Doctor Who fanfic: The Girl (Eleven and Rose)
Title: The Girl
Author: sarah531
Rating: PG
Summary: A quick glance inside Eleven’s head as he accidentally sees Rose again.
The Girl
He was chasing a monster loose on the streets of London. The year was 2004. And he didn’t realise until it was too late that he had ducked into Henrik’s Department Store.
He saw the logo written on a hanger holding up a dress and something jerked his memory. Henriks…a leather jacket…manniquins…a girl. She was blonde. Blonde, young, always smiling…Rose. He’d met Rose here. Sometimes he forgot or got them confused. He could recite the names in his head, and match them to grinning faces, and remember their eventual destination. Rose- different universe. Martha- married and a soldier. Donna- had forgotten what she became. Sarah Jane- mother and adventurer. Jack- killed his own grandchild. And so on and on and on. But the exact details, the exact feelings, and the sensation of clasped hands, or lips on his- they were lost in his thousand-year-old memory.
So, Rose Marian Tyler. Full of life and love, and surely he -one of him- had loved her back? Had been all hers? He wasn’t sure. It was Amy in his head now, Amy, Amy, Amy. His companion. The Girl. But there had been other girls, other Girls even, and she was standing right behind him, wasn’t she? Rose was.
“Can I help you with anything, mate?” she asked. He turned and looked at her.
She looked a lot younger than he remembered. He’d seen her last only a few months from ‘now’…but she looked so very young.
“I’m okay, thanks, Rose.”
She gave a brief look of confusion, and he pointed at her name badge.
“Oh, right,” she said. “Sorry. Work doing my head in.”
He smiled. She smiled. Then she walked away. And that was it. The Doctor, who would never, ever be Rose’s Doctor, wondered if this really would be the last time he’d see her. He thought it would be. She wasn’t in his thoughts very much these days. She had been pushed to the back of his brain, along with the Master and the Time Lords and the word fantastic and the brown coat. There were so many things in his brain. So much sadness and anger, so much joy and wonder- but he had been eleven people, and would surely be more, and one or two of the eleven people had loved Rose Tyler, and he didn’t.
It still hurt, though, watching her retreat. Watch her smile at a coworker, watch her sneak a stick of chewing gum from her pocket, watch her fold the clothes, watch her…
“Run,” he said.
And then he ran, because he had work to do. And he didn’t look back.
April 12, 2010 @ 12:01 am
Oh, that is so very beautiful and bittersweet. Well written, thanks for sharing.
April 12, 2010 @ 12:13 am
Aw… that was very poignant. It really accentuates how the Doctor is a new man with these memories that aren’t quite his anymore because he’s not the same man who felt those feelings. And then the ‘run’ part… it just fits the Doctor, all of them in a way. Perfect. Thanks for sharing. :D
April 12, 2010 @ 1:00 am
That was lovely and Doctor-ish and, as walkwithheroes (love the username, btw) said, bittersweet. He was the man who loved Rose Tyler, and he’s that man no longer, but part of him still has the sense-memory of it. Really a terrific piece of work.
April 12, 2010 @ 1:45 am
That was lovely. He’s not the man who loved Rose anymore but a part of him remembers. Very bittersweet but hopeful somehow. Thanks for sharing. :)
April 12, 2010 @ 2:46 am
This is lovely, and very sad. <3
April 12, 2010 @ 4:34 am
Extremely touching! It was such a beautiful portrayal of how the Doctor is different people, who has loved and lost in other lives. Molto Bene!
April 12, 2010 @ 10:15 am
This catches exactly the right tone and I found it oddly comforting. Well done!
April 12, 2010 @ 7:51 pm
This is bittersweet, simple, and very well done. I particularly like the last line two sentences, which are very much the Doctor.
April 23, 2010 @ 7:29 pm
Perfect. Absolutely perfect. It’s exactly how it should be.
April 25, 2010 @ 1:16 am
Sad yet lovely. One of his companions once asked the Second Doctor (I think I’m remembering this correctly) about previous companions, and he told them that they were sleeping in his memories, or something like that. In this story you have captured that feeling. Good work!
May 28, 2010 @ 11:59 pm
I really liked this, the juxtaposition of the Doctor’s simultaneous emotion and detachment when faced with Rose, and consequently, his past. “but he had been eleven people, and would surely be more, and one or two of the eleven people had loved Rose Tyler, and he didn’t.” I feel as though this pretty much sums up the Doctor’s emotional state.
February 14, 2011 @ 12:45 am
I just stumbled across this, and I have to say it is BRILLIANT!
February 18, 2011 @ 10:23 pm
Thank you! :D
February 14, 2011 @ 6:32 am
In the words of the 9th Doctor. “Fantastic!”
February 18, 2011 @ 10:23 pm
Thank you. :D