A/N: Warning, here there be Angsty Doc! This chapter is the reason this is rated T.
-CHAPTER TWO-
-?-
The first thing he hears when he steps out of the TARDIS are police sirens. It's late at night, and the harsh street lights cast an orange glare over the dank London street. The whole scene gives an air of foreboding, and he knows he should go, before something happens and he screws up her timeline. And yet he can't help himself, because then he sees her.
She's maybe seventeen now, close to turning eighteen, and she looks so much like the Rose he knows his hearts ache. She's wearing that black coat lined with fur he's seen her wear so many times. The sight of her so familiar sends him into déjà vu, almost sends him mad, because he could swear he was wearing leather instead of tweed, and he wants her to turn and smile at him, he wants her to chase after him and question his ear off. He wants her to come with him to see the stars.
She doesn't though, she doesn't notice him. Because she's not alone.
It's not Mickey with her, that much is clear. He's a punk, the Doctor can tell, a little bit of a gangster who thinks he's cool, with his sagging pants and earrings, and the Doctor knows this boy is not cool. Because he treats Rose like a possession, he can tell by the way he ignores her, by the way he doesn't hold her hand, by the glare of contempt the boy gives her. The Doctor doesn't like this boy, and wonders why on Earth Rose would want to hang out with him.
"Jimmy, are you listening to me?" Rose says to him in an irritated voice.
Jimmy. Jimmy Stone. The reason Rose never finished her A-levels.
Jimmy gives Rose a castaway glance.
"Whatever," he says. And the Doctor feels the overwhelming need to punch him.
The Doctor follows them for a few blocks, staying in the shadows, intent on their conversation. He feels the need to stay with Rose, to protect her from this boy, though he knows he shouldn't interfere. A few blocks later, they break out into a fight, and the Doctor's anger is on it's tipping point as he treats her like dirt.
It's not a lover's spat, like he and Rose would have, all blazing eyes and unresolved sexual tension and with the next verbal blow unsure if the response would be to shout back or to give in and snog each other senseless. It's not like that at all. Jimmy Stone yells at her, calls her worthless, calls her terrible names and he hurts Rose, hits her right where she's hurting, where she's unsure of herself, where she's insecure. He calls her dumb and stupid and worthless and the Doctor sees tears spring to her eyes.
And oh, his lovely Rose, she tries to fight back, she really does, but she doesn't know where to hit to make him stop, she doesn't quite know how to fight him. And he understands both why she's with him and why she can't fight him: she can't get a read on him. She can't figure him out, and she wants to. She doesn't quite know that's the reason, oh no, she thinks it's love. And with each blind insult the Doctor can see Jimmy Stone's anger and irritation rising, and when Rose's anger reaches it's peak and she finally pounds him on the chest with her fists, Jimmy Stone becomes a monster.
He backhands her across the face, and she stumbles back, clutching her cheek, tears pouring from her mascara-clad eyes. He shouts at her, and says she doesn't deserve someone like him, that he can do so much better, and she's lucky he's still with her. He grabs her roughly by the arm and shakes her.
The Doctor now stood by in the shadows, knowing he mustn't interfere. But his anger grew from irritation into the Oncoming Storm when Jimmy Stone laid a finger on his Rose. Nobody hurts his Rose. Nobody. His restraint was admirable, but it was only on a very, very thin thread.
And it was only when Jimmy Stone raised his fist to hit Rose, that the Doctor could not stand by in the shadows.
He ran. He ran forward and ripped Jimmy Stone from Rose, pinning him against the brick wall with a strength that surprised even the Doctor. He wedged his arm under the boy's throat, lifting him up several inches off the ground. The boy flailed, looking shocked and scared. And who wouldn't be? The Doctor was livid, growling, spitting, angry, as he glared into the boy's eyes and poured into him every bit of fear the Doctor held within his hearts.
"Woah, woah, man, look, just let me go! Calm down, alright!" said Jimmy Stone, who had thrown his hands up in the general signal for surrender. It wasn't everyday he was met with such an intimidating force in the package of a skinny man in a bowtie. "Just let me go, man!"
The Doctor did not drop him, though. Because the Doctor was now the Oncoming Storm, and he's rip the boy's throat out with his bare hands, he really would, he swore he would. No one hurt his Rose. There was no power on this Earth that could stop him now.
Except her.
"Don't!" cried Rose. And she came up behind him, and placed a hand on his arm, and the Doctor's hearts stopped at the contact. Rose tugged on his arm, trying to pull him back. "Don't, please."
The bloodlust inside the Doctor subsided as he looked over and green eyes met big, wet brown. A purple bruise was already forming on her cheek and she was bleeding.
"How many times, Rose?" he growled at her. "How many times has he done this to you, this little weasel? How many times has he hurt you?"
Rose's hand on his arm was shaking, and he could tell by the look in her eye it wasn't the first.
"Just…just let him go, alright? It's no big deal. I can handle it," said Rose. She was obviously frightened by him, this man she didn't know at all yet but knew so well.
The Doctor laughed, an out-of-control, manic laugh.
"And you just let him?" he snorted, shoving his face in Jimmy Stone's, and the boy cowered. "You just let this little filth hurt you?"
"No!" exclaimed Rose, feeling the need to defend herself. "No, I just…It's not…it's not what you think!"
The Doctor growled, and laughed madly, throwing yet more weight into Jimmy Stone's windpipe. "Oh, Rose, it's exactly what I think. This disgusting little filth of humanity is so little, so insecure, that the only thing that gives him any sense of power is to control women. He will amount to nothing. He'll end up in a jail cell because he'll have murdered or raped or hit one woman too far…well, let me tell you, Jimmy Stone, I've got your number, and you've picked the wrong woman to hurt today, you filthy little swine."
Rose tugged at his arm, attempting to pull him away from Jimmy.
"Please, just let him go," she whispered, in just the right way, and she tugged at his heartstrings and reminded him that he would regret it if he killed Jimmy Stone, even though she did not realize it.
The anger did not die, but he was in control again, thanks to her. He would not kill Jimmy Stone. But he was a far cry from finished with him.
"Don't you touch a hair on her head," the Doctor growled at the boy, throwing him against the brick wall for emphasis. "Ever again. Or so help me I will find you, I will find you and you will regret the day you were ever born."
"Okay, okay, man, just listen, just let me go, alright?" whimpered Jimmy Stone.
The Doctor threw Jimmy Stone against the wall, letting him go with a disgusted snarl of his teeth. The boy slid down the wall.
"Run," said the Doctor to him. Jimmy Stone did not respond immediately, and the Doctor shouted, his voice full of anger, "RUN!"
Jimmy Stone scarpered, running down the street at full speed away from the Doctor. Breathing heavily, the Doctor turned away from the wall, and away from Rose, and tried to get himself under control. Rose stood a few feet away from him, looking torn between chasing after Jimmy or staying with him. The Doctor knew she really didn't want to go after Jimmy Stone. But the Doctor also knew he had scared her. He turned back to Rose.
"I'm sorry," he told her. "I'm sorry if I scared you."
She shook her head, his brave Rose, denying she was ever scared. "No, no, 'm fine."
The Doctor took a deep breath, feeling his heartbeats return to normal. He looked over at her, and the bruise on her cheek threatened to throw him into the dark place again.
"Are you alright?" he asked, coming towards her. She took an almost involuntary step back, and that wounded the Doctor a little bit, though it was completely justified. He softened his posture. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a Doctor."
She let him approach her, and he examined the bruise and cut on her cheek. He withdrew from his bigger-on-the-inside pockets a clean cloth, and dabbed at the blood on her cheek, cleaning her wound. Her gaze burned into him as he touched her, ever so gently. Inquired. Determined. Brave. Questioning.
"Who are you?" she whispered to him. He closed his mouth firmly. He could not tell her the truth. She was only little more than a year away from knowing him, and who knew what it would do to their timelines if she discovered him before "Run!"
"I'm…nobody," he told her, as he stuck the cloth back in his pocket and pulled out an icepack. She didn't notice the fact he was carrying an icepack in his pocket (of course she didn't). He placed it on her cheek, and took her hand (his hearts raced, he never thought he'd feel her hand in his again. He'd almost forgotten how wonderful it felt). He squeezed it gently, unable to help himself, lacing his fingers through hers, before placing it over the icepack to hold it in place.
"That's bullshit," she told him. He sighed. "I know you from somewhere."
"Not yet," he said, the words slipping from his traitorous tongue. "But you will, Rose Tyler. Oh, will you know me. So well."
Her mouth opened, her brow furrowed. Confusion etched in her eyes, and he reluctantly let go of her hand.
"How do you know who I am?"
The Doctor merely smiled enigmatically, his eyes full of sadness and secrets.
"Go home, Rose Tyler. And don't let Jimmy Stone come near you again."
Rose's eyes were confused, but, oh, his precious girl, she was so brave and clever. She swallowed, and smiled at him. His hearts raced as she reached to his collar, and straightened his bow tie.
"I like your bow tie," she says, "It's cool."
It was hard to describe the feeling she gave him from her approval of his bow tie, but it was something akin to pure joy. He smiled a happy smile and she smiled back. Before she could withdraw her hand from his bow tie, he caught it and pressed his lips to her soft skin. Rose looked at him, with a wondrous sort of who are you? look.
He doesn't know how he ever managed to be strong enough to do so, but somehow he managed it. He let her go.
It was one of the hardest things he had ever done, no, scratch that, leaving her on a beach with his duplicate and letting her go was definitely harder. Letting her go was so much harder. Oh, screw it. He was always letting her go and it would be equally hard every time.
The Doctor walked away.
"But..." she called after him, and the Doctor turned (he always would). "But who are you? How do I know you? What's your name?"
"John Smith," he said automatically. It wouldn't mean anything to her now, but maybe, just maybe, a long way down the road when she remembered this, in her alternate world with her duplicate Doctor, she would realize who it was who had saved her tonight. She would tell him and he would realize and explain. And she would know that he missed her. Oh how he missed her. "Goodbye, Rose Tyler."
And he turned and went back to his TARDIS. She followed him, like he knew she would, but he was long gone by the time she arrived where the TARDIS had been. But she had heard, if only for a moment, the grinding of the TARDIS engines.
The Doctor stood hunched over the console, knowing that should be it, he should go. He had seen her, he had saved her, and now he should go. His hearts were already breaking, after all. Just as he knew they would.
But the damage was already done…could one more trip really hurt?
With pursed lips, conflicted eyes, and a quivering chin, he pulled the wibbly lever.
-?-
A/N: Please leave a little review! Or a big one. Or anything at all, really. I'm not really all that fussed. :)