“Nice to meet you Rose. Run for your life!”

 She did, and her job blew up to smithereens.

 “Now forget me, Rose Tyler.”

 She didn't and he came back to her.

 Between these two moments in time and space, Rose felt her whole life shifting. Like the Doctor told her that he could feel the earth revolve, every second, every turn. As certain as he was standing there, holding her hand, she was now certain she needed that hand more than anything in the universe.

Mickey had left her, assured of her being okay and her mum went to bed early, taking the telephone. Rose was the only one who heard the knock on the door. She saw the flash of light in the corner of her eye. Light flashed a second time and then it was gone.

She listened, but there was no sound of thunder. Setting down her mug of tea, She rose and walked carefully to the door. This had been a strange afternoon, a strange evening was to be expected.

There was no sound at the door, not at first, the cat flap didn't move and Rose was about to turn back, when she heard it; a soft gurgle, something like a hiccup and a tiny moan.

Opening the door just a little, Rose saw nothing on eye level, so she lowered her gaze, until she met a basket. Not just any basket, there would have been some sense in a basket filled with fruit, or bread maybe. It would have been weird, but hey, what's not? But no. This was a larger basket. Two handles, a hood, and a blanket. There was an envelope on top of the blanket. Rose took it, she did not dare to look beyond the blanket.

Inside the envelope was a short letter and a photo. She read the letter first, it said:

Rose,

This is not my choice, this is the most difficult thing I have to do, but I must.

He needs me and we will not survive, his son will die as well, unless you will help me.

Do not be alarmed, his father will help you, unwilling at first, but unable not to.

I am you and you are me, don't worry, you will come to understand. But therefore know that he is yours. Forgive me for placing him in your care, but there is no one I trust more.

His name is Storm.

Extremely puzzled and still unable to look down, Rose stared at the photo.

It was her, slightly older, smiling happily, holding a baby.

The Doctor's head flew up, there was a shift in his time line, one that should not happen, one that could not happen, not since... He heard it then, how could he not, it was like chimes inside his head. The devastation, the hurt, raw and artless, naïve and so infantile, yet so unmistakable clear.

There was no consideration, no pause; a press of a button, a swung on a lever, a frantic dance to race time and he ran out the door.

He looked up, there was no need to scan, no need to search, he could see and hear with his own senses.

She was there, her...

“Very clever, nice trick. Who are they, students? A student thing?”

Rose!

The baby started crying. Rose bent down, swallowing a lump, eyes huge and hands trembling. She was just about to peel back the blanket when someone walked towards her.

At first she thought it was the owner of this ridiculous prank, she would sure tell him. However the man who came walking towards her was the last person in the world she'd expected to see again.

“What are you doing here?”

“I live here. ”

“What do you do that for?”

“Cos I do!”

“Who is this, then?”

“I don't know!”

They stared at each other for a few seconds, before the baby uttered a sobbing cry and the man who had hastily introduced himself as being the Doctor, immediately crouched down and pulled back the blanket. He touched the baby with a slight appearance of awe on his toughened face, a wrinkle formed on his brow and the baby stopped crying.

“This is wrong.” The Doctor muttered under his breath, he stood up and pulled something out of his jacket. He used it to sweep in the air and then stared at it, as if reading something Rose could not decipher.

“What is it?” Rose whispered, fearing the look of dread that was visible in the Doctor's eyes.

He did not answer.

The baby started crying again and in a hunch Rose bent down and picked him up, he became silent in an instance. When Rose turned back at the Doctor, he was looking at her. An incredulous air around him, that made Rose very uncomfortable.

He looked down and Rose followed his gaze to where the letter and photo had fallen. The picture laid face up and his eyes became huge.

“He is yours?”

Not waiting for a reply, the Doctor flicked his probe-like device over Rose and after examining the results answered himself: “Nope, you have not given birth to anyone, least of all this little fellow.”

He bent down again to pick up the note and reading it, understanding dawned.

“Right.”

“You...” Rose swallowed, “you know what is going on?”

“Sort of, yeah.”

“Feel like sharin'?” Rose was becoming increasingly frustrated by the evasiveness of the man in front of her.

“Rose was it, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you notice something prior to the appearance of this baby?”

“There was... a light, two lights, thought it might be a storm, lightning an' all.”

“Storm yes, lightning no. It was a barrier being breeched, 's not supposed to happen. Terribly dangerous, but I guess a mother would do anything.”

“The picture... that's me, how's that possible?”

“Different reality, different time frame, different you. Same genetic make up though, he knows it.”

Rose looked down at the baby, who was staring back at her, unfathomable intelligence in his eyes. She felt an unexplainable connection and softly caressed the brown fluffy hairs by his left temple. A sudden surge of images flashed through her mind and in sudden shock, she almost dropped the boy.

The Doctor's hands were around them in an instant.

“Wow there, easy now, just a little telepathy, nothing t worry about.”

“He... he showed me... that was me, I mean, that was him, being held by me. That feeling... I can't...”

“Calm down now, lets go somewhere where we can talk, you alone in there?” The Doctor pointed at the door.

“No, my mum's in there.”

“Right, this way, then.”

He picked up the basket and started to walk away. The very moment he turned, the baby started crying again.

“Come on, he'll want some answers too.”

“Him? He's just a baby?” Rose understood less and less with every passing second, but deciding that she could trust the man who saved her life, she followed him.

“Not just a baby.”

“What d'ya mean?”

“Not here, almost there, this way.”

Around the corner from the estate Rose lived in with her mum, the Doctor suddenly entered a blue box. Rose stopped dead in her tracks.

After a minute or so, his head popped back round the door. “You coming?”

“In there? We can't all go in a wooden box.”

The Doctor moved back inside and Rose figured it couldn't hurt to have a look.

It was most certainly a wooden box on the outside.

It was also most certainly not a wooden box on the inside.

He was standing there, in the middle, leaning against the centrepiece, arms crossed, expectant look on his face.

“Where d'you want to start? ”

“Um... The inside's bigger than the outside. ”

“Yes.”

“It's... alien. ”

“Yep...”

“Are you alien? ”

“Yes. Is that all right?”

“Yeah. ”

“It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S, that's Time And Relative Dimension In Space. ”

“It's... it's nice.”

“Right, make yourself comfortable.”

He padded the jump seat next to the hexagonal centrepiece, which had to be a console of sorts and Rose walked towards it. The doors closed behind her.

“Space, right? So, this a spaceship?”

“Yep.”

“We going somewhere now?”

“Neh, don't need to, we're safe in here. The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door. Believe me, they've tried! Now, shut up a minute.”

“Oi, no need to be rude.”

“Sorry, just need to set some... things.”

The strange man in the black lather jacket started dashing around the console, flipping switches and pressing buttons. Rose felt herself torn between gazing at his movements and looking at the infant in her lap.

“Storm,” she whispered softly, the baby responded with a soft burble and Rose smiled. She moved the blanket a little back, it was quite warm inside the TARDIS and Storm seemed pleased to gain some freedom. His tiny hand got hold of her finger and Rose gasped at the touch. A warm fuzzy feeling filled her senses and instinctively she held the baby a little closer, pressing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“Now you are a sweet surprise little one, what are we going to do with you, eh?”

Rose mumbled the words, not realizing the Doctor had stopped his racing and was now eyeing her. His face contorted, the battle raging inside his mind was visible and Rose noticed it the moment she looked up.

She repeated her question: “What are we going to do?”

The Doctor walked towards her and took the baby from her, leaving her arms empty and cold. Rose did not like the feeling and when he started pacing the room, she quickly got up and followed him.

“You said you had answers, tell me please, how can this be my... my son?”

“He's not, you know.”

“But he is, I can feel it. Don't ask me how. He shows me, he's my baby, placed in my care and you're not taking 'im from me.”

The sudden protective outburst took the Doctor of guard and before he knew what was happening, Rose had taken the baby back.

She was like a mother wolf, gnarling at anyone and anything that tried to take her young from her.

Throwing his hands up, the Doctor suddenly grinned and said: “'s Okay, not gonna do that, don't worry, wouldn't take him from you, couldn't hurt a fly me. Completely harmless, see?”

Taking a minute to assure herself it was al right, Rose finally nodded and walked back to the jump seat.

“The note said his father was going to help me, do you know who his father is?”

“Nope, not exactly, but I do know that he's not from Earth.”

“His father's alien?”

“Yes.”

“So, let me get this straight. Somewhere out there, there's a different universe. Parallel, almost exactly like this one, but different. And there's an other me there and she's had a child, with an alien?”

He chuckled.

“'s Not funny!”

“Yes, it is. Now stop fussing, aliens are people too, just look at me, don't seem all that different now do I?”

Rose had to admit, she could easily picture herself with him... that was, not that she... Oh what the heck, she couldn't lie to herself. He was gorgeous; she could.

Blushing ferociously she turned her head to the baby, trying to change the subject.

“So his father is like you?”

“Now that's the funny part.” The Doctor became serious, crossed his arms and stood astride, gazing at her. Which was not helping, really.

“There are not supposed to be any more like me, any where. I'm the last one and my kind, we made sure there were only one of us in all of the multiverse. I... there was a war, my people... died, I'm the last one, so you see, this child is an impossibility.”

“Why?”

“Because he is exactly like me. He's a Time Lord.”