This was inspired by a trip to a book shop recently. Two Doctors in one place with a not-yet-a-companion Rose. Hmm.

Familiarity

The Doctor was a sucker for old book stores. Maybe it was the smell of the old books, the creaking of the chairs, or the dust settling on the shelves. He loved the place all the same.

For some reason, he was drawn to this one in particular. It was small, and a bit shabby. There was a fading maroon carpet on the floor, along with worn wooden tiles. It must have been quite beautiful when it was first built. But, despite its age, there was a certain charm to it.

So he went inside. A small bell tinkled above the door, making him look up.

"Hello?" he called.

There was no answer, so he let himself in. All four walls were lined with bookshelves with organised books. In the middle of the room were some tables. Old, worn out, and with books piled high on them. He moved forward, picking up a book and thumbing through it.

"Hello," came a small feminine voice.

He turned around and his heart nearly stopped. Her dark blonde hair was longer and fastened into a low braid. She wore a jean skirt with tights and a deep green sweater. She looked younger than the last time he'd seen her. Well, obviously.

"Can I help you?" her eyes looked at him questioningly.

"No. Just looking 'round," he answered as normally as he could.

"If you need something, let me know, yeah?" she smiled briefly before going back to the register. She must have been in the back room when he'd gone inside.

He turned his attention back to the book. He tried not to look at her. In his peripheral vision he could see her reading a book and scribbling notes on a pad of paper.

"Homework?" he asked, silently cursing himself for having a low level of resistance when it came to Rose Tyler.

"Yep. Hamlet," she replied briefly, obviously concentrating, "don't see the point since I'm not gonna get any A Levels."

Right. He remembered. She was just a shop girl.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"I'm not bright enough. I know that. I s'pose I-"

She was cut off short when the bell chimed again, signaling a newcomer. The Doctor turned around and his eyes widened. Just his luck. Before them stood a tall, thin man with messy hair and dark rimmed glasses perched on his nose. How could he not remember this? His older self going back to run into Rose. He had a very vague, fuzzy memory suddenly. This was not good, not good at all.

"'Ello. Can I help you?" Rose asked politely, eyes trained on the handsome man.

"Just looking," he gave her one of his goofy grins and the Doctor couldn't help but seethe (at himself). Why'd he have to be so damn charming?

The Doctor looked at him, glad to see that he made an effort to disguise himself, at least. His hair was still messy, but it was flattened and obscured his eyes. He wasn't wearing his usual long coat. Instead he was wearing jeans and a simple jumper underneath a leather jacket.

The Doctor snorted suddenly. He was wearing good old big ears' clothing. He smiled to himself as he congratulated himself mentally on the disguise. He moved away quickly as he saw himself walk closer to him. He didn't want him to be able to sense another Time Lord was near. He too, was keeping his distance from Rose, just in case.

He headed towards the door, giving a quick wave.

"Come again, sir," Rose offered a kind smile.

The Doctor nodded and left the building. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Memories of his little encounter with Rose that day filtered into his memory.

He had made a joke. She laughed. She told him that this was just a part-time job for the moment, that she was looking to get a full time job at Henrik's, as it paid better than the rarely frequented book store. He asked about her studies. She answered that she's not the university sort of girl. She told him about her boyfriend and thinking that he was going to propose soon. He remembered tensing up at the mention of a previous boyfriend. She was so young, so naive, thinking that getting married at 16 or 17 was a good idea. It wasn't.

He silently thanked Mickey Smith, who later talked her out of her delusions of white weddings and settling down. He'd completely forgotten that that small bit of information had popped up in a heart to heart he had with Mickey (and Jack, now that he thought about it). That was a piece of info he'd purposely forgotten about.

He needed to stop doing this. It was unhealthy and downright creepy. Him (unintentionally) stalking a teenage girl.

The universe was massive. How likely was it that he'd run into her again? He mentally made a promise to steer clear of early 21st century Earth for quite a while.

(Late 20th century was certainly not early 21st century. Had she gotten that red bicycle yet?)

He couldn't stop himself as he went into the TARDIS and set the year for 1998. The Ponds could wait.

The Doctor meets little!Rose next. I'm thinking I'm going to have a future regeneration of the Doctor see Rose in one of the chapters. She'd probably have remembered 11's face by now, so I think it'd be a good idea. Rose and the Doctor in any incarnation seem to go well together.