[01] We've been forever yet we've only just begun

[iwasherefirst]

They've already got the technology. They just haven't figured out how to track him yet. It takes Rose months and more jumps than she cares to count. Sometimes she thinks she's going to be pulled apart at the seams with all the jumping back and forth through time. They warn her that the odds are against her. They tell her she's only got this one planet to work with and he's got an entire Universe plus timelines they can't ever access. She tells them she'll take her chances.

When she ends up in San Francisco 1999, the equipment malfunctions. The jacket won't work and she's so frustrated, so tired so bereft that she almost cries right there in the middle of the wharf. Instead she pulls it together like he would and finds a place to sleep for a little while. Once she's had some rest it's time for fish and chips. They're almost as good as home and they go a long way toward making her feel better.

Right then. Might as well do some research while she's here. See if she can find out if he's been here recently. If he's scheduled to show up anytime soon. Library then a call into UNIT. Despite having a plan, she doesn't act on it. She'll wander a bit more, navigate her way through the people on the wharf and enjoy the day. She's never been to San Francisco in any time.

Comments

[iam-thebadwolf.livejournal.com]

"Because you're still my Doctor. The other stuff is just...stuff," Rose tells him. Her words are quiet and completely sincere.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"It's who I am," he says. "Now what am I?"

Being simply a man doesn't seem like enough to him.

[iam-thebadwolf.livejournal.com]

Rose shakes her head at him. "No. It's not who you are. You promised me you'd save me once. No weapons, no plan and a fleet full of Daleks. You're still the Doctor. You're just missing some of your tools. That doesn't change who you are inside. The things I love about you have nothing to do with the TARDIS and everything to do with the man you are."

Silly Time Lord.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor looks away from her, away from the things she says. They don't make sense to him.

"But who am I?"

[iam-thebadwolf.livejournal.com]

She reaches over and very carefully, very gently puts her hand on his cheek, turning his face toward her again. "My Doctor."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

He remembers when she said that to him once, so long ago. Her Doctor. But who was that? He was a man with a box and a mission and the stars. Now, he was just a man with two hearts and forever on his own. Until----

But she couldn't know about that yet.

"Nearly there," he says.

[iam-thebadwolf.livejournal.com]

He didn't understand and he probably never would. It was the man part that was important. The rest was just extra bits.

"You with a flat. S'almost domestic," she teases him lightly. She's hoping he can handle it right now. It's certainly better than avoiding the subject and letting him emo.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Hotel room, actually," he says, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Didn't have the necessary identification or credit for a flat in this city."

The hotel was small and dingy-looking with a big neon No Vacancy blinking underneath a blown-out neon palm tree. His room was up the creaking metal stairs and at the end of the row.

[iam-thebadwolf.livejournal.com]

"Have to see if there's some sorta organization like UNIT that could help out with that," Rose tells him with a smile that's only a bit forced. She's not sure that she can do anything about it here. At home she's working on one timeline, different universes and somehow she's managed to get clearance in all of there. Here...it's an entirely different story.

She looks up as they walk up the creaking stairs. "Still managing to get yourself in an adventure." Because staying here had to qualify as one.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Can't," he says. "I'm still in contact with UNIT in another timeline. Can't walk into myself, might cause a catastrophic collision. That, and my younger selves are always asking me for money."

He slips his key into the lock and pushes on the door. It doesn't budge. Another push, and then it finally creaks open. The room itself is cramped, with hideous orange carpeting and bright pink walls. The television, the coffee maker, and everything with wires in the room apart from a single lamp has been stripped and cannibalized for the Doctor's latest gadgets.

"Home sweet home," he says. "For now."

[iam-thebadwolf.livejournal.com]

The room gets a good long look before she turns back to him and nods. "Alright then. Guess it's up to me to get the right sort of papers and then a job. Rose Tyler, shop girl."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"You don't have to get a job," the Doctor says. "I've got some money left over from when I worked at UNIT. A few thousand American dollars. It's enough."

Of course it's enough. It'll have to be enough for him to survive at least the next year on. He hopes. How far does a few thousand American dollars stretch?

[iam-thebadwolf.livejournal.com]

She doesn't want to tell him that American dollars in their time were worth less than British pounds and a few thousand British pounds wouldn't have stretched that far. Instead she nods.

"You worked at UNIT?" Subject change! Much better than truth.