Disclaimer: Nothing here is owned by me, I make no money from this
The thrumming hum pulsated through the very walls of the TARDIS, as if she were singing a lullaby to aid her oldest friend through the sharpest of dreams. The Doctor rocked imperceptibly in the swing beneath her glass floors, tinkering restlessly with the wires that controlled the Chameleon Circuit. He didn't want to fix it, of course, but it would be nice to know what was actually wrong.
Something to do with binary… The Doctor shook his head sharply. There was no point looking back; especially not as far back as that. Maybe once he had finished here, he'd drop in to see Da Vinci, or maybe Cicero, see if they needed help with any tinkering. Come to think of it, Leo could use all the tinkering help he could get. Although, the last time he'd tried to help anyone Rory had told him in no uncertain terms that the Magna Carta was fine just as it was-No.
The Doctor closed his eyes, slowly dropping his hands from the mesh of wires that hung limply from the internal workings of the ship. No, it was probably better for him to stay where he was, stop every now and then for chips, or one of those cakey things that the lovely old lady in Mycenae was selling the last time he was there.
Just stop thinking about them, the Doctor thought to himself, no point thinking aloud anymore. He hoisted himself to his feet and tried to engineer a burst of motion, which carried him as far as the tattered chair facing the controls. He dropped into it, clasping his hands together.
"IT'S TOO QUIET IN HERE!" he yelled on a whim, giving into the momentary impulse. The TARDIS responded with the familiar bong reminiscent of a silver gong meeting the edge of an hourglass. Dull! DULL DULL DULL! The Doctor wasn't sure if he was frustrated with the world, or himself, It's not like this hasn't happened before, just move on! Except it wasn't that easy.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there, wallowing in a mixture of self-pity and self-hatred; at one point he began whistling a tune under his breath that he must have heard somewhere in the Roman Empire. I'm so tired… -
The phone rang, but at the same time an alarm bell ripped through the air, punctuating each ring and making the Doctor jump as he was torn from his trance. The whole ship shook, as if it had decided it wanted to leave, but couldn't without permission. The gasping, wheezing rasp echoed in the off the walls. He leapt across the room, snatching up the phone and pressing it to his ear whilst yanking the small monitor towards him and identifying the source of the alarm. The same place…that's odd.
"Hello?" he trilled; this had to be someone interesting, no one boring could have caused the TARDIS to react so erratically. The voice that emanated from the receiver made the Doctor freeze, and for a moment it was as if both his hearts had stopped, and the world around him faded into silence as the floor continued to shake.
"Hello! It's me! I mean you-OTHER YOU! It's the other Doctor-Pete's world Doctor!" the voice of his double was frantic, and it sounded as if he had been running, "Please tell me this is the TARDIS!"
The Doctor jolted and quickly pulled at the wibbly controls, whacking the triangular lever before pausing beside the monitor again, his fingers tracing his bow-tie subconsciously. A cold feeling of foreboding crept up his spine and unsettled his stomach as he peered suspiciously at the readings.
"Yes. It's the Doctor. How are you calling me? I closed the bridges between the universes." The Doctor replied tonelessly; this could not be good, "In fact, what are you doing to the TARDIS?"
"I'm not doing anything to the TARDIS! That's why I'm calling!" the Other Doctor answered irritably, "It's Rose!"
The Doctor really did freeze this time, and had to stop himself dropping the phone. Oh, he inwardly cursed, if anyone had taken getting over, it had been her.
"What do you mean it's Rose? What's she doing, and more to the point, why aren't you doing it too?" he demanded, tapping codes into the monitor so that he could get a wider reading. If the signals were coming from Pete's World, that meant an entirely different ballpark.
"She went off on her own, took the Dimension Cannon and off she went!" the Other Doctor swore under his breath, as the Doctor felt a momentary stab of panic and irritation, "The steering's off on the cannon, so I'll assume the TARDIS is misbehaving?"
"Yes! She's not behaving even a little bit, but that's to be expected when holes are being ripped in the universe; it upsets her a bit!" The Doctor growled; it wasn't the Other Doctor's fault that things weren't as chipper as usual, but he sure did provide something to aim at, "Now explain to me why Rose is trying to hop between universes when the two of you should be having tens of babies and competing for spouse of the year awards! I left you there for a reason!"
The TARDIS jolted and nearly threw the Doctor to the floor, but he was able to remain on his feet by pure luck. He knew what the Other Doctor was expecting; with no steering, Rose would just fire about as particles until she found a safe place to lock onto. All he needed to do was press a few buttons, break a few laws of physics, and the TARDIS could catch her; it looked like the ship had been trying on her own.
"Things didn't work out quite as planned-just- they never do…" the Other Doctor trailed off, and the Doctor was about to ask what he meant when the voice at the other end of the phone started up again, "Just…catch her for me."
There was a crash as loud as thunder, and the lights actually flashed off for a moment. The TARDIS shuddered violently, and a flash of striking blue light rent the air. The Doctor really did fall this time, dropping the receiver. When the ship had stopped rocking, and the lights were back to their normal warm glow, the Doctor looked up, and was met with the sight of a familiar young, blonde woman, crumpled on the glass floor. He scrambled to the receiver and held it to his ear.
"I've got her! She's unconscious but I've got her!" he yelled, feeling a rush of victory, and joy at seeing his old friend safe, before he remembered the matter at hand, "Now tell me what's going on; why aren't you here?"
There was a sigh from the other end of the line.
"Get Rose to explain." The Other Doctor sounded mournful, and the Doctor eyed Rose warily, trying not to feel guilty; it had been him that had left them there after all, "Just let her know that I'm worried; she knows I still love her, just…it doesn't matter what we've said to each other recently, I still care."
With that the call cut off, and the Doctor was left staring at the crumpled mass on the floor.
After a few moments, he tread tentatively towards her, and lifted her into his arms, depositing her on the ratty chair. It could have been hours or minutes before Rose began to stir, her nose wrinkling as she shook the blonde streaks from her face. Her brown eyes flickered back and forth as she took in her surroundings. The Doctor waited for her to sit up before saying anything.
"You, Rose Tyler, are a pest and a menace." He said fondly, folding his arms and leaning back against the console as she rushed into an upright position before falling back into the chair. Rose eyed him warily, her expression shifting into curiosity as her eyes trailed down his form.
"Doctor?" she asked, her voice strong but strained. The Doctor simply nodded, allowing her to take everything in. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure what to do; he had changed a lot since the last time they had spoken. Rose stood again, looking open mouthed around the Control Room.
"It's changed…" she muttered, before glaring at the Doctor, "You've changed! When did this happen?"
"A while back!" The Doctor replied defensively, trying to keep his cool, "Radiation poisoning; it wasn't pleasant. More importantly, I have some questions-"
"What the hell are you wearing?" Rose interrupted, stepping forward to trace the tweed coat and the bowtie with her fingers before pulling her hand away awkwardly.
"It's a bow tie; bow ties are cool." He maintained, straightening the aforementioned tie, "Anything else you'd like to state?"
Rose shook her head, and the Doctor realised that she was still taking him in with an expression of confused wonderment. Her hand seemed to move of its own accord, brushing his cheek lightly.
"It's still you?" she asked quietly, as if in prayer. The Doctor nodded, stepping away from her to tweak the controls.
"More or less." He replied, although one look at her face told him that she wasn't satisfied, "Now, you need to tell me what you're doing here, because I did not leave you with the clone just for you to ping off on your own."
At this Rose had the grace to look guilty, running her hand through her hair and mirroring his progress around the other side of the console.
"Do I not get a hug?" she tried, opening her arms.
"If you explain yourself, maybe." He replied, not meeting her eyes. Rose looked away; he had changed. It was almost like a cold, dark wall had taken up residence around him.
"Well…the Doctor, the Other Doctor and I…we just decided that we worked better as friends-" she began, before the Doctor cut her off, his hands flittering in front of him as he talked.
"But that's not how it works!" he insisted, "You're in love, you do coupley things! What happened to make you decide that you were better off as friends? And how does that lead to here?"
"There was this guy-" Rose started again, once again to be interrupted as the Doctor appeared by her side, standing well within her personal space.
"You left him for another guy?" he demanded tensely, peering down at her, "I thought you loved him."
Rose stood her ground, glaring right back, folding her arms across her chest and attempting to look intimidating.
"I do love him; he's my best friend." She said firmly; the Doctor returned to his random tinkering, "I did not leave him for another guy, the other guy just happened to be part of the big picture that made us realise we didn't work."
"I don't understand," the Doctor bit back, and he was actually waving his screwdriver at her, "You're going to have to explain this event to event because I cannot see the thinking behind all this."
Rose exhaled loudly, throwing herself into the chair and looking down at her nails. The Doctor stopped his flittering and came to a stop opposite her. He couldn't fight the surge of guilt that he felt watching her try and put into words her predicament; she was so beautiful, and he'd missed her so much, but apparently everything that he'd put in place to ensure he could live with himself after leaving her had fallen apart. Rose pursed her lips, finally appearing sure of what she was going to say.
"You left, we carried on." She explained, waiting for the Doctor to nod before continuing; she spoke as if every word was against her better judgement, "Things were a bit rocky, and then this man turned up- an alien, Torchwood brought him in. He was just my friend, before you say anything!" she snapped sternly as the Doctor opened his mouth, "the Doctor decided it was best for us to try things apart, and that was fine. It really was fine, like I said, he's my best friend."
The Doctor nodded, listening intently as Rose thought about her next words.
"Then I said I'd look after the guy we found, and we got close…" Rose looked up at the Doctor, her brown eyes pleading him to understand, "We argued a lot; he can be a right tosser when he wants…but I love him. And I reckon he loves me."
"You reckon?"
"Yeah!" she argued, and the Doctor couldn't stop the smile that her confident tenacity brought to his lips, "I never meant to, I wanted it to be Rose Tyler and the Doctor forever, but you know what? I found something just as good." She trailed off again, her eyes dropping to her nails, "Long story short, the Doctor's not too fond of him, there've been lots of arguments, and after a big one a while back he takes the Cannon and disappears-I don't know where he's gone and I've only recently been able to sneak in to use the newer one."
The Doctor clasped his hands thoughtfully. He'd never expected anything like this, but, he supposed, at least she was happy. He realised that Rose had lapsed into silence.
"So your friend could be anywhere in this universe, and he disappeared quite a while ago?" he confirmed, spinning around to yank at the console when she nodded, "Well, I suppose I could track the energy signals that surround that kind of travel."
"Thank you." Rose sighed happily, and the Doctor turned to find that she had moved in beside him like she used to. There was a pleased smile adorning her lips, and he found it was a refreshing step into the past. The Ponds were happy, and Rose was here; what was the point in being miserable.
"So…what's this man's name?" The Doctor asked coyly, sticking his hands in his pockets and meeting Rose's eyes. She flushed pink and looked towards the ground; Oh no, she probably did love this guy.
"His name's Loki."
Finally got to the Doctor and Rose-Roski on the way! Would love to hear what people are thinking so far, or any suggestions. Otherwise, enjoy