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Doctor Who ficlet - "People Change," Doctor/Rose, PG
Can't...stop...writing...fic... (And here I thought I was done writing fic!)

Aside from the Ninth Doctor and Rose, this features cameo appearances by the First, Fourth and Fifth Doctors. Spoilers through "Dalek."



People Change


As sometimes happens, several of him wound up in the same place.

"You mean...they're all you?" Rose stared at the old geezer, then at the guy with the multicolored scarf, then at her Doctor.

"Yep. There are a few more, besides."

But then they had to avert the end of the world, fix something to do with the time/space continuum, etc., and so they got to work.

The other Doctors were polite to her, seemed to assume she would help, but none of them looked at her with that intense, flirtatious twinkle her Doctor did, fortunately. It would've freaked her out if that old guy who could've been her grandfather had tried to flirt with her, much less grab her hand. He called her young woman a couple of times, and otherwise barely seemed to notice her. All of the Doctors were clearly smart, and all seemed a bit odd. But otherwise, they weren't him.

Afterwards, back on the TARDIS, she kept holding onto him, gazing at him as if he might morph into someone else before her eyes. "No offense, Doctor...but I doubt I would've set foot in this box with any of them, much less wanted to do this with them." She indicated the bed they were lying on - both still fully clothed because she hadn't been able to stop talking about what had happened. "Well, maybe the blond one, if he had better clothes. He looked like he was about to play tennis or something. And what was that green stuff on his lapel?"

The Doctor looked as if he couldn't decide whether to be amused or offended. "You're not going to hold his lack of fashion sense against me, are you?"

"But...this means one day you might not be...you. They didn't know me. Would you, the new you, know me?"

"Of course. Though that's assuming you're still traveling with me. My first incarnation lasted a very long - "

"Stop evading the issue. It could happen tomorrow."

"We could both die tomorrow, Rose, as you well know. Or you might die, and leave me behind."

She remembered the way he'd looked when he discovered the Dalek hadn't killed her, the joy as strong as grief on his face. More quietly, she said, "If you change...will you still...will I still...?"

His expression was infinitely gentle. "I don't know, Rose. But you'll change too, in time. People change."

She held him tight. If she could have stopped time in that moment, she would have.