The Doctor-Tyler Family

Bad Wolf Bay

Rose watched the TARDIS dematerialize - for the last time, she reminded herself. The last time it had been the last time, she hadn't known she would never see it again. But this time, it was official, a fact, a fixed moment in her time stream. She wasn't sure if it was better this way, or worse.

At her side, the new Doctor held her hand, a golden colored chunk of TARDIS coral in his other. She wasn't entirely sure of him yet, but he felt right. She didn't know if she could ever quite think of him as the same man, but maybe he was. At least, he had been up until ten minutes ago. It was where he went from there that she was concerned about.

He was looking at the ground, just watching the sand as the engine noises faded out. His expression of sadness looked disproportionately strong, Rose thought, for something he'd chosen himself. Even if he was leaving the TARDIS and Donna, who he was clearly great friends with, he would grow a new TARDIS soon, and he had her.

Behind them, her mum cleared her throat. "We weren't exactly dropped off somewhere convenient," Jackie said. "You remember, the town's a long walk inland, and then we have to find a phone. I don't have signal on my mobile, do you?"

Rose shook her head, clearing her mind. "No," she said, wincing at the croak her voice made. The Doctor squeezed her hand, and changed his expression in that quick way he had. "Better start walking!" he said.

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In the town, Jackie called Pete and explained as briefly as they could what had happened. He was relieved that Jackie and Rose were alright, and sorry to hear Mickey wouldn't be coming back to Torchwood but happy he'd gotten home. He spoke briefly to a mentally and emotionally drained Rose, and told her he was happy for her and excited to meet the Doctor again, even if he was confused about how he had gotten there. He was sending a zeppelin to pick them up, and they found a hotel to spend the night in.

Jackie was taking charge of everything, and Rose was grateful. They'd all been through a lot, and Rose knew she should stay strong - if she was going to fall to pieces, it could wait until she was safe at home. Normally she was good at that, but it had all been too much. Even the Doctor, if he was the Doctor, was in a state of shock. He hadn't let go of her hand until they reached the door of his room - Jackie had gotten a separate one for herself and Rose - and he hadn't spoken except in low mumbles to himself. He alternately studied the world with the same alertness as always, plus a new suspicious, investigatory air, and let his eyes blur out of focus as though he was looking inside himself. That was when he looked the most confused.

Once Rose had had a shower and felt more awake and alive, she went to see the Doctor. She wasn't sure if she should call him something else - John Smith came to mind, but even when he'd used that name before she'd had difficulty calling him by it. He looked like the Doctor; both of them did, as though the name meant him and only him. Maybe he could use John Smith on identification and things, but unless he proved to be some one completely different from the man she loved, Rose couldn't imagine calling him anything but "Doctor".

She knocked on the door softly. It was opened almost immediately by the Doctor, who smiled hugely at the sight of Rose. She couldn't help grinning back. "Hello, Rose," he greeted her.

"Hi," she said. "Uh, can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure," the Doctor said, stepping out of the way and closing the door behind her. As she passed by the bathroom, she noticed a faint glow coming from the sink. The Doctor had filled it with water and left the TARDIS coral submerged there.

Rose sat down on one of the single beds in the room, and the Doctor sat down beside her, leaving a few inches between them. Just after he sat down, he put his hands up to his face, covering his eyes and rubbing his forehead like he had a headache.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked. He nodded wearily.

"Of course I am," he said. "It's just... So empty. And so still. Like the world's stopped in its tracks." He hesitated a moment, giving Rose time to look confused. "You remember, when we first met, and I told you I could feel the turn of the Earth? I could feel the orbit of planets, the movement of life around me, and the bending time shaped by all of them. And now... It's all gone." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I didn't realize it right away, but on the beach, after the TARDIS left, it felt like there was something wrong with me, and I finally figured out what it is. I can't feel time in flux around me any more, and the world is so, STILL. How do you stand that? It's moving, I know that it's moving, but I can't FEEL it."

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "You'll get used to it, I guess. I mean, I think it would be weird to be able to feel that. I'm not sure how I could walk if I could feel the ground spinning under my feet."

The Doctor tipped his head in aknowledgement of her point. "I know, I'll get used to it. But there's other things I didn't realize before about humans. Breathing's gotten harder. Not a lot, but I notice it now. And my eyesight isn't as good - my right eye is worse than my left, and things are blurry close up."

"Maybe you need glasses," Rose suggested. The Doctor reached into his pocket, and for a second she thought he was going to pull out his sonic screwdriver, before remembering that the other Doctor had it. Instead he pulled out his black glasses and slid them on his face. "Better?" she asked.

"Not at all. These are fakes." He tapped one lens. "That's just normal glass."

"Why do you have them then?" She had always thought he needed reading glasses, with how he was always whipping them out to look at things.

"Well... They just kinda look cool." Rose snorted. Typical Doctor.

"Are you going to be all right?" Rose asked after a few moments of silence. She set one hand on his arm.

"Of course I will," the Doctor said. "I just need time." He sighed. "Poor Donna."

"What is it?" Rose asked.

"The MetaCrisis won't be as easy for her. It was a two-way exchange. I got her human biology and a little of her... perspective of the world, and she got my memories and a Time Lord mind. By now, she probably doesn't remember me." Rose didn't know what to say. "I know what she would say, too. I know exactly how both sides of that conversation would go." He swallowed; Rose realized he was choking up. "I - the Doctor would have erased her memory by now, before the knowledge

could burn out my mind - her mind, that is. And if she ever remembers, she'll die."

Rose was worried, now. Her Doctor, the one with her, was upset, but she was sure the other one would be worse. After all, he was the one who was actually there, who made Donna forget. "Do you think you'll be okay? The other Doctor, I mean."

Her Doctor hesitated. "He'll try. He might not be at his best, but he won't ever give up." He took Rose's hand in his.

"Rose," he said, looking her in the eyes, "listen to me. We can't worry about him. He chose this, to move on, because it was better than any other alternative. Both of us know this is the only way, because if you'd gone with him, besides the fact that I don't think I could live without you, it would kill him to have you stay with him and then one day, not be there anymore. Know that he won't ever forget you, but thinking about him or wondering where he is right now can't bring us anything but pain." His deep brown eyes were full of pain, and sorrow and sympathy- deeper than that, empathy - seemed to create a bridge from his eyes to Rose's, which were shockingly dry as she turned it all over in her mind.

"I hope he does move on," Rose said softly. "Even if he can't forget me, I hope he's happy." There was another pause for Rose to look down at the floor, where the gray carpet was peeling up in strings. "I love you," Rose said.

"Quite right, too." She squeezed his hand. "Rose Tyler, I love you, too."