Ten In Nine's Rose World

[The Tenth Doctor]

Ten let out a sigh, pointing in the direction of some of the pictures that she had been looking at in his room. "All of those....those faces are me....I....well...."

Ten thought to himself, "How am I going to convince her? How did she even know it was me before....well...I guess I did regenerate right in front of her....I could...I could tell her about how we met....but...but.....maybe there is something that would be a little more...simple...."


He reached into his pocket and pulled out the stethoscope. "Listen," he told her, holding the instrument out to her. He assumed that she would understand that he wanted her to listen to his hearts. He wouldn't have minded if she had put her hands on his chest and felt his heartbeats, but he supposed that that might be a bit strange for her, especially because he didn't know how long she had known Nine -- he didn't know where she was in his time line.

Nine had told Rose that he was the last of his kind. True,t here were other species with two hearts, but maybe Rose wouldn't think of that. She was smart, but it was hard for a human to think in terms of other species'.

[Donna Noble/Rose Tyler]

"All of those....those faces are me....I....well...."

Rose hazarded a glance at the photos she had skimmed before. Three seconds and she was back to looking at him with untrusting eyes.

"Listen," he told her, holding the instrument out to her.

Waiting a beat, she thought out the ramifications of getting closer to this man who claimed to be the Doctor, who could have something to do with his disappearance. But something, she couldn't say what, made her want to approach him...Placing the photograph she held on the bed, she cautiously made her way over, keeping eye contact the whole time.

Rose took the stethoscope from his hand, not questioning how or why it was in his pocket; it wasn't important at the moment so her brain didn't even process it. The world became muffled as she placed the buds in her ears and looked at his chest. Holding the end out, she hesitated slightly before slipping her hand underneath "David's" suit-jacket and laying it against the right side of his chest.

BUMbumBUMbum...BUMbumBUMbum...BUMbumBUMbum...

Rose's breath caught in her throat, and she looked up with a slightly furrowed brow. Brown met her gaze instead of blue. They weren't the same eyes, but something inside of them seemed to be...

"Doctor?" Rose whispered, hesitant and unsure.

[The Tenth Doctor]

(thanks for the transcript. I might as well use it since you found it for me )

Ten grinned at Rose and nodded. "That's right, Rose....good."

Letting out a sigh, he could see that he needed to still convince her of who he was.

"Very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar. Surrounded by shop window dummies.... oh...... such a long time ago. I took your hand...I said one word... just one word, I said... 'run'."

As he spoke to her, he looked right into her eyes, anxious for a reaction. These were the same words that he would tell her later, right after he regenerated. Rose wouldn't remember, though, as that hadn't happened to her yet...and he would have to make sure that she didn't remember his words to her right now by erasing that part of her memory.

[Donna Noble/Rose Tyler]

((Np!))

She couldn't discern his first words to her, as they were muffled by the stethoscope. She quickly took her hand away from his chest and pulled the stethoscope from her ears, looking back up as her hands fell to her sides. His eyes bore into hers.

"Very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar. Surrounded by shop window dummies.... oh...... such a long time ago. I took your hand...I said one word... just one word, I said... 'run'."

Rose stared at him. It was the Doctor...he was different, but it was him...how the hell...

Exhaling the breath she hadn't known she had been holding, she fell back from the Doctor a bit, coming to sit...well, rather falling into a seated position, on the bed as the impact of what she now knew hit her. After several seconds, she looked at him and spoke.

"So...you're him...from the future..." Rose asked, now knowing it to be true, but her brain still processing this turn of events. She hadn't properly understood anything the Doctor had said about regeneration. Not only had it been hard to understand, but she had thought him a raving lunatic for suggesting anything like it.

Picking up the picture once more, she looked at how happy they seemed together. It was so overwhelming.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Ten nodded at Rose, "Basically, yeah....and that is why....that is why we have to find him.....because if anything happens to him, then I won't exist anymore....and....well....I have a vested interest in finding him....the problem is...I don't even know where to begin to look for him."

He stopped talking as he realized that Rose was just sitting there, looking at the picture. She was still processing what he'd said, or so he assumed.

[Donna Noble/Rose Tyler]

"the problem is...I don't even know where to begin to look for him."

Rose looked up at...at the Doctor and a small soft smile appeared on her lips. Well, he always did surprise her. Putting the picture down, she stood and stepped towards the Doctor once more. Exhaling a large sigh, she looked him in the eye.

"Neither do I...but we have to figure it out..." Her right hand clenched and unclenched slightly, and Rose looked at the Doctor's hand, hesitantly. This was her Doctor. She still felt that pull towards him. She wanted to comfort him, the way she had known with the other incarnation, by holding his hand. In fact, she wanted to comfort herself that the Doctor was still ok since this Doctor was solid and real by holding his hand. But she didn't know whether this Doctor would appreciate that. Looking again into his eyes, she took the chance and slid her right hand into his left and squeezed. It reassured her, she hoped it reassured him.

"Is there anything the TARDIS can do to locate him?"