The World is Wide Enough
By Kimmzie

Disclaimer I don't own Doctor Who

The Doctor squeezed her hand and slowly and let his fingers disentangle from hers. He ran both of his hands through his hair. It was already a mess. Now, it was worse.
He raised an eyebrow and tutted.

Rose cocked her head to the side and chewed her bottom lip as she contemplated her next move. Forget the Time Lord, she had the moves too. With a smirk and a maniacal giggle she approached the Doctor. Through a combination of good balance, a jump, twist, and stretching the limits of her height via tippy toes, her hands ran through the Time Lord's hair and coifed it to resemble its usual greatness.

She looked at her work and was somewhat satisfied. The Doctor was always better at it.

"Y'you know that used to be easier," she said pointedly when her feet were planted firmly on the ground again.

"Oh, you know you like it this way too. Why wouldn't you? It's brilliant. Anyway, Rose Tyler, I didn't know you were that spry. I had my guesses based on muscle tone and..." Rose's 'snicker' cut him off. He cleared his throat. "Hmm. Well, there is also that additional Torchwood training from Pete's World. You are Rose Tyler Defender of the Earth. I will have to put some of that to the test later," he finished. She tried to ignore that his voice was an octave lower at the end.

"And to what is the purpose of all that vigorous testing?" Rose stepped closer to him.

"Keep this up and you'll find out sooner rather than later."

"Doctor?" Donna's voice was echoing through the hallway.

"I think you have another patient." Rose patted him on the chest and stepped away. She turned and started to head back towards her room.

"Just chalk it up to stress relief." He winked. "I guess it worked."

"Will she be ok?"

"That requires time and different types of testing. I'm more worried if I'll be ok after she remembers what I was going to do."

"She'll understand." Rose started to turn towards him again.

"Now that is what I am worried about. This may be a Doctor to Doctor-Donna talk."

"Yeup, I am way ahead of you on that. I'm going to sleep. It's been. Hmm not even sure. G'luck Doctor."

"Ah, to sleep perchance to dream. I am almost jealous of you right now." He steeled himself. "What if it didn't work?"

"Hello, is anybody aboard this place anymore. I'm all hooked up. Stop Humming at me. Flickering your lights and beeping are not going to help me. I don't even know what that means. Hello!" Donna was definitely conscious.

"From that? You'll figure it out. You've got me," she added quietly.

"Yes, I do. Don't I?" He smiled with a look of guarded awe on his face.

"For… well. I guess that's for later."

"Rose Tyler." Rose stopped him by raising a hand and shaking her head.

"Not that right now. We're not on so much of a time limit. I swear if you bloody disappear, or can't decide how to finish that sentence… Huh." She focused on the floor and shook her head. "You have such bad timing for a Time Lord. Anyway, it's alright. I'm always alright. Just give me a mo- ok?" He stepped towards her and she shuffled back. He frowned. "Quite right too, yeah. We have a 'to be continued' this time. If you make it out of there."

"Oh, you and Donna are going to get on quite well, too well."

"Good night, Doctor."

"G'night."

(Rose Tyler)
Rose could feel the Doctor's gaze burning into her long after she turned the corner. Stupid superior Time Lord senses. Sometimes, life was not fair. The Doctor was also an expert at breaking the rules.

How was that sentence going to end? She wasn't sure that she wanted to know. Sometimes things don't need saying. Unfortunately, this needed saying.
She wandered the halls of the TARDIS aimlessly enjoying the light hum in the back of her mind. It had been too crowded before with everyone. She hadn't had a proper greeting with the TARDIS. She let her fingers stroke the walls as she came to the familiar door that led to her room. It was like she had never left. The bed was still unmade. She opened the closet to see a plethora of hoodies. The vanity and shelves still had photos and nick nacks. She picked up a picture of her Mum and tried to hold back tears.

After she washed up and put on sweat pants, she collapsed on the bed. Her eyes were closed before she could find the cool side of the pillow. Rose didn't know how long she slept for but she woke up to an empty stomach.

She found the galley easily enough but her mouth dropped when she entered. The Doctor was sitting down eating a pear.

"Ummm."

He perked up and smiled. "Hello." He switched his gaze between her and the pear. "New, new, newish taste buds. I wanted to see if I liked them yet or not."

"And?"

"I'm on the fence. These taste buds are quite inferior. The bloody thing still has a bad aftertaste."

"You are different. Or have gone mental. Pears?" She went over to the counter and threw him a banana. "Try this."

"Are we going to a party?"

"Nope. Litmus test."

The Metacrisis Doctor smiled and tried the fruit. "Bananas are good."

"Somethings don't change." She sat down across from him with a yogurt from the 23-rd century that she had been craving longer than she could remember.

"We all change, Rose."

"I guess that is true. Why did you take me here? We could have…"

"Would you have chosen me? I don't need a babysitter."

"I wasn't given much of a choice. You gave me one again." Rose took a sip out of her pink mug. "I made my choice a long time ago. Forever." She clinked his mug.

"How long is that again?"

"No one ever really knows."

"Ah, yes. My time senses have become a little more limited… I can see that now, or not see."

"You think like him. You look like him. Same memories. Same everything; except, you only have one heart. You are the Doctor. He is the Doctor. I get that. I don't think you need a babysitter." She took another sip of tea. "I've been yours since you grabbed my hand."

"I was quite a mess back then." He frowned. "You made it better."

"You took a shop girl and showed her the wonders of the Universe. My Dad didn't die alone. I saved worlds. I did good. You made me better." She stared at the tea leaves at the bottom of her mug. "I committed genocide. I destroyed the Daleks. I would do it again, with or without the heart of the TARDIS, I needed you safe. I need you safe."

"Same here."

"I need you." Rose licked the last of the yogurt off her spoon. "I need him too. You're both the Doctor, just a bit different. I'm never going to leave you."

"I always told Jackie I would take you home. When we were all going back to Pete's world for our last trip the other me didn't look at you. He looked at me and I knew what he was going to do. I couldn't let that happen."

"That was never my home. This is my home. I made my choice so long ago. I traveled so far to find you."

"What about your family?"

"I left directions and all my goodbyes as soon as the walls started to break down. I needed to come back and find you. I said all my goodbyes."

"Never again."

"So… are both of you staying on the TARDIS, then? Am I?"

"There are a few details to be sorted out. I don't think the full Time Lord me has any intent on you going all domestic somewhere without him."

"Donna?"

The half-human Time Lord rubbed the back of his neck. "Donna. She is the Doctor Donna now. I was able to help build up some walls so the bigger parts of her mind wouldn't shatter. We'll see if it holds. It should be exciting. She was the most important woman in the Universe for a fixed point in time. We should give her a trophy or something for that."

"So, she'll be fine?"

"If all goes according to plan she'll be right as rain."

"And you?"

"Oh, I am always alright. Good cup of tea and some more medical testing I should be able to get most of what I lost back. I have you for starters."

"Yeup." Rose popped her p. She hopped down from her stool and went over to wrap her arms around his neck. The Doctor started to lean in when Donna entered the kitchen.

"Oi, you two go get a room. Or just make ga-ga eyes at one another from across the table. I've already seen you naked Spaceman."

"Wait, what?" Rose laughed.

"Oh, don't make me relive it. There's been enough happening in my head. I feel like I have a hangover. I don't know what you see in him. He's so skinny."

"Watch it there."

"I like it just fine." Rose smiled. She kissed him on the cheek and grabbed a plate for Donna. "It's good to have you back."

"Good to be back. Ugh, I'm starving. Is there anything to eat? Just nothing with cilantro on it."

Rose laughed and put the kettle on.

"Oh my. So this is where everybody ran off to." The full Time Lord entered the room. "Why is there a half-eaten pear on the table?" He scrunched his noise up in disgust.

"Human sense of taste. They're not too bad. Bananas are better," his duplicate replied.

"That is disgusting. No pears. How did that even come aboard?"

"Ummm. I think Mum had it in her jacket pocket. Tony loves them."

"Does your Mum always store food in her pockets? That is not a food by the way. That is just poison." He wrapped the fruit in a napkin and dropped it in the bin.

"She started because of that bloke she used to date. You borrowed his robe and jim-jams. Anyway, where to now?"

"Where would you like to go?"

"Anywhere, everywhere… I don't really know."

Oh, I have just the place." Donna said with a smile. "You'll all love it and I can drive you there."

"Uh, you're still on your learner's permit." The Full Time Lord followed her after she ran to the control room.

"Too be continued. Allons-y Rose Tyler. Run for your life. You know I failed my drivers test?" The meta-crisis said with a wink. "C'mon."