A/N: Okay, I couldn't resist this pestering alternate universe plot bunny after seeing Journey's End. Hopefully this offers a bit of a different take amongst the hundreds of post-Journey's End fics cropping up around here.

Journey's End spoliers!

Disclaimer: Doctor Who is the property of the BBC, not me.

……

Jackie Tyler shuffled into her marble-topped kitchen, pink sparkly slippers scuffing the cool chequered tiles. Little Tony Tyler was over two years old now, but eh still liked to regularly wake up his mother during the night when he was thirsty or wanted a cuddle- and how could she resist his gorgeous brown eyes and dimpled little grin? He was her beautiful baby, mummy's little boy and now that she had more than a bit of extra cash in this universe she wanted to spoil and treat him, as she had wanted to do so with Rose.

Speaking of Rose, Jackie noticed a shadowy figure huddled over a steaming mug at the wooden breakfast table. Stifling a yawn, Jackie put Tony's blue plastic cup down by the sink and padded over to her daughter. The chair scraped on the tiles as she pulled it out, taking a seat opposite Rose. Ghostly moonlight spilled through the French patio doors that stood locked at the end of the table. Rose looked up from the murky contents of her mug and offered her a weak smile.

'S'not like you to be up at three in the morning,' she said quietly.

'I used to be able to say the same for you,' Jackie commented. She rested her hands on the smooth table top and surveyed Rose from under the dyed ends of her fringe.

She had returned to staring into her mug, lost deep in thought, looking so forlorn and older than her twenty-three years. She had a pink dressing gown draped loosely around her shoulders, exposing the grey flannel of her pyjamas.

Jackie sighed.

'What's the matter, love?' she asked, not even needing her mother's intuition to provide the answer.

After all, mere hours ago she, Rose and the Doctor- the new, part-human Doctor- had returned from Norway on a flight which had been hastily booked by Pete. In the rush, none of the three had had a proper chance to talk and the entire situation had been completely overwhelming. Upon returning to the Tyler's mansion, all three felt dragged down by the weight of their exhaustion, even the Doctor and had all found a place to sleep- Jackie in her own bed, Rose in her old bed and the Doctor down the hall in one of the guest bedrooms, looking slightly ridiculous in a too-short pair of pyjamas he had borrowed from Pete.

Rose looked up at her mother, seeming to search for something in her tired eyes.

'Where do I start?' she asked rhetorically.

'I know, love.'

'I'm- It's just- I'm so confused!' Rose vented. 'I thought I'd gone through every possibility in my mind while we were working on the dimension cannon and then he bloody goes and does this! What the 'ell does he want me to do?' She looked at her mother inquiringly, seeking comfort more than answers.

'Seems to me he told you what he wanted,' she replied softly.

Rose lifted her mug with both hands, blowing the steam away into pearly spirals as she thought. She took a slow, considered sip before setting it back down on the table, loosening her grip as the ceramic conducted the boiling heat.

'He wants me to help him- the other him. To take care of him and… and fix him,' she said after a pause.

'He said you'd done it before, Rose, back when 'e 'ad 'is big ears and daft grin.'

'But I didn't know I was doing it then! I thought maybe- I dunno, maybe 'e just took his time to come out of 'is shell and the regeneration helped a bit. I didn't realise that I'd been helping 'im…'

'Then treat 'im like you always did, this new Doctor, I mean. 'E's the same, isn't 'e?' Jackie asked. The whole situation was playing havoc in her own mind, never mind Rose's.

'How do I do that?' Rose asked, her voice breaking. 'I-I can't. Not when I know that my Doctor is still out there on 'is own. By 'imself, travelling through all of space and time.'

'What're you on about, Rose? 'E's got that Donna girl and all of those people who came to help; Captain Jack and Martha and Sarah-Jane- and Mickey's there for 'im too as well.'

'But he doesn't have me…' she mumbled quietly, more to her mug of tea than to her mother.

'He does 'ave you!' Jackie exclaimed. ''Ere, why do you think 'e left this new Doctor with us really? 'E doesn't just need your help, 'e needs you. My daughter, Rose Tyler and 'e needs you. For all 'is books and science and smart comments, 'e still needs you.'

Rose smiled, encouraged by her mother's words.

'It's like, he may be in another parallel universe,' she continued, having gained steam and fallen into a quick stride. 'But 'e knows, with you both here, that you'll always be there to hold his hand.'

She laughed at the oddly profound statement that had fallen that had just slipped through her lips. Rose's brow creased into a perplexed frown.

'What's so funny?' she queried, perhaps a little worried that all of the stress and dimension-hopping had somehow addled her mother's brain.

'It's just- you'll be 'ere to hold 'is hand! And you will be 'cos this new Doctor grew out the old ones hand!' She laughed again.

'It's not funny!' Rose tried to scold, smiling despite herself. Jackie ceased laughing and smiled warmly at Rose, her eyes still sparkling. Rose took another swig of her tea now that it was cooling down and licked her bottom lip. She tugged anxiously at the fold of her dressing gown, pulling it up over her goose-pimpled shoulder.

'That's just it though isn' it?' Rose said, letting her rushed words fall into her mug. ''E's not the real Doctor. 'E grew from a hand, the Doctor's hand. He seems so much the same, but I know- I feel that he's different.'

Jackie's warm-hearted smile furled inwards from the corners of her lips at Rose's words. 'Seems the same to me,' she said.

'Argh, I know,' Rose groaned. 'I keep trying to find something different other than the one heart and the blue suit, but I can't. I just… It's because I know that he's not the Doctor, the full-blooded Time Lord.'

There was a pause as Rose's words hung in the air between them. She raised the mug to her lips once again.

'Rose, sweetheart, I know he's the Doctor. Just like I knew that Pete from this universe was just the same as your dad. You may think he's different now, but one day you'll realise they're one and the same.'

'I don't want to forget the Doctor,' Rose stated stubbornly, misunderstanding Jackie's point.

'As if you ever could!' she scoffed. 'I think- and I thought about it a lot when we first came here- I think that all these parallel universes have the same people, and sometimes one universe won't have someone from the next. The people that there are two of are the same, they just lead different lives, make different choices. An' this universe didn't have a Rose Tyler, or a Doctor, but now it 'as both. An' it's lucky for it, 'cos you two haven't changed a bit since you came from your home universe. An' this universe is definitely gonna hear about the pair of you, no doubt about it.'

Rose wasn't used to hearing such meaningful and well-intended speeches from her mother, her usual topics of preference were party plans and celebrity scandals. She thought carefully over everything she had just heard, running each point through her mind like an X-ray machine that saw the bare bones of each one. The words spread a warm feeling throughout her, reaching places the tea couldn't as she took another sip.

Jackie watched silently as the cogs in Rose's brain turned and churned. She wanted more than anything for her brave girl to be alright. After a few moments deliberation, Jackie reached out a hand and rested it gently on top of Rose's.

'Do you love him?'

'Who?'

'The new Doctor, the one who could tell you that he loved you,' she clarified, looking deep into her daughter's eyes.

'I- I think I could,' she said hesitantly. 'No,' she frowned. 'I think I do. As much as he's not my Doctor, at the same time he still is. I know he's human and 'e doesn't have a TARDIS, but I'm okay with that if he is. Because now we both have one human life to share with each other… And that's really what the Doctor- the first Doctor- wanted to give me. Himself and his life. His forever.' Her smile spread and grew into a full-fledged grin, tongue poking out between her teeth.

'Maybe 'e's as bad as I thought then,' Jackie added as an afterthought as Rose pushed back from the table and stood up, draining the rest of her tea. She put the mug down on the table with a dull clunk and stepped round the table, bare feet slapping against the tiles. She wrapped her arms gratefully around her mother, tickling her nose with her pink sleeve ends.

'Thanks, mum,' she whispered warmly, resting her cheek on the top of Jackie's head.

Jackie reached round and took Rose's hand. 'We've got to talk about these things, eh?'

'Definitely,' Rose agreed. 'An' I need to talk to the Doctor when he's up.' She chuckled quietly. ''E 'ardly ever used to sleep but today he announced 'e was exhausted! This'll take some getting used to…'

'But you will get used to it, won't you?'

Rose lifted her head from the top of her mother's and started to head for the door. She stopped in the doorway, smiling, with her back to her mother.

'He's my forever,' she said, just loud enough for Jackie to hear.

Jackie sighed contentedly as she heard Rose start up the creaky stairs. She looked pensively into Rose's mug, at the dregs of the tea leaves and the end of their little heart-to-heart.

……

A/N: So, did you love or hate? Realistic or far-fetched? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Accompanying chapter with a late night chat between Jackie and part-human Doctor should hopefully be up soon.