Fic: In Plain Sight

[aibhinn_fics]

Title: In Plain Sight
Author: aibhinn
Pairing: Ten/Rose, implied Nine/Rose
Summary: The Doctor stared at his younger self, who was leaning against the TARDIS, weight on one leg, arms crossed, looking for all the world as though running into his future regeneration was something he did every day.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not making any money. Please not to sue me.
Warnings: None
Author's note: Written for the final week of Round One of doctor_rose_las. I was in England when it was posted, so I never did post it here. I've only just realised that. Prompt: A Doctor/Rose reunion.


It was impossible, the Doctor thought, staring at the person in front of him. There was no possibility that what he was looking at could exist.

"You going to stare at me all day?" his ninth self asked ascerbically.

The Doctor stared at his younger self, who was leaning against the TARDIS, weight on one leg, arms crossed, looking for all the world as though running into his future regeneration was something he did every day. The Doctor might have bought it if the younger him hadn't had that slight discomfort behind his eyes, more than just the echoes of the fall of Arcadia and the burning of Gallifrey had left behind.

"You shouldn't be here," he said.

The leather-jacketed figure rolled his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know."

"But I don't remember this," the Doctor said, frowning. "How did you get here? The last time I remember being here was with Adric!"

"Gonna take care of that soon's I leave. Which won't be long; I know as well as you do what the consequences of us meeting up could be. But before I go, I've got to give you something."

"Give me something?" the Doctor repeated. Now he was completely lost. "What?"

"Something you seem to have misplaced." His younger self quirked a corner of his mouth. "Mind you, it's something I've misplaced myself a few times, but I'm not sure any of that was my fault…."

"Oi!" a female voice said sharply from just inside the partly-open TARDIS doors.

The Doctor felt his hearts skip a beat. He knew that voice. "That's—" he began, not sure whether he was more shocked or frightened. She mustn't know that he would regenerate—mustn't know anything about the future at all—

And then the door opened fully, and Rose Tyler stepped out.

But not the Rose Tyler who had travelled with that version of him. Her hair was dark brown and chin-length, curling under just slightly to brush her jaw line. Her clothing, too, was different: still casual, but tailored to her slender frame in such a way as to scream 'money'. Her eyes, though, were just the same: deep, warm, and glowing with hope. "Hi," she said softly.

The Doctor gaped. This wasn't his ninth self's Rose. This was his Rose. The Rose he'd lost at Canary Wharf. The Rose he'd mourned all these years. Hug her! his brain screamed at him, but he was frozen in place.

"Funny thing," his younger self said. "I left Rose—my Rose—in London with her mum and came back to do some repair work, when suddenly the TARDIS picked up a beacon. Not any old beacon, mind you; one specifically tuned to the TARDIS's systems. I followed it, of course, and I ended up in a bazaar on Nepthron II. When I finally tracked the beacon down, I found an awfully familiar face, who seemed a little shocked to see me instead of a skinny boy in a brown suit. So I offered to bring her to you."

But the Doctor was only half-listening; he was too far in shock. "You found your way across the Void," he said to Rose.

"Yeah," she said with a tremulous. "Took a long time, and didn't quite work the way I'd planned. Nor did the beacon in my mobile. But it's got me here at last." He still didn't respond, and her smile faltered slightly. "If—I mean—if you still want me to come with you."

That unfroze him. He stepped forward, holding out his hands, and with a smile of mixed relief and joy she rushed into his arms. He held her close, shutting his eyes and inhaling the familiar smell of strawberry-scented shampoo. "Yes," he said into her hair. "Yes. I want you to come with me."

He heard the rustle of clothing as his younger self pushed away from the TARDIS, but didn't open his eyes. "That's me off, then," the other him said cheerfully. "Just got to hide this memory away somewhere safe, and then get back to London before my Rose knows I've gone missing. Don't mind me; just carry on with what you're doing."

The door to the TARDIS clicked shut, and a moment later came the familiar, haunting sound of dematerialisation. Rose showed no inclination to let go of him any time soon, and he was perfectly willing to remain where he was.

Though it was odd, come to think of it, that he'd said he'd hide the memory, not erase it. That must mean he'd wanted his future self to know something that he couldn't tell. But what couldn't he have told himself? Tentatively, the Doctor went searching through his memories, flipping through them quickly, until he stumbled upon one he didn't remember having, tucked away in a corner of his mind. He pulled it out and looked at it—and felt himself flushing violently as he pulled away.

"Rose Tyler!"

She frowned, clearly confused at this sudden shift of mood and tone. "What?"

"You—he—you slept with me!" He boggled. "In the TARDIS!"

"Oh." She blushed too, but grinned. "He said he'd hide the memory out in plain sight. For you, not for him, that is. Somewhere you'd be sure to find it."

"But…" He stared at her, his mind's eye filled with the image of her lying naked in his bed, reaching him. "But we didn't…I mean, you never seemed to want to…."

"I did," she said. "I always did. And I still do." She stepped forward again, laid her hand along his cheek. "If you do."

He looked down into her face, that beautiful face that had haunted his dreams for so long, and smiled. Taking her hand, he led her back towards his own TARDIS.