Title: Post-Doomsday: Recut
Author: Obscurus Lupa
Rating: PG, I suppose.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Spoilers for Doomsday, clearly.
A/N: My first Doctor Who fic, so hopefully it doesn't fail horribly.

Post-Doomsday: Recut

Rose was crying. A lot. Well, more than normal. Well, her daily average. Well, as much as could be expected. It doesn’t matter; the point is, tears were falling, and she was upset. The Doctor could see Jackie, Mickey, and Rose’s recently-discovered, not-quite-from-her-dimension father, Pete, waiting next to a green jeep in the distance. Brave choice, jeep. The Doctor would’ve gone for something a little sportier…possibly blue.
Anyway, right, the beach. Rose was stuck in a parallel dimension and the void was sealed, thus dooming her to be apart from the Doctor forever. The Doctor knew they could never see each other again, but when he discovered a loophole that would allow him to see her one last time, he knew he had to take it. He had some things to tell her that had been left unsaid and, well, it was quite unlike the Doctor to not say something. She was talking about shops or something now…He couldn’t be sure; he was distracted with a bird or something. A gull, maybe? No, that’s not really indigenous to Norway, is it? Lovely place, Norway. The last time he’d been here was during the 400-year-night.
Oh yes. The beach. This was the last time the two of them would be together. Ever. Rose sniffled and tried to get a grip on herself. “Am I ever gonna see you again?”
The Timelord shook his head no. “You can’t.”
She was really blubbering now. “Eewhayagondo?” Even the Tardis couldn’t translate this. The Doctor managed to get the gist of it, anyway.
“Oh, I’ve got the Tardis. Same old life. Last of the Timelords.” He loved mentioning that last bit to her. Her eyes welled up every time.
Rose’s tone was priceless. “On your own?” The Doctor could only nod. It was the most he could do not to crack up laughing. Rose took a deep breath in. “I…” The Doctor waited. This was gonna be good. It took her a couple more tries, but she finally got the sentence out: “I love you.”
The Doctor had to pause. Well this was out of left field. He wasn’t sure what to say. He just said the first thing that came to mind. “Quite right too.” Wait, no! That didn’t sound conceited. He had to say something. He couldn’t just leave it without telling her how he truly felt about her. She had to know. “And I suppose…” Rose was smiling, waiting patiently. The Doctor continued, “If it’s one last chance to say it…” More tears from Rose. The Doctor took a long time to think of a good phrasing. “Rose Tyler…”

“…I think that we should just be friends.” There. He said it. It was finally off his chest. No more going on about it, maybe-it-is-maybe-it-isn’t, for another two seasons. And it felt good.
“And here I thought we were going to kiss and make up, Doctor.”
“What?” The Doctor suddenly realized that he was on the Tardis. Seated next to the controls, Captain Jack Harkness had propped up his feet, seemingly in a habitual pose. Rather than question why Jack was there, the Doctor just let out a yell.
“Ah, bollocks! She didn’t hear it!” He kicked the Tardis out of frustration. Once he realized what he’d done, he instinctively gave the Tardis an apologetic stroke.
Jack seemed curious. “Who didn’t hear what?”
“Rose! She told me she loved me,” he ruffled his hair out of habit, “Can you believe it? 900 years of travelling and I have yet to find a companion who didn’t fall in love with me. Why does this always happen to me?” The Doctor looked to Jack for answers.
“Tell me about it,” the captain said, “I don’t have the heart to tell Owen that he’s not my type, and everyone is my type.”
“Who?” the Doctor seemed curious, but he was too distracted in his own thoughts to wait for an answer, “It’s just…What did I do to make her think that? Do I give off some sort of sign to women that make them think I love them?”
“Well, you do have a certain charm about you,” Jack commented, unabashedly checking out the Doctor’s entire figure.
“I don’t understand; I’ve tried everything…I gave out hints—the musical theater? I even asked you to kiss me just to throw her off and she still came at me!” The Doctor sighed heavily and leaned against the controls. “Why didn’t she think I was gay?”
“Because you aren’t?”“That’s not the point, she was supposed to think it,” the Doctor said, slightly annoyed at how unconcerned Jack seemed to be.
The other man looked thoughtful. “Maybe it’s because...you hang around me? It’s hard not to look straight when I’m around, even for gay men.”
“That’s true…” the Doctor mused, “But still! What’s so sexual about me to these women anyway? Particularly the blondes. I’m not much for blondes, even on Gallifrey I was more attracted to brunettes…Don’t even get me started on Madame de Pompadour.”
“But I love to get you started,” a playful Jack smiled.
All he got was a warning look. “Don’t start.”
“So why don’t you just tell Rose you don’t love her again?” asked Jack with a quirk of an eyebrow.
The Doctor pulled his hands across his face and sighed. “No, she’s stuck in another dimension now; it’s not as if she’ll come back…Still, she’s going to be pining over me and how we could’ve been together in that other dimension and that’s just not fair! For once, I’d like to end a relationship with a woman without the other half thinking we’re in love.”
“Maybe you should find one you’re actually attracted to then.”
The Doctor thought. That wasn’t such a bad suggestion, actually. Ah, but it’d never work. “I can’t. I don’t date humans.”
“Well just pretend you don’t get it when she hits on you,” Jack said, “Chick’s always get the hint when you do that.”
“Really?” The Doctor wasn’t sure.
Jack smiled, a bright, naïve smile. “Sure. I’ve never tried it, but what’s the worst that can happen? It’s not like you’ll hurt anyone’s feelings!” He laughed. The Timelord couldn’t help but join in. He felt kind of silly now.
“Captain Jack Harkness, I think you just solved my problems.”
Another smile. “I always do.”
“By the way,” the Doctor furrowed his brows, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m just doing my obligatory cameo. Everyone loves a cameo.” It made perfect sense. The Doctor gave a nod.
“Well, might as well pick up my new companion…I’ll give them the mopey ‘I travel alone’ bit, they love that stuff.” He smiled proudly at himself.
Jack nodded and winked. “You know I do.” And with that, he disappeared, as if he were some sort of ghost or spiritual aid. The Doctor would’ve questioned this had a figure in a white dress not appeared in the Tardis. She spun around, revealing a redhead in her wedding gown.
“What?” the surprised Timelord questioned no one in particular. The redhead could only give a surprised yelp. “What?” he reiterated.
“Who are you?” the redhead questioned, rather rudely.
“But—“
“Where am I?”
“What?”
“What the hell is this place?”
“What?!” The Doctor felt the third was needed for good measure. After all, he knew what another woman on the Tardis meant.

On the bright side…at least she wasn’t a blonde.

END