I am the Bad Wolf

Brown eyes met their mirror, and Rose suddenly felt very weary with this whole time traveling business. What had she done now, to be meeting another version of herself? This never boded well. Her opposite had to be a future version, at least; she’d remember it if it had happened in her past, right? “Hi,” she said lamely, for lack of anything else to say, and gave her other self a smile. “So! Is it somethin’ you’ve done or somethin’ I’ve done that’s put the universe in danger this time?”

Doubt suddenly clouded her expression and she couldn’t help but wonder, did he still want her? Would he even have the same personality? Would she want him? She discarded that last thought, of course she’d want him. No matter what face he wore, he’d always be her Doctor. Still, as she studied the new Doctor curiously, a slight panic went through her. Maybe he hated her. He looked startled. But she couldn’t detect any other sort of emotion from him. It took her a while to realize she had let silence fall again. 

He did seem different, and despite his words, he seemed older. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but this incarnation looked worn, and despite his youthful cover up, his eyes looked aged, as if he had seen more things than he'd wanted. 

God, how she wanted to touch him, hold him, take away that sorrowful look in his eyes that reached out to her core. She wanted to hug him, tell him it was all going to be okay. But she didn't know if she should, or even if she could bring herself to do so. He'd left her. He hadn't wanted her then, and he more than likely wouldn't want her now. She shook her head as if trying to clear the thoughts from her head. 

Normally, he wouldn’t have acted this way. Normally, after something tremendous and overwhelming like what had happened at Trenzalore, the Doctor would be the one to keep his cool. After all, that’s who he was. Mr. Cool, travelling through time and space and holding himself together when everything else around him, all of time and space, began to fall apart. But this was different, absolutely different than anything else he’d been through.

This, above all things, was getting a bit too personal for the Doctor.

She paused to roam in her purse for some cash when an image from the corner of her eye made her glance up before frowning. She could have sworn she'd seen.... no, that was ridiculous. The TARDIS couldn't be here, no matter how often she might have imagined it. She shook herself mentally and continued walking down the street, determined to get some tea in her system before going home. 

That's when she saw him. A man, who was visibly upset lurking in the entrance toward the park. She considered walking past, she was tired and honestly didn't feel like helping a random stranger today. But something held her back, maybe it was her curiosity, or maybe it was because she knew that John would have helped. She didn't know for sure, but for whatever reason, she found herself walking over to the distressed man.

His temples throbbed curiously, beating a one-two-three-four that so reminded him of his old heartsbeat. Whether it was something to worry about or just due to stress, he wasn’t sure - but nonetheless, he pulled a small notebook bound in brown leather and flipped to a new page, duly recording the date and time (he’d had to check the time on his watch - not that he was about to admit it to anyone), and began recording his symptoms. It was better, the Doctor had decided, to keep track of their severity to determine just how long he had.

Instead she turned off the telly, which she hadn't really been watching anyway, and grabbed her cell, immediately pressing the first number that showed up on her list. She waited, hoping that wherever he was he'd have his phone on him. She began pacing back and forth their small living room, wondering where he was. She hoped he hadn't forgotten their date that night. 

His attempt at a compliment made her flush and laugh a little, she noticed his awkward attempt to cover up his slight embarrassment and it made her smile grow, “I’ll have to wear it more often then if it looked good.” She wished it could stay like this, wished she could sit here and tease him and pretend like nothing was wrong.

“Yeah… I went shopping with Mum.” She grinned, “the bill, well, I wouldn’t know. It went on  your credits.” She laughed with him, just a bit forced, and decided to play along for now. Just until she could figure out a solution. 

“Blimey, your mother’s good at shopping, hate to see what damage she did to my poor card,” he mused, still grinning. He was hardly mad - he barely used his own credit card, and there was enough credit to keep a small family comfortable for at least six months. “Hoping she didn’t put a lamp on there, after I broke the last one.”

Once Rose got back Tea tried to give her a smile “Just letting you know now that it wasn’t your Tea that did this.” Her mind was all over the place trying to remember where she was when she was poisoned. She used the prob and got her answer “One…The oldest planet in the universe. The prob wont save me.”

“Stand back Rose.” She grinned and let her arms  fall to her sides. Her body began glowing bright and she laughed. When it was over she looked better. Her skin was no long ghostly, but a beautiful pale. Those blue eyes she had were no the color of the ocean and her hair was long and black. 

She stopped in the hall and tried to focus, where had she put the sonic probe? She ran toward her bed room upstairs and rummaged through her dresser, creating a mess, before she finally found it buried in her unders. She didn't stop to think about that.