Hey babes! Back with a new fic for ya! I've heard from some friends that it's basically a rite of passage for a Timepetals shipper to write an Immortal Rose fic, as well as a TwelveRose bar fic. So...you get both in one. From Bill's perspective. :)

Really hope you all enjoy this one, I had so much fun writing it. I don't really know where this is set in the timeline of Bill traveling with The Doctor, except that it's early in their adventuring together.

Enjoy!


Bill has pretty much resigned herself to the fact that she's not going to actually learn very much about The Doctor. Other than a few odd comments here and there and the photos on his desk that are supposedly of his family, she doesn't truly know anything significant about him. And while she would like to know more about the man who's tutoring her as well as taking her through all of time and space, she's come to realize that it might as well be impossible for The Doctor to tell her the truth about himself.

Though, if his comment about his age is correct, then he must have an awful lot of memories to sort through. And somehow, she's never truly shocked whenever she learns some tiny new detail about his life.

The one time she is genuinely shocked, however, is when she learns through students at the university that The Doctor plays at a local pub on weekends. Always at night. Always an acoustic set. Never stays to talk to anyone. Never accepts money for his performances.

People love him, though, which, she supposes, makes sense. There's a reason his lecture hall is always packed.

Her natural curiosity gets the better of her one weekend and she decides to check it out. The pub is packed, as she knew it would be, and there's another person already on stage performing. They're good, but only a few people are actually paying attention.

Bill quickly orders herself a drink and then finds a surprisingly empty table in the middle of several other full ones. She settles in for the remainder of the current performer's set, clapping with the few others who do when the set finishes.

Several moments later, after an announcer comes on stage, The Doctor walks out with an acoustic guitar strung around him, a wooden stool in one hand, and the tiniest hint of a smile on his lips. He sets the stool directly behind the microphone and then sits down, shifting a bit and then letting out a breath.

The guitar strumming starts a few moments later, and Bill can't help but be immediately entranced by it. It's not typically her type of music, but something about it has her completely drawn in. It's beautiful in a way she genuinely never thought The Doctor could come up with; there are no words to the song, but just the melody alone tells her everything she needs to know. She finds herself crying about halfway through.

And by the end of the song, she can see a few other patrons with tears as well, though everyone in the room is clapping enthusiastically. So Bill does too.

The Doctor plays a few more songs that evoke much of the same feelings as the first one did, and Bill's vision is ridiculously blurry by the end of the set. So she hastily wipes her tears away, downs the last of her drink, and then heads to the bar for a refill.

She's leaning against the top, waiting for the bartender to approach, when she notices another figure stepping up to the bar, just a few feet in between them. She glances over and notices the slight puffiness around the woman's eyes, though she's still incredibly beautiful with her long blonde hair flowing down her back.

She takes a deep breath and leans a bit closer. "You come around here often?" She immediately winces, shifting back a bit when the woman looks at her with a raised brow. "Sorry. I realize how that sounded and I swear I didn't mean for it to sound so cheesy. I just…I noticed you've been crying, was wondering if you've heard The Doctor play before. Unless it's totally unrelated, then just ignore me."

The woman smiles. "It's alright. And no, this would be the first time I've heard his songs in their entirety. I've only heard bits of them before."

Bill blinks. "Oh. So…you know The Doctor, then?"

"Something like that. How do you know him?"

"How do you know I know him?"

The woman smiles and shrugs. "Just a hunch."

"Right. Well, I do know him. He's tutoring me. I'm not failing classes or anything, I'm not even actually a student. I work in the canteen, he's just giving me private lessons."

"I see. And is he a good teacher?"

Bill shrugs nonchalantly. "He's alright."

The woman laughs quietly. "Yeah, you'll do. See ya later." She stands from her seat and grabs her drink off the bar, already starting to walk away, before Bill can comment on her remark.

Bill watches as the blonde woman approaches the side of the stage where The Doctor is reemerging. The woman casually leans against the edge of the stage, though, unfortunately, she's facing away so Bill can't see her face. But she can see The Doctor's. And he's got the biggest smile on his face that Bill has ever seen from him. It's a bit bizarre, if she's being honest, to see him smiling so brightly. She's not used to it. But she can't tear her eyes away.

Everything she's heard about his sets at the pub, he never stays to talk to anyone. Yet somehow this woman has him completely captivated. He's hanging onto every word of whatever she's saying. And Bill wants to know what she's saying that has The Doctor like this. And who the woman is.

Maybe she'll just have to ask.

"What can I get ya?"

She turns back to the bar and quickly apologizes, telling the bartender she's fine, then glances to the stage once the man steps away. Only, The Doctor and the mystery woman are gone.

Bill glances around a bit, trying to see if they've just moved spots and are still in the pub, but they aren't anywhere she can see. They could be backstage, but she doubts The Doctor is one to hang around if he doesn't have to.

So she simply pays for her earlier drink while listening to part of the next act's performance. And, again, a few people are listening but not nearly as many as were paying attention to The Doctor.

As she's leaving the pub, she can't get the image of The Doctor and the mystery blonde woman out of her head. It's going to start driving her mad if she can't figure out exactly who this woman is and how she knows The Doctor. And what it is about her that had The Doctor so fixated on her.

She needs answers. Badly.

.

.

.

Bill spends the entire walk back to the university campus going over in her head all the questions she wants answered. And there are many. Of course, compiling said list mentally is one thing, but figuring out what question to start with is a whole other issue. She doesn't want to ask him the wrong thing and have him shut down, but she also doesn't want to beat around the bush too much with it. Even if he doesn't go into a lot of detail, she just wants to at least know the woman's name and how the two of them know each other.

Approaching his office, Bill takes a deep breath to steady herself and then knocks on the door. There's some shuffling on the other side, and then the sound of footsteps getting closer.

"You're early," The Doctor calls out. "And I thought I said you could just–" The Doctor cuts himself off as soon as the door opens, staring at Bill. "Oh. You're not who I was expecting."

"Is it that blonde from the pub?" she asks, grateful for the opening she'd been trying to figure out the whole way over. Because how do you ask your ancient, time-traveling, sort of professor about a young, hot blonde he was talking to in a pub? There's no guidebook on this.

The Doctor's face falls. "How do you know about her?"

Bill fights back a knowing smile and steps past him into the office. "I'm not judging you, just so you know," she calls over her shoulder as she moves to the chair in front of his desk. "Even though there's quite a bit of an age gap there."

The Doctor mumbles something under his breath.

Bill's brows furrow. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Why…why are you here?"

She turns enough in her chair to see him. "Because I needed to ask you about the blonde woman who apparently knows you. And I needed to do it before I lost my mind."

The Doctor hesitates and then shuffles over to his chair behind the desk. "How do you know about her?"

"I saw you two talking after your set. But we talked for a moment at the bar beforehand. She seems nice."

"She's one of the nicest humans I know," The Doctor says, and there's that smile again. The same one Bill witnessed at the pub when he was talking to the woman. Or well, listening to her talk.

"How do you know her? 'Cause that's the part I'm trying to figure out. Is she from one of your classes?"

"No, she's not. She traveled with me for a bit, many years ago. She's been…away for a while, but she's back now. She found me right before I met you."

Bill's brows furrow. "Wait. So if she's been here this whole time I've known you, then why did I just meet her for the first time last night?"

"She's been getting reacquatined with this Earth and this time period. Mostly visiting some old friends, catching up."

"You didn't go with her?"

"I never revisit if I can avoid it."

Bill nods slowly. "Right. So, um, how long exactly have you known her, then? 'Cause it's just…you're all gray and she's barely in her twenties."

"Technically speaking, I'm nearly two hundred years old now."

Bill turns sharply toward the voice, her eyes going wide at the familiar figure standing in the doorway. "Sorry. We were gossiping about you."

The woman smiles, an amused laugh escaping past her lips. "It's alright." She saunters up to where The Doctor is sitting and leans against the back of his seat, draping an arm over his shoulder so her hand rests in the center of his chest. "I'm Rose, by the way. Rose Tyler."

"Bill Potts." She shifts a little in her seat, brows furrowing slightly when Rose's words from a moment ago finally register. "Sorry. Could I just…did you say you're nearly two hundred years old?"

Rose shrugs. "Give or take."

"And how exactly does that happen? 'Cause he said you're human. And regular humans don't live to be a few hundred years old. Did that happen because you were traveling with him?" Her eyes go wide. "Is that gonna happen to me?"

Rose laughs quietly and shakes her head. "No, it's not gonna happen to you. And in a way, it did happen because I traveled with him, but not how you're thinking. Something was happening, way in the future, and The Doctor sent me back home so I wouldn't be hurt because he made a promise to my mum that he'd always get me home."

"I kept my promise," The Doctor cuts in.

Rose smiles softly down at him. "Yes, you did. And I know she'd never admit it, but she was very grateful." Rose looks at her again. "Anyways, I was at home, thinking about how The Doctor was risking his life to save all of humanity and I was just sitting eating chips. So I went back. I did something no one should ever do and became a goddess of time for a moment so I could save him."

"And clearly you did," Bill says, nodding to the man in the chair.

"Yes. And in doing so, I was killing myself. The Doctor wouldn't have that, though, and he removed what was killing me, but it killed him in the process. So he changed, like his species does, and got a new face. Lots of other things happened and I ended up in a parallel universe with a human version of himself, one I could actually grow old with." Rose takes a deep breath. "As it turns out, I did more than just save people and defeat Daleks when I took in the Time Vortex. I also made it so I wouldn't age. Or, well, I'd just age very, very slowly."

"And you can't die either," The Doctor chimes in. "Which bodes incredibly well since you're so jeopardy-friendly."

Rose rolls her eyes, lightly hitting The Doctor's chest. "Oh, hush, you. And I can die," Rose tells her. "I just come back, though the length of time varies depending on how I died. Courtesy of Bad Wolf."

Bill's brows furrow. "Bad Wolf?"

"It's what I called myself. It's a whole thing."

Bill nods slowly. "Right. So you became a…goddess of time, got trapped in a parallel universe for years but never aged, and now you're back?"

Rose nods. "That about sums it up, yeah."

"Wow. That's, um, certainly not a usual life to lead."

Rose laughs quietly. "No, it's not. But it's mine." She smiles sweetly down at The Doctor. "And I've got him again, so it's not that bad."

Bill's eyes drift between the pair, the looks they're giving each other making her completely uncomfortable all of a sudden. She has never seen anyone look at each other that way before. It'd be sweet, in a way, if she didn't feel like she was intruding on a moment.

Shifting in her seat, Bill pulls her lips into a tight smile and stands up, drawing Rose and The Doctor's attention to her.

"You alright?" Rose asks her.

Bill nods. "Yeah. I just…I've remembered I've got plans in the morning, so I should be getting to sleep. It was great meeting you, Rose. Officially."

"Yeah, you too."

"Doctor, I'll…see you when I see you." She doesn't wait for either of them to say anything more, simply turns around and leaves.

Well, she almost leaves. She steps out of the door and pulls it closed behind her, but leaves it cracked open a hair and lingers right outside it. She's curious about what The Doctor and Rose are like when no one's around.

She's only ever seen Professor Doctor and Explorer Doctor. She has yet to see Romantic Partner Doctor. If her instincts are correct, then it's a part of him that very few have been witness to. Her instincts also tell her that Rose is one of those few. Even before now.

"Finally we're alone," The Doctor's voice drifts through the doorway.

"Oh, stop," Rose says back. "Bill's nice, I like her. I can see why you take her around."

"She's the first one in a long time I felt was deserving of it."

Bill can't help the swell of emotion that washes over her at hearing that.

"There's always someone out there who's deserving of it. I'm glad you finally found one here. You need someone with you when you travel."

"What I need is you, Rose Tyler. Now, I do believe we had plans for this evening."

"I believe you're right."

At the sound of music filling the room, the same song The Doctor had been playing at the pub, Bill lets her curiosity get the better of her again and peeks through the crack in the door, shifting just enough to get a better look. The pair are now both standing just in front of the desk, smiles on both of their faces.

"Right then, Doctor," Rose says, taking a small step back and holding out her hand, "you still got the moves?"

The Doctor grabs Rose's hand and smiles. "I think you'll find, Rose Tyler, that when it comes to you"—he gently pulls her close and wraps his arm around her—"I've always got the moves."

Rose simply laughs and then steps even closer to The Doctor, resting her free hand on his shoulder as the two begin to sway to the music.

"Did you like the song earlier?" The Doctor asks after a quiet moment.

Rose nods. "I did. It was beautiful."

"It was for you."

"Who knew The Doctor could be such a romantic?" Rose says, and it sounds like teasing.

The Doctor shrugs. "You inspired me."

"Really? How so?"

"You came back to me," he says softly. "Even though I never thought I'd see you again. You lived a whole life over there, you loved another man and watched him grow old without you being able to do the same. You watched your loved ones die while you stayed young. I never wanted you to experience what I always have."

Rose lets out a shaky breath. "I know. And we never really got a chance to talk about everything before. I need you to know that just because I'm here with you now, it doesn't mean I'm ever going to stop loving John. He was my husband, gave me nearly seventy incredible years. That doesn't just go away because I'm back here with you."

"I wouldn't expect it to. Love is endless. Just like mine for you."

Rose smiles. "As is mine for you. I love you so much, Doctor."

"And I love you, Rose Tyler. Something I should have said a very, very long time ago. I'm sorry it took me so long to finally tell you."

"Well, now you have all the time in the world to say it."

The Doctor smiles that same smile again, his Rose Tyler Smile, as Bill has now deemed it. "Indeed I do."

And then they're kissing.

Bill takes that as her cue to finally leave. She pulls the door closed as quietly as possible and starts making her way home.

If she hadn't been there to see it for herself, she might not believe it if someone were to just tell her. The Doctor is one hundred percent head over heels in love with Rose Tyler. Even if she hadn't heard him admitting his love for the woman, Bill still would have known. It's the way they look at each other, the eyes say it all. She's always heard that the eyes are the window to the soul, but she's never felt it's more true than when she sees The Doctor and Rose together. There's something special there, something Bill greatly admires. And is also a bit jealous of.

She wouldn't mind eventually finding someone who, if they were somehow put into the situation, would love her through centuries and across dimensions. Just like The Doctor and Rose Tyler.


So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below.

Shoutout to my pal Theo for letting me use their idea of Twelve and Rose dancing which immediately sparked an idea once I heard it.

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!