yet, even when you feel like you least deserve it, deserve me or anyone loving you, even when you try to push me away and reject me, I will always love you."

Martha didn't understand, not fully, but the emotion spoke for itself and Rose's words were rushed, as if she knew he didn't want to hear them, didn't want a profession of love this deep, this sincere and Martha's heart broke for this beautiful, fascinating, wonderful man who seemed not to understand how anyone who knew him as well as Rose evidently did, could feel for him as she so clearly did.

"This you, the last you, any you that's yet to come or has already been. They, him, you, all of you, are the Doctor, my Doctor. You can't scare me away and I know, I know how that frightens you and I'm sorry – I'm so sorry – but I love you. I love you. No matter the choices you have or will make. I don't ask for anything in return, because there is nothing you can give me that would change the way I feel about you. I don't need you to love me, I don't want you to live a slow life, I don't want you to give up the Tardis or anything else. I just want you to know that no matter where you are, no matter what happens to me, to you, to anyone else, I love you."

The last piece of resistance broke and in one frantic movement, the Doctor swept Rose up in his arms, clinging to her with such desperation, such hopelessness and yet relief and yearning, his head hidden in her neck, his shoulder shaking that Martha felt tears gather again in the corner of her eyes as she silently crawled out of the library, determined to leave at least that last bit of the Doctor's pride intact and allowing him to be vulnerable only in front of the one woman who would never judge him.

And with a sudden start Martha realised that she'd never been interested in finding out more about Rose; who was she, after all, but another companion of the Doctor – albeit someone he felt strongly for. No, Rose was even more of a mystery to her now, than ever before but it hadn't been her she'd ever wanted to know more about, she realised suddenly. No, rather, she had wanted to see the Doctor Jack had talked of, the man the alien was when he was around her, around the infamous Rose Tyler; she'd wanted to know if he really was that different, if one person, one single human girl in all of space and time could really change him that much.

And she had her answer now. This man, this Doctor – Rose's Doctor, she corrected herself – he was better than anyone she'd ever seen, better than she'd thought; he was more human and more alien all at once and she desperately wanted to help him, to learn more about him and become his friend, a trusted friend, someone he might even, one day, allow behind those walls and see the real him she'd been given a brief glimpse of today.

---

Woah, I do hope you enjoyed that. I was sleepless last night bar for three hours while my head tried to work out this scenario and all the words. I would love to hear what you think and I do hope you enjoy Martha and she wasn't too OOC.

Please review again!

---

Responses to reviews since the last chapter are below:

---

greeneyesCutie

Hi again! Thank you very much for your review. Agreed, the Valeyard would unfortunately cause a lot of issues for my story. Haha, I like your idea of "go to"'s. I hadn't thought of that myself. I just keep trundling on, from one bad story to the next, with the odd kernel of gold hidden between them. I definitely know what you mean about 'unreading' a story. I am always kind of amused when I read one story which has me absolutely loathing Donna, Martha or one of the other characters and in the next one I fall in love with them and think they're the bestest person ever. Dependant on how it's written, a good author can definitely change our thoughts and feelings on characters based on the way they've written them. Unfortunately, too many of them oversimplify some rather than adding depth to the character; something I very nearly did with Martha *whistle innocently*

And yes, happy to reassure you, Rose will definitely be in Eleven's timeline and while I do like River in some sense, I definitely won't let her be his wife. Nuh-uh, not happening on my watch. I like Rory too and his dad; they're both brilliant! Well, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and share your thoughts!

---

Tiggrchic982

*lol* thank you for your review. I definitely noticed the level of anxiety in your review :) I cannot commit to anything, that's all I'll say just to up the tension a bit because I'm an evil author! Thank you very much for enjoying my rewrite. Yay, glad you enjoyed the tension (delicious tension, brilliant turn of phrase!); always nervous about writing that, so glad it came across well. I can tell you, explanations are a bit off yet. As are adventures. I know, I'm sorry, too, but the plot needs to move along a bit or I think I'm gonna have a crisis cause this story will never end! Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed this latest chapter as well and I would really love to hear your point of view! Please...?

---

cecilehem

Hi! Thanks for the pm, you lovely person! Here's a Martha born from your comments at least partly. I just needed my head screwed on right again. No one is as one dimensional as I wanted to make her in my fit of rage.

Yep, that's me, definitely a cruel author who loves cliffhangers *muahaha*

*blush* Ah, thanks for the compliments. Yeah, that body was made for her. The beach was a horrible episode first time around and I just didn't – well sort of – understood the second time around. I still think they should've left them together though, that was unnecessary cruelty. Anywho, you'll see my plan when we get to it (which again seems further away than I had anticipated... how do these chapters end up so long? No, seriously, how?)

Yes, the 2005 goodbye moment is definitely real, and it definitely has to (will) happen, but the Doctor doesn't know it. He never looks at his own or his companion's timelines (how rude that would be), so he is currently happily oblivious to the impending potential disaster.

Whilst no kisses happened – well, none on the mouth – I do hope I satisfied the fluff criteria with this one. Sorry this one was a bit longer in coming than I had anticipated, but, to be fair, I think you would've all hated me had I uploaded my first draft.

Oh I agree, I'm quite looking forward to writing Jack. Still trying to think of the best scenario to showcase him in and his thoughts. Any suggestions?

Yay – glad you agree. I hate it when I realise I've built a story and forgotten to take something into consideration and thereby made a rather large leap in logic for character traits, so thank you !

I would always love to hear from you – please let me know your thoughts on this chapter – especially Martha.

---

50penny

*blush* so much flattery! Thank you very, very much for your review and the effusive praise! I do hope you continue to enjoy my story as we delve a bit more in the other side characters over the next chapter.

I know – Forever is brilliant! I absolutely love that show and I love how impeccably dressed he is. Do you watch Sherlock as well? The BBC series? It's fantastic as well! There are precious few Forever fanfics, but there is a brilliant one about them infiltrating a Jane Austen themed weekend, Henry and Jo as partners. It's fabulous! And yeah, ABC is definitely a bunch of idiots as are all the others who didn't pick up the show!

---

Eagle Hawke

Hi Cyclops ;) Unfortunately, you will find that I am not easily threatened, but I think you are lucky in that I intended to update either way. Besides, exterminating would be kind of pointless because then this story would forever remain unfinished :)

Anywho, do hope you enjoy the story! Would love to hear what you think about it and this chapter if you do have the time.

---

Darkwolfberlin

Hi!

Super, vielen Dank fuer deinen Kommentar. Irgendwie geht's nur etwas langsam voran mit der tatsaechlichen Geschichte; ich plane das nicht wirklich so, aber irgendwie haben die Charaktere da ihre eigene Sache im Sinn und ich komm halt nicht so schnell voran wie ich gern moechte. Mal ganz im Ernst; ich habe keine Ahnung wie ich auf einmal auf 16k gekommen bin! Es sollte einen kurzen Einblick in die Charaktere gewaehren – der Stichpunkt hier ist 'kurz'! Ich habe gerade mal drei Charaktere hinter mir und irgendwie sind das chon 16k weg. Das geht doch nicht! Freut mich, dass du nicht zu sehr enttaeuscht warst vom letzten Kapitel. Loesung kommt... irgendwann... im Entenschritt. Es ist echt peinlich wie langsam's voran geht. Ich glaube fast, ich werde hiermit nie fertig! Na, scherz beiseite, es wird noch viele Kapitel geben so wie ich das jetzt einschaetze, also hoff ich du haeltst mit mir durch und schreibst mir auch weiterhin was du von der neuesten Wendung haeltst – okay, keine Wendung, nicht in diesem Kapitel, nicht wirklich. Aber vielleicht Charakterentwicklung?

---

ambertardis22

Yay! I'm always glad to have new readers! Welcome and thank you for taking the time to review. I'm glad you're enjoying it and I will do my best to update quickly. Reviews always help *wink wink nudge nudge*

---

Marcela

Hiya! Yep, update! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Afraid the resolution is still a bit away but yes, she can't survive in Pete's world. I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait for when I reveal all my dastardly plans *evil laugh* I would love to hear what you think of this chapter, I think the beach-resolution is about a chapter at least away. Please review!

---

Kylaia78

Yay, glad I managed to get the tension just right! Thank you very much for your review. Yay, the almost kiss was my favourite scene – it wasn't part of the rewrite and fun! I do hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. And thank you for all the accolades and your vote for the competition, that's very flattering. I have a fan *blush* Yay! Well, I hope you enjoyed the love confession in this scene and I'd love another review.

---

Guest ~MA

Hi! Thank you very much for your review. I'm glad you enjoy it and think it's well written, that's a fabulous compliment. Thank you! Sorry, that sounded kinda weird. Yay, glad you enjoyed my rewrite. I promise there will be more diversions from cannon happening in the future as well as the storyline but we'll keep most of it relatively intact. I do hope you'll continue enjoying my story as we go along. Thanks again for all the flattery – I would love to hear what you think of this chapter!

---

hyperdragon97

Hi again! I'm glad you're still reading – I wasn't sure if you didn't like one of my chapters and had dropped off, so yay! Thanks for the review! We will go well into the eleventh Doctor's run, I can tell you that much, but unfortunately I have to keep the rest under wraps and let you discover as we go along. I do hope to hear from you again! Let me know your thoughts on this latest chapter :)

---

Seralina

Hahaha! Brilliant review, thank you! Unfortunately I never give back stolen hearts. I collect them for my stories *evil laugh* Yep, Jack will definitely have his own chat with our favourite blonde as will both Doctors; a lot of things to figure out and discuss and a lot of emotions to understand and share. I agree, it would've been nice for Jack to stay. I will say, that mine won't differ from canon in that respect at this point, but he will have his moment later on.

I love Donna, too! She's fabulous and brilliant and taking her memories was so heartbreaking; first he lost Rose and then he had to wipe the memories of his best friend who was pleading, begging him not to do it. God! How cruel!

Jackie's POV will also come, just not quite yet. Next chapter, I hope, but it depends on how much my characters run away from me again.

Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and I would love to hear from you again, you lovely reader you!

---

TechiePandah

Woah! O.o Tell your employer that's not on! 10 hour workshift! Well, a great, big fabulous thank you for reviewing after such an exhausting day. I truly appreciate it and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll definitely continue writing; no kiss just yet, though. Well, not on the lips anyway. I do apologise. Thanks for the story-teller compliment, that's very flattering and so sweet! I hope your other days have been more normalised and not quite so insane and if you can spare the time, I would absolutely love to hear from you again.

---

SeriamenEthereal

Hi! First off, thank you for your review. And those needs are definitely things you should follow. I always appreciate someone telling me they enjoy reading my story! It's great encouragement, thank you! I'm so glad you think my idea is a bit more original rather than a recap of another already found; it's a rare thing, indeed, and I would never claim to have read enough to fully be sure of this, so thank you. That's a bit off yet, unfortunately – the power fallout with the Doctor and his realisation of what she can do. I'll give you a hint, Tentoo will find out before the 'original' Doctor. Well, I do hope you enjoyed this update. The next one is work in progress but should be with you in a few days. I'm glad you think 19k is not too long, especially as this one is cutting it pretty damn close as well. I hope it's still an enjoyable read despite the chapter length and I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! Have a lovely day!