Happy new year everyone! Hope 2022 will be good for all of you. This chapter is a bit shorter than what I write normally but I'm writing the next one right now! I hope you'll like it, don't hesitate to tell me what you think of it.
Thank you to PenandPaper as always for listening rambling about this story.

Chapter 35

"Wait, you know each other?" asked a bewildered Donna as she glanced alternatively between a shell shocked Rose, who looked more pale by the second, and her Doctor who was looking at the other man with a murderous glint in his eyes. "And your name is also really the Doctor?" When she thought nothing could surprise her anymore. "Is he your brother or something?" she asked the Doctor that she was familiar with.

He looked visibly affronted. "What? No!"

Before anyone had time to talk more, Rose swayed brutally, almost colliding with the ground if not for Donna who grabbed her at the last second, and was soon followed by both Doctors who screamed her name almost at the same time.

"I'm ok. I'm ok," she finally said after a few seconds, her voice still weak as she battled away the waves of stars she could see all around her. "I just need a second," she added while feeling her world still spinning on its axle. She knew she was hyperventilating and probably looking five seconds from kneeling over once again, but she could not look away from him.

Her first Doctor.

She had asked at the beginning, when he was still fresh from the regeneration, if they could go back, at least so she could say goodbye. But he had looked at her, sadness deep in his eyes and she knew she would never see her previous Doctor ever again. For a time afterwards she continued to imagine what could happen if she bumped into him, or if she convinced her Doctor to take her back just for five minutes. It had faded in time, and even if his loss was still, and probably would be painful for a very long time, she stopped dreaming about those possibilities. But she never thought this particular scenario would become real. Not in a million years.

Her eyes never left her first Doctor, who was busy looking her over for any possible injury. "It's really you?" she finally asked in a wavering voice, her quivering hand brushing slightly his jumper, the lack of leather jacket making him a bit leaner than in her memories. She was afraid that if she touched him completely, he would vanish in a blast of smoke and fire, like so many times before in her nightmares. She had cried for him long after his disappearance, the lack of closure had been one of her many regrets.

His tumultuous face softened at her brief touch. "Yes, Rose, it's me." Like he was reading her indecision, he took her hand in his, caressing the base of her wrist, making her pulse flutter like mad. Proving to her that he was real, and right here with her. They looked at each other, a few seconds for the rest of the world, an eternity for them. She realized that seeing him right now…It had opened something in her that she had thought long healed.

With a sob she leaped into his arms, almost toppling him over under the surprise. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she repeated again and again like a mantra, weeping years of guilt and culpability into his red jumper. That man, that wonderful man, would one day die because of her and she could do nothing about it, not without reaping the fabric of time and the universes with it. She had never really forgiven herself for it, and seeing him was making all these feelings bubble to the surface.

He only tightened his embrace as she started to weep louder, exchanging a charged look with his counterpart. The heartbreak in the eyes of older him only reinforced his hold, whispering reassurances into her hair as she sobbed into his shoulder. The fact she was now traveling with another version of him was all he needed to know about what happened to him. And with how Rose looked to be in her mid twenty at best, it was probably pretty recent, a few years at most. And regeneration could be pretty traumatic at the best of times.

"What's happening?" Donna finally asked who was more lost by the second. Rose's reaction and what she considered her Doctor was the most baffling of all for her. The fact that her friend was crying in the arms of who she considered a virtual stranger, and the lack of visible reaction of her own Doctor, was the weirdest thing she experienced in a long time. "Who is this guy?" she finally asked, completely lost. When she had met the guy, she had thought he was completely barmy, especially when he called himself the Doctor. But now she was not so sure.

The one who looked like he could kill her if he wanted, only smiled before turning to the other Doctor with an eyebrow raised, making him sigh with resignation. "If she slaps me, it's on you," he said with a grimace before glancing at her with a sheepish look on his face. "He is me."

She turned to the Doctor that she deemed to be a real buzzkill. He was helping Rose stand up as she was still looking a bit emotional then to her Doctor who smiled stupidly. She did it three more times before finally opening her mouth. "He's what?" She could definitely be surprised again. Big time.

He scratched his neck with embarrassment. "You see, when something happens to a Time Lord that causes them to become mortally wounded, we don't die. Well, we can still die," he started to ramble, losing the poor Donna in the meantime. "That doesn't make us immortal, and it's not an indefinite thing either. We have our limit you see! And…"

"What pretty boy is trying to say," interrupted the younger Doctor, making the other yelp in outrage. "When we are mortally injured, our body fights it by basically changing every cell in our body. We call it regeneration. I suppose you are the one after me?" he asked in the direction of the Tenth Doctor, who nodded in affirmative. "So yeah, I suppose I died at one point and was replaced by beachy boy over there." A wet laugh from Rose was response enough for him as his replacement yelled in indignation.

Donna frowned, looking at Rose for affirmation, who shrugged with sadness, and turned to her Doctor. "So that means that Rose traveled with Steamboat over here." The Ninth Doctor looked a mix of deeply amused and shocked at the nickname. "Before he transformed into you? And how many times did you regenate?"

"Regenerate," the Tenth Doctor absently corrected her. "Yes, that's right." He nodded pleased that Donna was following so well. "And I'm at my Tenth body, he is the Ninth." He pointed at the other Doctor who waved goofily at Donna in response. He smiled at her, waiting for her response but she only stared at him, completely motionless, making him a bit afraid he had broken her somehow. It would not be the first time. Even Rose had badly reacted, and she had been probably one of the most level headed reactions he had concerning regeneration. "Donna?" he asked, a bit worried. Even his younger self and Rose seemed anxious at the lack of reaction from the redhead. But before he could ponder more on the subject, she promptly slapped him so hard, his head narrowly made a full sound echoed as almost all the cell turned around to see what happened.

"Are you flipping kidding me?" she screamed at the top of her lungs, as the Tenth Doctor was trying to regain his balance after such a shot. Rose and Nine were sagely keeping their distance, not really wanting to feel her wrath. "You can change your body, and you didn't think to tell me? Were you waiting to flippin' die on me, and then say 'oh by the way, I'll have another face in five seconds, okay bye.' Or even worse, come back and I'll have a flipping stranger in front of me?"

"That's basically what happened for me," interjected Rose, amused by the spectacle. Her first Doctor looked at her with surprise. "Oh yeah, spoiler sorry…" she mumbled as Donna continued to read the riot act to her Doctor.

He shrugged. "Don't worry, I'm crossing my own time stream, that means I will not remember anything when I'll be back in my own time."

"Nothing?" she said with surprise. "You mean your memories will erase themselves?"

"Not really erased, more like locked up until the time is right. That means at one point, the one over there will have his memory of this adventure and mine. And until I reach that point, I won't remember a thing."

Donna heard him as she raised her arms to the sky in a sign of despair. "Ok! Everyone sit down and explain to me from the beginning now!"

"Blimey…" said the Tenth Doctor as he rubbed his cheek with a confused expression. "I suddenly miss Jackie."

Rose could not help but laugh.

"So remember when I told you that I traveled with the Doctor when I was Nineteen?" Rose asked and Donna nodded in response. "That was him." Rose smiled at her first Doctor, who responded instantanely at the visible displeasure of the other Doctor. "I traveled with him and…" She stopped for a few seconds, still uncertain of what she could really say and realized something. "Wait. Where am I, the younger me?" she asked him. "Because you clearly know me." She knew her tone was a bit accusatory, but she didn't remember that planet at all, not even the name. She really hoped he would not appear suddenly because it has the potential to become really awkward, especially if she was asking questions. Or worse, if they had Jack on board already. And she was also not really keen on him erasing her memory or something, because she was pretty sure she could not do the locked up thing he had explained to her. Especially without the Wolf.

He looked away sheepishly. "Jack needed to make a pit stop in the 52 century to retrieve a few things, and asked to be collected two days from now. Then you asked to be left with your mother yourself. I told you I would just drop you off, and go back to Jack so it would only be a few minutes for me before getting back to you. But I needed to grab a few things for the TARDIS…"

"Oh yeah! I vaguely remember it. I think," she said, having a hazy recollection of staying with her mom for three days at one point. Everytime she had asked to go see her mom he had left somewhere either in the TARDIS, or in the vortex under the pretense of needing to do repair. Except for that time when he had to save her from a malvoyant video game. So it had not really been very impactful for her. "Was that the one when I had to go to my great aunt Janice's wedding?" she asked more of herself than anything.

"No, that was with me," said her second Doctor with a forced smile. "But I had to lock myself up in the water heater room for four hours to escape your cousin Alana. So yeah, you were basically attending alone, an easy mistake." She could still feel a bit of bitterness in his tone of voice and on his face. He had never really forgiven her for not finding him before they had finished the cake. And it had taken months for him to accept to see her mom afterward. She remembers having to bribe him with at least three banana bread and two promises of letting him choose the planet when asked.

Donna snorted at the image. "Four hours? Was she trying to eat you or something?"

"I've seen Daleks less focused than her!" he said in protest, making Donna laugh even louder.

The Ninth Doctor didn't look amused at his successor's lack of focus, and Rose's guilty aura everytime she looked at him didn't help either. Something fishy was going on, and he was determined to get answers. But he knew right now was not the time, especially in the middle of an invasion, but as soon as they could be out of here... "Can we get back on the subject at hand please? Meaning, trying to get out of here."

"Oh yeah sorry," said the other Doctor, a bit ashamed. "We need to find a way to take out all those people without alerting the Gurunian, and with the security we saw all around, it's not going to be easy."

"Well with what we heard, the two that were taken with you were deliberately trying to provoke the authorities," Rose offered as she looked around with a determined face, trying to find those who were standing out in the sacred crowd. At first sight she could see at least three people that were fitting the profile she was seeing in her mind. The one that was not afraid, bold enough to be there by choice, the fighters. If they wanted to get everyone out alive, they were the one to approach and put in their side, and for that they needed a plan. Gone was the sadness and sorrow she had expressed a few minutes earlier, only resolution and stubbornness left in knew she was still fragile, especially with him so close to her. But she could not afford to break down now. Maybe later in the TARDIS, but not today. So she will have to fight fire with fire, even if it kills her slowly.

A bit behind her the Ninth Doctor was looking at Rose. She was so serious and focused, a far cry from the innocent girl he had saved that night in Henrik's. She had visibly matured, enough to command a room without even trying. She had always been charismatic, the one people approached during their adventures. But it had been born of the visible empathy and accessibility she was given off in spade. And now he felt he was vaguely grieving the young Rose Tyler he knew so well. He knew it was absurd as his own Rose was very secure at Jackie Tyler's apartment.

But this Rose… This one was definitely older, not by much for what he could see. She was in her mid twenties at most, the end of them if he was really pushing far. But her eyes were more hard and wary than the one he had looked at everyday for the past year. She had definitely seen way too much and that worried him to no end. Did that happen with him? The other him? He glanced briefly at his successor with a hard look, but he was too concentrated on Rose to see it. He would go to the bottom of this, even if he had to confront the older version of himself for that.

"That means a plan," continued Rose, completely unaware of her first Doctor's inner turmoil. "And I'm ready to bet my Transporter that they are part of this moon resistance! And who says resistance says a place to hide, maybe even some sort of headquarters…" She turned to Donna. "They saw you trying to defend them, and were taken because you wanted to protect them. If they accept our request to talk, I'm sure it will be to you directly because you're the one they're most likely to trust. Explain to them we want to take out all those people, but for that we need a place to send them."

Donna nodded. "For what I heard before you came in, they are not the first ones to pull that kind of stunt. A few Citi were whispering about that just before you made your entrance."

"Great!" Smiled Rose, happy to see a plan forming already. "The more people on our side, the easier it will be for us to get everyone alive. Time to work your magic!"

"Don't worry, Sunshine! I'll have everyone on our side, and ready to throw down the government in no time!" She smirked one last time to the two other Doctors and turned around, already walking with determination to the couple she had been trying to defend in the first place.

The Ninth Doctor looked at her go, a bit impressed by her braziness. "She seems kind of scary," he said to no one in particular, making Rose snort in response.

"You have NO idea…" sighed the other Doctor, an air of suffering on his face. "Donna is wonderful, but the day you end up on her bad side…" He shuddered at some of his memories. "Let's say that Jackie Tyler looks like a Menoptera next to her."

Ninth visibly gulped, his eyes widening at the image. "Noted."

"Doctors…" said Rose, trying to move them back on the subject at hand. As they focused back on her, she concentrated on the brown eyes of his second Doctor, trying her best to not succumb to her emotions that were still threatening to swallow her whole. She knew he would not understand, but like she said earlier, fire with fire. "We need to put those people in a group of 4 or 5 maximum. We cannot let them out all at once, it would be too noticeable."

He frowned, like he had already guessed her train of thought. "Why am I the one to shepherd those people? Why not him? I'm the one with the sonic screwdriver!" His tone was accusatory, clearly not happy with the fact that Rose had been all over his predecessor since he had appeared.

"Because you would be spotted from miles away with that attitude," snickered the Ninth Doctor, as he looked the other Doctor up and down. He had been a bit…dramatic in his precedent regeneration, well for what he could remember of it, but this one looked like he had put a fork in a socket and gone away with the energy.

"You're one to talk. Have you seen yourself in a mirror lately? Tenth responded, crossing his arms. "It's a wonder you can go through a door with an ego like that." He knew part of his response was just pure jealousy, and it was completely insane when you put into account it was basically himself, but he couldn't stop it.

Ninth chuckled, but his eyes were devoid of humor and he looked at the other Doctor with a dry smile on his face. "Funny you say that when I could see yours from over there. Afraid to be overshadowed eh?"

"By you? I've been you. Literally. Nothing to boast about, believe me," the Tenth Doctor snorted, visibly furious, as he took a step up to his counterpart. He was practically exhaling fire with how worked up he was.

Ninth crossed his arms, a sarcastic smile on his face. "Yeah? That's not what your actions are telling me right now. You're literally screaming how threatened by me you are." He knew he was playing with fire, but seeing the loss of the pure wonderment in Rose's eyes was making him a bit frenzied. "Afraid I would steal Rose is it?" he had said that more to riffle Tenth than anything else, but the reaction was almost immediate.

He walked to Ninth, grabbing him by the jumper and jerked him closer, making the other Doctor go almost nose to nose with himself. "You don't know what I've been through for her," tenth practically growled between gritted teeth, his eyes ablaze with the full rage of his Time Lord self. "What you will do! You have no idea, absolutely no idea of what happened, you have no right to use her as a ploy! Don't even say anything like that ever again." The energy around them was ready to explode into something that could easily engulf the whole room. So much pent-up anger and resentment between the two, it could go bad at the drop of a hat.

Everyone that was close to them had, even unconsciously as a few of them were not even looking at them, took a step back. Just when the situation was to cross a line, Rose brutally pushed them apart, making them stumble a bit, putting herself between them. And she was not happy. "What do you think you are doing?" she snapped, as they still looked at each other fiercely over her head. "We have people to save, and you think it's the moment to fight over me like I'm some sort of prize?"

They had the decency to at least look ashamed of what they've done. "I am my own person, not a playthrough or anything else. I know it's just you having some weird self issue with yourself, but don't put me in the middle. "She turned to Tenth first, who still looked the more heated of the two. "I need you to trust me on this ok? I know what I'm doing. Remember, you promised…" he mollified at her words, his visage finally relaxing, and when he looked at her he was smiling.

"Shiver and Shake," he answered with finality, compelling her to smile in turn. "Ok, ok, I'll do it. But keep me updated please." She took her phone out of her pocket, showing she was already prepared for it. For a second, he looked at her intensely, making her heart skip a beat, but before she could ask about it, he shook his head and took her into arms.

Unfortunately the hug was over before she had time to respond to it. With one last sour look in the direction of his counterpart, he walked away. Not before tossing his sonic to him, without even looking back. "You'll need that to open the door. And I want it back in one piece," he called out, his voice hard and flat.

Nine and Rose looked at each other, a bit bewildered by the Tenth Doctor's attitude, before he shrugged and holded out his hand in her direction, wriggling his fingers, a big smile on his face.

"Shall we?"