He leaves that beach in Norway knowing that, with Rose Tyler by his side, he can do anything.

But it's never been quite so easy.

He leaves Pete's office armed with fake documents stating that he is John Smith, a name he considered putting to rest after those few months in 1913. He hasn't told her about that yet. There are a lot of things he should tell Rose. They have a lifetime ahead of them now.

But it won't be quite so easy. As it turns out, this universe is no more fair to him than his own.

)O(

He had fallen asleep. He never used to do that. Parts of a new sonic screwdriver, mostly nicked from Torchwood, are scattered across his desk. Everyone steals from work, don't they? No one would miss a few random bits of alien tech.

The Doctor...

Is that right? Is he enough of a Time Lord now to claim that title? He still has all the Doctor's memories, but do they truly belong to him? The only thing he's ever done is commit genocide, which did save the universe. It saved every universe, in fact.

Whoever he is consults his watch, a necessary action after realizing his once perfect sense of time is no longer what it used to be. Time feels different in this parallel world, too. He's also started forgetting things. The name of some planet or which princess almost ran away with him. Just little unimportant things that happened centuries ago (to someone else) but it's worrying. His recall is slower than ever before. Maybe he's growing old. If only it were that simple; those nine hundred years happened to another man.

7:30a.m. Maybe he could sneak into bed without disturbing Rose...

"Good mornin', Doctor," she yawns. Her hair shines with sunlight around it. She's in her nightdress and he is still wearing yesterday's suit. "Did you fall asleep out here again?"

"I was working on a new sonic, and I must have..."

"Half Time Lord or not, this sort of thing is your body's way of sayin' you need more rest. You're runnin' yourself ragged, Doctor."

"I know. I'm sorry."

There are several reasons why he doesn't like to sleep. For one thing, it's boring and a waste of time. Every finite beat of this single heart, one short life, so why not spend it doing something productive instead? There is also a reason he hasn't told Rose yet. When he inherited the Doctor's memories, he got the nightmares as well, and no TARDIS or telepathic shields to block them out.

He can't ignore the knowledge that his very existence is an untested anomaly. Put a Time Lord consciousness in a human brain (Donna...oh Donna Noble I'm so sorry) and said human...burns. The opposite, however, a brand new biological creation. Ha. Funny, he remains the only one of his kind. He always loved a mystery, because the unknown keeps life interesting. But now the mystery is him.

"Doctor?" Rose looks concerned.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you wanted a cuppa. You all right?"

"I'm always all right," he replies, because it's familiar even if it isn't exactly true. "A cuppa sounds lovely. I'll get it."

"I offered, Doctor. You just go and get changed. We'll need to be at work soon."

He never would have pictured himself living a normal part-human life on Earth with Rose, having a steady job, especially not a job at Torchwood. They might have a mortgage someday, which is still a bit terrifying. But he is (not) the Doctor, without a TARDIS, and this is the only adventure he needs.

)O(

A/N: Please review. Yes, I will hopefully continue this but I never like to make that promise since all too often it doesn't happen.