Disclaimer: BBC's durr. And the idea isn't even mine. It was from the lovely author 'she-had-a-chance'.

Prolog

The Doctor and Rose slammed into the Tardis doors in their haste. Both breathing heavily, the Doctor tried to open the doors quickly, but they were locked. He yelled in frustration and pulled out his key while Rose patted his shoulder nervously.

"Come on, Come ON!" He yelled at his fumbling hands that were trying to unlock the doors. Rose glanced anxiously over her shoulder and then back at the Doctor's back. "Doctor, you might want to hurry." She said as calmly as she could, her nervous pitch barely audible. Just then the lock clicked, the Doctor grabbed for Rose's hand and pulled her inside quickly. Rose closed the doors behind them while the Doctor rushed up to the controls and began pounding at it.

There was a bang and they were both thrown off their feet while the centre of the Tardis began to sparkle madly. The Doctor picked himself up and rushed over to help Rose off the floor. She took his hand readily and stood eye to eye.

The Doctor put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her seriously. "Did they see you?"

Rose looked away quickly, trying to go over everything in her head, "Did they see you?" he repeated, a little more frantic than before. She turned her head and shook her head firmly. "No- they couldn't have."

The Doctor nodded, reassured and ran back to the console. "Off we go!" he said while Rose stood next to him. They were silent so that the Doctor could watch the monitors. His face screwed up with annoyance. "Ahhh!"

"What is it?" Rose asked, following him as he changed screens.

"They're following us." He said quietly, his eyebrows knitting together in frustration. Rose's eyes grew wide in worry and confusion. "But they can't do that, can they? The Tardis can travel through time. They shouldn't be able to follow us!"

The Doctor shook his, without taking his eyes off the screen. "Stolen technology, they've got a Time Agent's vortex manipulator. They can follow us wherever we go; right across the universe- "He paused."They're never going to stop"

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration, his eyes frantic. Rose tried to help, "But there must be something we can do, something to throw them off our track!"

The Doctor looked at her then back at the console. "Nothing… Unless…" He seemed to be thinking his idea through. Rose waited, a plan was coming. "I'll have to do it." He mumbled, almost to himself. The Doctor turned to Rose and looked her right in the eye. "Rose, you trust me don't you?"

Rose nodded. "Of course I do!"

He gave her a quick smile of appreciation before he ducked under the console saying: "Good, cause it all depends on you."

"What? What does? What do you need me to do?"

The Doctor stood back up, a silver pocket watch in his hand. He took her hand in one of his own and held the watch up with the other. "Take this watch Rose. Cause my life depends on it." At this, she looked confused and a little fearful. He continued. "The watch Rose, the watch is-"

John Smith woke up in his bed, bewildered. He'd had another one of those strange dreams again. He looked around to confirm his surroundings, yes; he was still in his bedroom in the school. Wood panels, paintings and books, nothing strange or particularly out of place. John threw his legs over the side of his bed and rubbed his eyes. There was the sound of knocking on the door. "Come in."

Rose, the maid, walked in carrying his breakfast tray. When Rose caught sight of him, her eyes widened and she turned around quickly. "Mr. Smith, you're not dressed. I can come back later."

"No, it's alright, it's alright. Put it down." She turned back to face him, he had put on his dressing gown.

She carried the tray over to him. "There you go, sir. Nice pot of hot tea, made it myself. And some toast, I'd watch the porridge if I were you though."

He smiled and watched her steady the tray onto the table. "Right, thank you." She looked up; he was still watching her intently. "Sorry," he said suddenly as she moved to open the curtains behind him. "Sorry, it's just… sometimes I have these extraordinary dreams."

"What about, sir?"

"I dream… I'm this-" he smiled fondly and tried to search for the right term. "-adventurer. This...daredevil, a madman. 'The Doctor', I'm called. And last night I dreamt that you were there, as my... companion." He looked at her, as though expecting to hear her thoughts on the matter. Rose looked back, taken aback and momentarily at a loss about what to say. "What? The teacher and the housemaid? Not likely to happen anytime soon, sir"

"I was a man from another world, though." He said walking over to the mantle.

Rose lowered her head and poured his tea. "Well, then it can't be true, sir. Because there's no such thing." She said firmly.

"This thing…" he said suddenly and Rose looked up. "The watch…"

Rose watched as he ran his thumb across the top of it slowly.

He put the watch back down on the mantle and turned to her. Her face fell and she looked back down at the tray, disappointed.

"It's funny how dreams slip away-" he said quietly, as though almost to himself. "But I do remember one thing; it all took place in the future, in the year of Our Lord two thousand and seven."

Rose nodded, and picked up the morning paper. "I can prove that wrong for you sir, here's the morning paper."

She placed it in his outstretched hand. "It's Monday, November tenth, nineteen thirteen, and you're completely human, sir." She smiled warily. "'bout as human as they come, sir."

He read the date then looked back up at her. "That's me; completely human." He said and smiled.

Author's Note: FYI the whole idea was suggested by a lovely ff writer 'she-had-a-chance'. She'd wanted a Human Nature/Family of Blood fic with Rose where John didn't fall for Rose. I think she's quite right in that aspect, seeing as John is completely different from the Doctor… as I hope I will make the differences clear in the upcoming chapters. ---