WHAT DO YOU DO AT NIGHT?

It had been nearly two years since Rose began traveling with the Doctor. In that time, she'd been through one regeneration, a very scary experience but she did the right thing in her opinion and kept on traveling with him. She also thought she knew a great deal about him during her time with him. He had slowly drew her into his confidence and told her several intimate things that she swore she would keep to herself for the rest of her life.

One thing that bothered her though…the Doctor claimed her rarely slept except when he needed to reenergize his body in a big way. Whenever he lay with her, he was always awake, at least he was awake when she went to sleep and woke up. What bothered her was what he did all night when she was sleeping. She knew he would sometimes read books in his vast library but other than that, he seemed to live in the Console Room 24/7. She'd asked him before he had adventures when she was asleep and all she got for an answer was an enigmatic smile and a shake of the head. She suspected he was lying but she did notice that he was always there when she woke up in the morning so if he was out having adventures, he managed not to get captured during that time.

She pestered him for awhile with information about what he did at night but after several tries she gave up when she realized she wasn't going to get anything out of him. The questions stopped and over time she forgot about it, instead concentrating on more important things.

Another thing that bothered her though was she kept seeing men that resembled the ninth and tenth Doctor in films and TV shows. The men were not the Doctor, but the resemblance to her Doctor was uncanny. Part of her believed it really was her Doctor but another part dismissed it as someone who happened to resemble the Doctor. All the same, she began looking for films and TV shows that featured these two actors and watched them regularly.

One night she was watching Thor, The Dark World on the TV in the TARDIS lounge. The man who resembled Nine was in this one as Maleketh and Rose was having a giggle, imagining Nine having enormous Spocklike elf ears that would have made his Dumbo ears even bigger than before. She was munching on some popcorn and sipping a soda while she watched the film, unaware that the Tenth Doctor was standing behind the sofa, watching the film with a huge grin on his face.

Rose put a handful of popcorn into her mouth and munched as she watched Maleketh vow vengeance. She giggled as another image of the Ninth Doctor as Maleketh popped into her mind. She swallowed the popcorn in her mouth and raised the glass to her lips, intending to wash it down with soda. Instead, she froze when she heard loud breathing behind her and she jerked her head around and looked up at Ten who was now directly behind the sofa while he gazed down at her.

"What's so funny?" he said innocently.

Rose gazed at him for a moment, debating about whether or not she should ask him if the man playing Maleketh was really him.

"You're not answering me," Ten said when Rose just stared at him.

"Um…him…" Rose said, turning her head back around and pointing at Maleketh, "he looks daft. I mean, who was the one who designed his costume? It's ridiculous looking."

"I disagree, I think it's brilliant," the Doctor said casually. "The bloke playing him is brilliant."

"Oh?" Rose said, her suspicions aroused again as Ten leaned over the sofa to pluck some popcorn from her bowl. "Are you familiar with this man's work then?"

The Doctor gazed at her while he calmly munched her popcorn. Finally, Rose couldn't stand it any longer and she jumped up from the sofa to confront him.

"Is that you on the telly?" she said angrily as she jabbed her finger back at the TV screen.

Ten looked around her while he continued to chew his popcorn.

"No, I'm not Loki," he said after swallowing the popcorn in his mouth.

"I don't mean Loki, I mean the bloke that looks like you," Rose said.

"Who looks like me?" Ten said innocently as he looked around her again at the screen.

"You know what I'm on about, Doctor," Rose growled.

"Um, no…I don't," the Doctor said shrugging. "I see no one in that film that looks like me. Unless you think I look like Tom Hiddleston with long hair."

"Him!" Rose said as she jabbed her finger back at the screen and pointed to Maleketh, "he looks like your other life!"

"Oh. Well, I suppose some people resemble other people, Rose. That's not uncommon."

He smiled when Rose let out an exasperated sigh, turned and flopped back down on the sofa. He leaned over and stroked her cheek fondly.

"Does this have to do with asking me about what I do when you're asleep?" he said as he stroked her cheek.

"Yes," Rose said tersely.

"You think I'm out being an actor after you go to bed?" Ten said fondly while he continued to caress her cheek.

The feel of the Doctor's fingertips against her cheek was helping to slowly ease Rose's anger. But she still felt anger at the Doctor for not being completely honest with her. She figured he'd sidestep the question as always so she nearly fell off the sofa when she heard…

"Yes, Rose, that's me. Your suspicions are correct."

Rose jerked her head around and Ten took his hand away and folded his arms across the top of the sofa while he grinned down at her.

"Costume was brilliant but very stuffy and unwieldy," he said, gesturing to the TV. "It's a good thing my body temperature is lower than humans because I would have overheated in it."

"Seriously? That's really you…I mean, your past you?" Rose said.

Ten chuckled.

"I have to find something to do to occupy my time, Rose," he said with a wink. "My psychic paper doubled as my actor's equity card and I was able to find work as an actor. I've had quite a successful career actually. My ninth self was in several big budget Hollywood movies as well as some UK films. This time around, I started out with UK films, although I am branching out now. So yes, this is what I do when you're asleep, Rose."

"You…" Rose hesitated a moment, trying to think of just the right word. "Git," she finished up.

"Aw, now there's no need for that. I could find you work if you were interested," the Doctor said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Seriously?" Rose said.

"Perhaps, if you continue to please me," the Doctor said before sauntering around the sofa and plopping down beside her. "But for the moment, I want to watch my brilliant performance, so hush."

"You know," Rose said innocently, "you need to dress up like Maleketh and grow your hair out and dye it white and plait it and…"

She jerked her head back when the Doctor picked up a handful of popcorn and tried to shove it in her open mouth.

"I can't hear if you're rabbiting on about my elf costume, Git!" he said.

He giggled and held up his hands when Rose threw a handful of popcorn at his face. She squealed when the Doctor tried to tickle her and leapt up from the sofa.

"I can't hear the film, Tyler!" the Doctor yelled gleefully, protecting his head with his hands while Rose tried to swat at it. "I can't see it either!"

"That's for being a git!" Rose said as she broke off the assault and plopped down next to her.

The Doctor giggled and lobbed another piece of popcorn at her face before he put his arm around her. Rose snuggled close to him and they shared the bowl of popcorn while they finished watching the film.

THE END.

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