When Mickey and Jake thought they had seen Rose and The Doctor fly back home and gone off to find the rest of the Cybermen, little did they know the Tardis had re-materialised just a few minutes after they left, leaving the pair stranded in the parallel world with no power. They must enlist Pete's help and use his influence to persuade Torchwood to help them get back to their own. Set in the AU.What was stopping the Doctor making his move on Rose? She suspected all along it was because Mickey was still around but when they get stranded on Pete's world and Mickey had gone off travelling the world to liberate other towns and countries from the Cybermen, she realises the Doctor had been harbouring feelings for her and it doesn't take long for their friendship to blossom into love.
They thought they were on their way back home, Rose just wanted to see her mother again after witnessing the massacre at the other Pete Tyler's mansion and seen the other Jackie Tyler as a Cyberman. The Doctor stood there with his suit and coat on the jumpseat, Rose was still in her serving uniform and was about to go get changed when everything started going wrong again. The central column came to a standstill and most of the lights went out, leaving just a dim glow from the column and some of the coral.
The Doctor was dashing around the console, flipping switches in desperation but nothing was happening. He had to admit to Rose what he thought had happened, the power cell that had been salvaged when they had crash landed gave enough power to light the Tardis but taking off and back to their own world had proved too much, there simply wasn't enough for both. He scrambled to look on the screen, they were exactly where they had been parked for the last several hours they had been on this world. He saw the anxious look on Rose's face.
"Rose, I promise I'll fix this, I'll get you home. We might just need to let the power build up again. Don't forget, this is the wrong universe and the Tardis is bound to notice the difference and we only had the one power cell. We just have to let it recharge again, that's all. When we delayed in taking off, it must have drained. We're still in the same spot, we just de-materialised and didn't get anywhere."
He looked on the screen again to see if there was any sign of Jake or Mickey but they must have gone off straight away so there was no help coming from them and he had no way yet of contacting Pete Tyler who would be on his way back to pick up the pieces and sort out the damage to his house and of course inform the authorities of all the people who had died earlier. He didn't envy the man having to deal with all that but his status would guarantee it would all be covered up but would Pete still want to live there with a constant reminder of what had happened? There was very little light inside the Tardis so Rose wasn't able to go get changed but he managed to find some torches and said for her to go carefully to her room and grab a few things.
"Another twelve hours should do. It's late and I don't recommend staying in here. I'll walk you to your room, you can get changed and we'll go find a hotel for the night. It's going to be miserable inside here. Then we'll try again in the morning. The Tardis will be okay here for now."
Rose got changed by torchlight, leaving her door slightly open for the extra light from the torch the Doctor was holding outside and she grabbed a change of clothes and stuffed them into a shoulder bag. The power cell was still recharging so they set off to find a hotel even though it was quite late. Rose hadn't had the time to let everything sink in, to process the events since they had arrived. She had been apprehensive about meeting this world's version of her dead father but had taken a liking to him, unlike this world's version of her mother who had scorned her.
They didn't have far to go, a nearby hotel in a street leading off the main road had a vacancy sign outside and lights still on. The Doctor rang the bell and a man answered the door. The Doctor greeted him, holding onto Rose's left hand, making them look like a couple.
"Hi, we need a room for a night or two, our car broke down, you have a vacancy advertised," the Doctor said, looking at Rose.
The man let them in and asked them to sign the register and the Doctor indicated to Rose to fill it in. "My wife is better at that sort of thing, aren't you love?" he said as Rose picked up the pen to sign 'Doctor and Rose Tyler', she had often had to do it before but usually they had a twin room since he claimed he never slept.
They were given a room key and upon arriving on the second floor were greeted with a double bed. Rose just looked at him and the Doctor shrugged his shoulders and sat in the rather uncomfortable looking chair.
"Why didn't you ask for two rooms and why did you have to say I was your wife?" Rose asked as she put her bag down and checked out the mattress.
She was really tired and just wanted to go to sleep but there was little chance of that with him sitting in a chair all night staring at her.
"I didn't ask for two rooms for a number of reasons, most of all it said 'vacancy' and not 'vacancies' indicating there was only one room and I didn't want us getting turned away when we asked for two. Secondly, the man was married so he would probably frown if I had said you were my friend or even girlfriend, it was just easier to say you were my wife."
Rose was too tired to argue with him as she went into the bathroom and locked the door. She had managed to grab a pair of pyjama shorts and after getting ready for bed, emerged to find him lying on top of the bed. He looked at her and said the chair was terrible and then grinned at her.
"Come on Rose, we've shared a room before. Admittedly it's usually got two beds but we can make do. Don't just stand there, get in," he said as he pulled the covers back for her.
He had taken his jacket and shirt off but still had his white t-shirt on.
Rose climbed wearily into bed and pulled the covers over and that was when it hit her, the gravity of the situation and the events of the time they had been there. The Doctor turned to her and saw she was crying before he reached over to turn out the bedside lamp.
"Oh Rose, I'm so sorry. I know you wanted to get back home to your mother but I'll do everything I can to fix this tomorrow. Please don't cry."
He leaned over to put his arm around her shoulder and realised for the first time that they could be actually stuck here. Not wanting to upset her any more he kept quiet and leaned his chin on her head and kissed her forehead.
"Doctor," she said, wiping back the tears. "Will you just hold me for a while? Just while I go to sleep, it's been a hell of a day."
She managed half a smile as he moved his other arm to hold her and pulled her close so she was resting her head on his chest.
He kissed her forehead again. "Of course I can, what are friends for?" He held on to her and could feel her tension. "Just relax Rose, don't be so tense. We have hugged before although not in bed," he grinned.
Rose just held on tighter, trying to hold back her tears, unsuccessfully. She realised she was getting her tears on his t-shirt but he didn't seem to notice, he just held her. It was getting on for midnight and it was hard to believe everything that had happened had done so in a few short hours. Many people had died or been turned into Cybermen which was twice as bad since they had been neutralised and driven mad. Rose felt herself drifting off to sleep but she could still see this world's Jackie Tyler, first snapping at her at the party then as she was turned into a Cyberman and shivers involuntarily ran through her body just at the thought.
The Doctor picked up on it immediately and pulled her around to face him.
"What's wrong? You're not still thinking about this Jackie are you? We had no choice Rose, we couldn't go back inside and I know you saw her when she had been converted but there was nothing you could have done. You were just too late." He could feel her tears on his t-shirt now as she sobbed. He had to just let her cry, no amount of reassurance it wasn't her fault would help her. He tried to cheer her up by joking. "So Rose, how many times have you fantasised about this you and me laid in bed?"
She looked up and smacked his arm and he smiled. He had hit a raw nerve.
"Probably as many times as you have Doctor," she replied, burying her head in his chest again, wishing there was no t-shirt there.
He had brought her back to reality, to their present situation instead of feeling guilty. He was good at doing that.
"Well, there have been times, too numerous to count, especially after our nights in watching a movie or reading in the library, oh and not to mention when we've been running for our lives but that's probably not as many times as you've thought about it."
He got a finger dug in his ribs for that remark and just smiled again. It was working, he was taking her mind off things. Realising he had a soggy patch on his t-shirt and no spare clothes, given the present topic of conversation and fuelling Rose's fantasies, he let go of her with one hand and struggled to pull the wet t-shirt off. Rose sat up, hardly believing her eyes as he got up and hung it over the back of a chair near the radiator then climbed back onto the bed again. Resuming his position he took hold of her again and she rested her head against his now bare chest. He smiled again, knowing she was relaxing more as he felt her tension drain.
"Doctor," she said sleepily, "You're going to crease your trousers you know and you'll be sorry in the morning."
If this worked, some of her other fantasies may come to life as well.
"I think you should go to sleep Rose Tyler, never mind adding more fuel to your fantasies. Tell you what though, bet you didn't think the last time you woke up you'd be in another universe did you?" Oops, he'd put his foot in his big gob again. Rose moved away from him suddenly and he realised he had upset her again. "Rose, I didn't mean anything, please come back here."
She turned away and began crying again. He put his hands on her shoulders and tried to turn her around but she shook him off. He got off the bed and took off his trousers then pulled back the covers and got in beside her, his hand on her shoulder again and this time she turned around as he moved up closer to her. Tears were still on her cheeks as she looked at him as he pulled her close.
"I'm sorry Rose, I don't think sometimes. Let me make it up to you."
He kissed her cheek and put his arms around her.
She whispered his name and snuggled back up to him. He felt warm and comfortable as she buried her head into his bare chest again, putting her arms around him. She looked up and risked kissing him lightly on his lips. He responded to her kiss but was he just offering comfort to her? He didn't know the answer to that question. He lay back on the pillow, Rose followed and they looked at each other. Rose attempted another kiss, thinking he would back away but he didn't and returned it. She rested her head back on his chest and got comfortable and fell asleep with a smile on her face.
When she woke up, she wasn't sure where she was. She was lying on the Doctor she slowly realised and she lifted her head. His eyes were closed but he was smiling and said "Hi" when she moved.
"I'm not asleep, I was waiting for you to wake up. I was thinking about possible ways to get us back. How are you feeling today?"
"Better. About last night, thanks for comforting me, I really needed it."
She tried to move but he held onto her.
"You kissed me first, how many times have you thought about actually doing that yourself, when you weren't being possessed?"
"Well you kissed me back Doctor and I wonder how many times you've thought about that. Anyway, it was nice, the kissing. Tell me why we never did it properly before?"
"Well, for starters, your mother and Mickey. Your mother would have slapped me and as for Mickey, well I never felt comfortable with him around."
"So now he's gone, you only have my mother to worry about. Believe me, she'll be more than happy we finally got our act together." She reached up to kiss him lightly on the lips again. "I think we need to practice this, don't you?"
The Doctor agreed with her as the kisses got longer.
Rose retired to the bathroom to get changed and then they went to get some breakfast. They asked about keeping the room and were told it was available if they notified them before 2pm so Rose took the number and promised they would ring if they wanted it. The only problem was Rose had given her phone to Mickey, thinking she wouldn't need it. They walked back to the Tardis, making sure no-one was watching and went inside. The power cell was still recharging so they had a few more hours to wait but the Doctor spent the time checking nothing had been damaged when the power had given out.
He had a theory but didn't want to alarm Rose so he kept it to himself, he didn't want to dwell on it if he was right. Hopefully he was wrong and it had just been what he had told Rose last night, that the unit needed to be fully charged for them to take off and so he planned that when it was hooked up again, to keep to minimum power until they were back in their own universe. Rose was sat waiting patiently, she was anxious to see her mother again, to reassure herself her own mother wasn't anything like the Jackie had been in this world and that she was very much alive. She wondered how this world's Jackie had got that way, so bitter and about to get divorced when her own mother would have given anything to have her husband back.
Ten minutes before he thought the power cell would be ready, the Doctor was double checking everything so as not to waste time. They had spent a while sitting on the jumpseat together, just kissing slowly, getting used to the closeness they had just developed.
"So, all this time and you couldn't kiss me like that when Mickey was around. Why? You know he wasn't my boyfriend any more. You didn't want to make him jealous of you, did you? That's the reason. So why did you agree to let him travel with us then? If he was standing between us?"
He didn't want to answer. He couldn't tell her his real reason. He had wanted to kiss her since they had first met but knew she didn't feel the same way, not until he had changed then he didn't want to force himself on her. He supposed he would have got around to it eventually but getting over the first kiss had been easier than he thought but still at the back of his mind was the incident with Reinette, he had allowed her to kiss him although he hadn't returned it and risked Rose seeing him but all he had ever wanted to do was kiss Rose. He could have closed his eyes and pretended it was her. He could have lost her forever by risking saving the Frenchwoman and now he regretted it. Now he had to make it up to her.
The time came to try the power cell again. He had left only essential things on and minimal lighting and placed the cell into the socket. The central column began to rise slowly, he took Rose's hand and hoped it would get them home.
With his other hand, he was crossing his fingers. No amount of flicking switches would help now, he had done everything he could think of prior to takeoff and all he could do was watch. Everything that wasn't needed had been switched off to conserve power. The central column was moving up and down slowly, like it was trying to make up its mind whether to work or not. Rose daren't look, she was leaning on his shoulder, his arm now around her as the column suddenly came to a halt. He let go of Rose, dashing over to see the power cell flicker and fade away. Rose flopped back on the jumpseat, waiting for him to say something. His theory had been proved right unfortunately, he had to share it now with Rose.
"Rose, I think I know the problem and I so wanted to be wrong about it. Like I told you, the tiny power cell is enough to power the inside of the Tardis but not to get us out of here. We tried using it for both and that didn't work, it just drained it but even conserving energy, it's still not enough. We have to duplicate it or build a bigger one, one with more power and so we're going to need some help. Our only hope is Pete Tyler, he's the only person apart from Mickey and Jake that knows about us and the less people that do the better. We need to go to his house and talk to him since we don't have a phone. It might take a while to convince him but I'm sure he'll help us. Are you okay with that?"
"We don't have a choice Doctor, we have to get help from somewhere and there's no reason he would turn us down. That's if he can help, he must have an awful lot of his own mess to clean up. I think we're going to need that hotel again tonight, I can phone from Pete's house. Maybe we can let Jake and Mickey know we're still here, they might be able to help."
She saw the look on his face at the mention of Mickey's name.
"I think we should leave them out of this for now, they may have already left the country anyway and I'm sure Pete will have got things under control by now. He's a very influential man on this world, I'm sure he has plenty of resources. He was already working against Lumic, he'll have contacts in other resistance groups."
"I hope Jake remembers to notify Mrs Moore's family, they deserve to know what happened to her. I know we didn't know her for long but she was brave."
The Doctor pulled her into a hug and kissed her.
"Come on then, let's go see Pete and find a way off this world back to our own shall we?"
He took her hand, heading for the door and looking back on the deadly quiet interior having picked up the lonely power cell and putting it in his pocket. He used his sonic screwdriver to get a small amount of cash from the nearby ATM and they got a taxi to Pete Tyler's residence. A burly man answered the door, no doubt Pete had employed extra security after last night and there were tradesmen's vans outside with men repairing broken windows and probably restoring the damage done inside.
The burly man, who looked like a wrestler to Rose asked what they wanted. The Doctor took his psychic paper out of his inside pocket and thrust it in the man's face.
"I'm Doctor John Smith, Police consultant and I need to see Mr Tyler," the Doctor said confidently.
The man said that Pete wasn't seeing anyone, no exceptions. The Doctor continued.
"I'm sure he'll make an exception for us, tell him The Doctor and Rose wish to see him. Just ask him."
The man went back inside and they waited for his return. The Doctor squeezed Rose's hand reassuring her.
"Don't worry, he'll see us. Can't blame him for taking extra precautions after last night."
The man returned, opening the door wider to allow them in. Then in a gruff voice he just said, "Follow me."
He led them into the hallway, the very one where Rose had stood talking to Pete early yesterday evening that now seemed like a lifetime ago. From there they were led into the office the Doctor had seen footage of Lumic's plans to 'upgrade' everyone. Pete turned away from his computer screen and got up, holding out his hand to the Doctor.
"Doctor, Rose, I thought you two had left." He shook both their hands firmly. "What can I do for you? You mentioned last night about being from a different world. I was upset and tired when you showed me that box of yours so do you want to try to explain it again, from the beginning?"
"Well, that could take some time Pete but before we go into details, we need your help first or we're going to have to remain here and as fascinating a world as this is, we'd really like to get back home. My ship, the Tardis, which got us here crash landed because we're in the wrong universe for it to work properly." He took the tiny power cell out of his pocket. "This was supposed to get us back to our universe, it's the only thing that survived but it's not powerful enough. It will give us power for lighting and other things but not enough to get us back into what's known as the time vortex to get us back through the void into our own world."
He showed Pete the tiny green power cell which was glowing softly, recharging itself, for all the good it would do.
"May I?" Pete asked as he took it from the Doctor's hand and examined it. "So how exactly can I help with it? I'm only the head of Vitex, well I was and I let Lumic take it over, I'm just starting to get things cleaned up and trying to get my company back, there's a lot going on now Lumic is gone. This country is going to have to learn to live without some of his inventions, everyone has removed their earpods and they're having to learn everything over again. I can't believe we let ourselves get taken up with all this stuff. So what do you think you're going to need?"
He handed the power cell back and indicated for them to sit down.
"Well for starters, I need to either duplicate this or make a bigger one. What about a lab at your company headquarters? You must have labs. I just need some space to work, this cell will only give a few minutes power at a time but I'll be able to go get some things I need from my own lab before I start."
"There's only one problem with that, I've not got control back of my company yet, it might take a few days and even then, you might not be able to find everything you need, we don't do that much research, not in that respect anyway. Have you two got somewhere to stay for a few days? I'd offer you rooms here but everything is a mess, might take a few days to get everything fixed up again then I'm thinking of selling the place, not that anyone would want to buy it, given what happened here. I was lucky when I got back that the place hadn't been cleared out but I suppose everyone was either being captured or running for their lives."
"Oh don't worry about us although we'd be grateful for the use of your phone, Rose gave her phone to Mickey. We can stay at the hotel we were in last night for a few more days. Is there no way of getting access to a lab sooner? The longer we stay here, the more complicated it will get. Rose will find it the most difficult, sharing your name."
"Let me see what I can do Doctor, you did help me and Rose did help me try to save my wife so I owe you both. Give me a few days to get my company back and I'll use my contacts to try and find you a lab. Meanwhile if you need anything else, just let me know." He took a mobile phone and charger out of a drawer and handed it to Rose. "Here, you can use this, it's prepaid so don't worry. My number is already on it if you need me and I'll call you when I get something sorted. I do have some more questions for the both of you but they'll wait. Come by tomorrow and I'll let you know what I've managed to come up with."
"Does this phone have internet?" Rose asked as she pressed all the buttons on the phone.
"Yeah, unlimited. Does that help?" asked Pete.
"We can try to find labs I might be able to use," the Doctor said.
"Believe me Doctor, I'll do everything I can to help. If you find anything suitable that I don't know about, just let me know."
They left Pete and got a cab back into the city, Rose called the hotel to book if for another two nights to be on the safe side, after that if they were still in this universe they would get Pete to put them up. The Doctor had to raid the ATM again, he didn't like having to do it, not on this world anyway but was careful not to leave any traces. They had some lunch then went back to the Tardis to gather a few things, just another change of clothes for Rose and a few tools the Doctor was going to need. They went back to the hotel and Rose handed the Doctor the phone to start looking up labs. There was nothing suitable in the London area but something interesting came up when he put the name Peter Tyler into the search.
"Torchwood!" the Doctor exclaimed. Rose looked at him, jumping up at his sudden outburst. "Pete Tyler is connected to Torchwood on this world."
"That house in Scotland was called Torchwood wasn't it? So what has he got to do with that house?" Rose replied.
"Rose, that house in Scotland, where Queen Victoria stayed was the very first Torchwood Institute. I never looked it up before but here, it was created to combat alien threats and research alien artefacts. The Cybermen weren't the only invasion force. Anyway, what's important is that Pete Tyler is very well connected with them but he doesn't seem willing to admit to us that he is. So we have to persuade him to get us in, they'll have everything we need to get back. The only trouble is, we'll be classed as aliens since we're not from this world, especially me if they take a closer look. So we have to convince him to get us into Torchwood without giving away who we are."
"Oh so not that difficult then really?" she smiled, swaying in front of him knowing full well it drove him mad. "Well, we'll just have to persuade him then won't we?" She leaned forward and kissed him. "So, what are we going to do until tomorrow? That's assuming he'll be able to set it up so we can get in tomorrow, it might take a few more days. You want to go sightseeing Doctor?" she asked, slipping her arms around his neck as he put the phone down. "Or is there something else you'd rather be doing?"
He slipped his arms around her waist and started kissing her neck.
"Oh I can think of a few things but they're not going to get us back home. We need to make plans Rose, if we have to stay here much longer and only Pete can help us."
He finished kissing all the way down her neck, Rose was clearly enjoying it as she pulled him onto the bed and unbuttoned his shirt.
Later, they sat talking, the Doctor was trying to be positive, trying to reassure Rose it would all work out but Rose wasn't so sure and while she had every confidence in him in his abilities once he got the power cells sorted, getting them was going to be another matter.
After seeking out some dinner, they walked back to the hotel, going past the Tardis and seeing it was okay, the night air was cool and Rose was glad she had got a jacket out when she had been earlier. The Doctor seemed uneasy, he kept looking around, holding onto her hand.
"What's wrong Doctor?" Rose asked, looking round herself and seeing nothing unusual, well not to her but he must have sensed something.
"Nothing, we just need to get back to the hotel that's all."
He didn't want to worry Rose but something was wrong, he could feel it. Maybe the Cybermen weren't the only creatures that didn't belong here or maybe Torchwood agents had already been alerted that he didn't belong here and he had no intention of having a run-in with them, not until Pete was able to get things cleared.
They went up to their room for the night and locked the door. They would be safe enough for tonight and first thing tomorrow, he was going to have to confront Pete about Torchwood and hope he would co-operate and get them in. They couldn't afford to delay things now, they had risked enough by not being able to leave and after the events of last night, he thought other government agencies might also have been alerted and it was going to take all Pete Tyler's influence to get them off the radar.
Rose was still a little shy concerning their new relationship so she went to get changed in the bathroom again, finding the Doctor already in bed with just his shorts on as she climbed in beside him. Rose lay on her back, keen for him to make the first move and he didn't waste any time in doing so as he leaned over to kiss her. Rose had been tired the previous night but wasn't so much tonight as she kissed him back and was pulled over to land on top of him. That was far as they were taking things for now, he still felt guilty but it was fading fast. He had denied both himself and Rose any kind of physical contact and now here they were, stuck on a parallel world with only each other.
Maybe they were just comforting each other but when they got back, they would have to seriously consider where exactly their relationship was going and while they were here, they would have to keep to kissing, well maybe not just on the lips but stay away from other activities. All this was new to him, well in this body anyway and it had been quite a long time since he had kissed a human, that had been back in his eighth regeneration. Now he had Rose in his arms, in bed and most of his fantasies were about to be realised as were probably hers as well as he started on her neck, working his way down until he reached the collar of her pyjama top and put his finger on the top button. Rose allowed him to unfasten it then he explored all the other places he could kiss her.
After breakfast the following morning, they paid another visit to the Tardis. There was no point in connecting the power cell, they had left torches just in the doorway. The Doctor still had a feeling they were being followed though but tried not to alarm Rose. They spent about an hour inside the ship and hugged for a while, just reassurance they were going to get out of this universe if they worked together with Pete. They had just exited and were trying to hail a taxi when a big black SUV pulled up on the roadside and two men dressed in all in black got out and stood either side of them.
"Get in the car please Sir, don't make a fuss, we know who you are." The man looked at Rose. "You too Miss, it's best you come with us."
The Doctor protested and tried to get his psychic paper from his jacket but the man grabbed his arm.
"Your tricks won't work with us. Now please get in."
The Doctor nodded to Rose and allowed her to get in the back first, then reluctantly followed. They were driven off at high speed, no-one spoke, not even the Doctor, which was unusual for him Rose thought, he could normally talk his way out of any situation easily but his face was solemn. He was thinking how lucky they were not being hit over the head or worse and being forced to open the Tardis door. They must have seen the blue box and they had got to be from Torchwood.
They were driven out of the city to the docklands Rose recognised as Canary Wharf and the car pulled up outside a tall building to allow them to pass through a barrier into an underground car park. Passing through into a darkened area, Rose clung onto the Doctor's hand tightly despite a filthy look from the big man sat at the other side of her. They were told to get out as the car stopped next to a passenger lift and all but the car driver got in. The Doctor was counting the floors without looking at the indicator, Rose was looking at him, holding his hand again. He tried to smile but it was only half-hearted.
They were ushered out when the lift stopped and through a door into a large open office at the top of the building. Rose could see all the buildings below overlooking the Thames river and they walked to a glass office. Sat behind the desk, a tall man looked up it was Jack.
He didn't show any recognition towards the couple, who had dropped each other's hands in surprise and the Doctor stepped forward and was pushed back by one of the men in black.
"So, what do we have here then?" said who they believed was Jack.
He walked around the pair who had now joined hands again and was watching them. Suddenly, he lined his hand up with a chop like action, splitting the two hands, Rose clasping hers in shock as he had caught it.
"No hand holding allowed" he snapped.
The Doctor was going to speak until the man they thought now was just a Jack look-alike put his hands on Rose's shoulders and then he just wanted to lash out at him for daring to touch her. The man was smiling, moving his hands around to her face when suddenly Rose retaliated by bring her hand up to pull his hands away.
"Oh, we have a fighter here, well done."
Rose expected a smack across the face but didn't get one. Instead, the man moved away and stepped over to the Doctor.
"Feisty that one, I can see why you like her. Now down to business. You were observed going into a blue box and disappearing inside for hours, the two of you which leads me to believe there is something more to it than it just being a box. And what exactly is a Police call box? Then there's the matter of you two turning up just as the Cybermen take over and only you and a handful of others survive a direct attack by them. Care to tell me also, Doctor, yes I know who you are, why exactly you have two hearts? We weren't aware of that fact until you were both scanned on your way in. Before we take you away for a very thorough investigation, I'll give you the chance to explain who you both are and what you are doing here."
The Doctor was observing the man all the while he was walking around himself and Rose and had chosen to give as little indication as possible as to who he was. If it had been detected he had two hearts then he was already in enough trouble. He knew what it was like to be 'investigated' only too well.
"So, I take it you're in charge around here?" the Doctor said calmly, not letting on who he thought the man was, it wouldn't be good admitting you knew who he was on another world and hoped Rose would keep her silence. "Well you seem to know who I am. May we at least sit down?" he asked, looking at Rose who took it as read that her friend knew what he was doing and sat down in the nearest chair.
The Doctor was going to make it as difficult as he could and stall for time. He needed to bring up the subject they knew Pete Tyler and hoped their friend had enough influence to get them off the hook, at least enough to help them get off this world.
"Before I tell you anything, just exactly who are you and where are we?"
"As if you don't know who we are Doctor but I'll refresh you memory before I send you to our lab to be examined because there is one thing we do know, you are not from around here. We are Torchwood, we investigate all things extra-terrestrial and their associates," he said, looking across at Rose. "Especially associates who are shall we say 'friendly' to aliens." He saw the look on Rose's face at that remark and smirked. "Your little human girlfriend here has broken an unspoken rule around here, fraternising with aliens is frowned upon and punishable. Not physical punishment, just mentally. She will be 'conditioned' to forget all about you but you, you will remember her for as long as you remain here which typically will be forever as punishment for getting her involved with you and corrupting her."
Rose had heard enough and was about to say she had not been corrupted and wasn't about to be brainwashed by this organisation but one look across from the Doctor told her not to say anything that would make it worse. Admitting anything would just give Torchwood more ammunition and more incentive to ask more questions.
"You are keeping your silence well Miss Tyler, yes we know who you are as well."
That was the Doctor's opportunity. "Well if you know she's Miss Tyler, why is she being held? Her father won't be very pleased with you for holding her here and threatening to brainwash her nor for you holding me, I'm her friend."
The Jack look-alike stopped in his tracks. "Oh come on, you can do better than that Doctor, you expect me to believe she's Peter Tyler's daughter? Don't make me laugh, everyone knows he doesn't have any children, his wife was too vain to spoil her figure having children."
"Ah, well that's where you're wrong, whoever you are because Peter Tyler and his now deceased wife did have a daughter, they gave her up birth and Rose had just been reunited with them, they found each other the other night when the Cybermen attacked. Rose found out the truth about her real parents and went to his house that night, posing as a maid to get in and she told him who she was." He was using part of the truth to justify why Pete should have said he had no relatives. "Her mother turned her down, refused to accept Rose was her baby she had abandoned twenty years ago then the Cybermen attacked. Her mother was captured and turned into one of them, the poor girl is still grieving and you've got her here, threatening her, shame on you. Peter Tyler is not going to be happy when he hears about this, just call him, go on, he'll tell you I'm telling you the truth."
At least he hoped Pete would back their story, it was sort of true, Rose had told Pete he was her dad in the other universe, he wouldn't let any harm come to her and would surely play along and not give them away. The man studied the Doctor for a while then motioned for one of the other men to go check out their story.
"You won't find any information online you know, he's hardly likely to make the fact that he abandoned Rose at birth public knowledge, would you? It wouldn't be good for his business that he had her adopted," the Doctor added, hoping to be able to speak to Pete himself. "Call him, let me speak to him and we'll clear all this up. There is a reason you detected two hearts when I entered the building, I have a heart defect so I have an artificial one as well," he said, hoping they wouldn't go into too much detail as to checking before they had spoken to Pete.
The Jack look-alike considered and went back to his desk.
"Okay, I'll call him but I speak to him first. If he says you're telling the truth, she can speak to him, if he denies it, she gets her mind wiped and you get taken apart to see if you are an alien or not." He lifted his phone and spoke into it. "Get me Peter Tyler now" he barked into the phone.
Rose was taking it all in, this man in front of her couldn't have been the Jack Harkness they knew from their own world or he could be putting on an act for Torchwood's benefit and he really was him and she was crossing her fingers that this world's Pete Tyler would back them up. She risked a glance at the Doctor who was looking at the man behind the desk. She hoped he knew how to get them out of this.
"Peter Tyler," the man behind the desk said. "I have some people here who claim they know you, one in particular claims she is your long lost daughter and has just been re-united with you. Now I know you don't make this common knowledge but her life and that of her friend literally depends on your answer. Is she your daughter?"
Rose thought if that didn't test their new relationship then nothing would. If Pete denied it, she would never see her own mother again and she would be totally alone on this world because she wouldn't even remember who Peter Tyler was or who Mickey and Jake were and she would lose her best friend and now lover after last night it had finally happened between them and she wouldn't even remember it but he would, he would remember how he had unbuttoned her pyjama top, then kissed her all over until he had sought her permission to pull down her pyjama shorts and made love to her slowly and tenderly, taking his time as they melted into each other at long last. She couldn't hear the reply on the other end of the phone.
"Think carefully Pete, before you answer," the man continued. "She says you gave her up at birth and she has just found you again after nearly twenty years. Well, is it true?"
Rose and the Doctor looked at each other, this man clearly knew who Pete was but they now knew the extent Pete's influence ran to, he was definitely not in charge, this man in front of them was. Would Pete have just enough influence to get them in to reproduce the power cell and help them get home?
The man in front of them was stone-faced, they couldn't tell what the answer was Pete was giving him, even the Doctor couldn't make out the reply and he had excellent hearing but Torchwood must be using a device to shield any sound coming from the other end of the phone. After what seemed like an age, Rose thought the man was going to hang up, that Pete had denied any knowledge of them when he got up and handed the phone to Rose.
"He says he'll only talk to you. It seems he wasn't completely convinced the other night you were the daughter he gave up as a baby. Says he'll listen to all the information you gathered when you were looking for him through the adoption service. Now make it quick, I haven't got all day."
Rose took the phone and nervously said, "Dad? We're being held by someone, me and the Doctor, you know him, we were both at your party the other night when the Cybermen attacked." She didn't want to go into too much detail since she didn't trust the man in front of her who had Jack's face but not his disposition. "What do you need for me to convince you I'm really your long lost daughter?"
The Jack look-alike switched on the speaker so everyone could hear.
Pete's voice came over. "Well, I know the adoption agency contacted me to say a request for contact was put in so, what was your name when you were adopted and why are you suddenly using your birth name?"
"Blimey, he doesn't want much does he?" she thought, trying to think fast and hoping he would agree with what she said. "It wasn't the adoption agency that contacted you and you know that, you left me with my mother's parents, they brought me up as their own. Who I knew as my dad died and who I now know as my grandmother told me a few months ago, I was trying to get up the courage to face you. The Doctor convinced me to come and find you, that I should get to know you again. My name was Prentice, Rose Marion Prentice but I was never legally adopted by them, they just raised me."
She was hoping she had told a convincing story, half of it was true.
"Rose, oh my baby, was it really you? I'm so sorry, we should have contacted you earlier but it was Jackie, your mother, she didn't want anything to do with you and it would only have upset you but I kept in touch with them, sent money for you when I got rich but they wouldn't tell me anything about you. When I saw you the other night, I should have known, you look so much like your mother when she was your age. Now let me speak to Jack and get you two out of there."
Jack's identity now confirmed, Rose handed the phone back to him and he made the mistake of not taking the phone off the speaker as Pete spoke angrily to him.
"Now you listen here Jack Harkness, you release my daughter and the Doctor immediately and ask no more questions. How dare you doubt they know me and that she's my daughter? Give them anything they want and I'll be down there later and if you harm them in any way, you're finished," Pete said.
Jack just said "Yes Sir," back down the phone and motioned the other man in the office to leave. He hung up and got up to apologise. "We had to check, you understand?" he asked.
"No harm done," the Doctor said, getting up. "Now I could use a lab and this analysing," he said, getting the power cell out of his pocket, careful not to hand it over. "And if someone could have my Police Box collected and brought here, that would be a big help. Rose, are you okay?"
He helped her up and gave her a hug. Rose nodded.
Jack studied them. "Well if Pete Tyler says you're okay I guess it is. I still think you're an alien though," he said smugly.
The Doctor took a gamble that this world's Jack Harkness wasn't exactly from around here either.
"Are you sure you want to go into that, Captain?" Jack looked at him. "I know a few things about you as well so I'd be careful who you call alien around here."
Rose was shown into a more comfortable office and the Doctor was introduced to a senior technician who might be able to help him reproduce the power cell but there were a lot of unanswered questions on both sides, Jack finally left and didn't bother threatening Rose with a mind wiping device of some sort but she couldn't forgive this version of the Jack she knew and loved from her old universe, the one she thought she had lost on Satellite Five when the Daleks had invaded and the Doctor had regenerated. It was all still fresh in her mind and now, after wanting for so long, she was finally with the Doctor after he had changed in front of her eyes into someone she could actual return the love he had for her. She had known how he felt, even back then and although she felt something stronger than friendship she hadn't been able to return that love the way he would have wanted but it was love, that and admiration for him but she had shrugged it off as a child-like love for someone older but now she knew, she had been in love with him all along and it must have hurt him terribly to have been shunned until he had changed.
She had caused his regeneration, she knew that but maybe he had some degree of control as to how he looked and thought if he became younger and more attractive she would now return his love for her. All she now wanted to do was make up for it and to finally tell him she had loved him since she first met him. She just hoped he would forgive her for not returning his love sooner. It never occurred to her for a minute that now he was only comforting her and when they got back they would go back to just being friends, he wouldn't do that to her, not now. She had allowed him to make love to her last night not out of comfort but because she wanted him to know what he meant to her, that and all her wildest fantasies about him had been realised.
She sat in a big comfortable chair facing the window, looking down at the city below and watching the Zeppelins float past. This world wasn't so different but she was beginning to realise the people were. Even the Mickey Smith of this world had been different but most of all, coming to terms that the Jackie Tyler of this world could be so cold and callous was the worse thing she could have found. Now she faced never getting back to her own mother and the Doctor had been right, she should never have gone there, now all she had was him and maybe a friend in Pete Tyler but he could never be her father. He would have to explain to this world's Jack why she had disappeared again.
The Doctor came back in and smiled at her.
"You okay Rose?" he asked as she got up to hug him.
He looked at her, he so wanted to kiss her again but didn't want to appear too intimate with her considering what she had been threatened with. He'd make this Jack pay for threatening to take her memories of him away when he had worked so hard to finally win her over after all this time, how he'd wanted her since the day he met her and now she was his, nothing was going to get in their way. He wondered if she thought he was only doing this to comfort her with being so far from home but he wasn't, he had fantasised about her for so long and now it was coming true. He'd got lucky when he had regenerated, it was like he had power over how he looked. He had heard rumours a Timelord could keep changing faces until they found one they wanted but had never believed it, he'd never tried it but had been pleasantly surprised when he'd looked in the mirror on Christmas Day. His love for Rose must have influenced him sub-consciously.
"Good news Rose, I think they might be able to help us. I've arranged for the Tardis to be brought to the lab they've given me and I'll get some power hooked up to give me some lighting and I might be able to work mostly inside but best of all, I might be able to re-configure the ship to work in this universe, temporarily, enough to get us out."
Rose smiled and put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, she didn't care if anyone was watching them. They were just about to kiss when the door opened and there stood Pete Tyler. He motioned for the man who was still watching the couple to leave the room. Rose wasn't sure what the man was still doing there, guarding them from outside interference or guarding Torchwood from them.
"So, Miss Rose Tyler, you placed a lot of faith in me earlier and I'm just a bit curious. You two must really want to get home badly. I'm sorry for the treatment you received, I had no idea they would act so quickly. Jack isn't too bad, he's just a bit keen. In case you're wondering, I've got my company back and I'm fairly well in here too but there's a lot going on I don't like, including some actions against shall we say outsiders, people from other worlds and other planets and I plan eventually to get that rectified. If he threatened you in any way, I'll get him removed, he's only temporarily in charge, the head of Torchwood was unfortunately killed by the Cybermen, he was at my party the other night which put Jack in charge until things can be sorted. I never got chance to talk to him about you, for which I'm truly sorry. They have methods I don't even know about."
"So, if you're part of Torchwood, then how come you didn't go to them the other night? How come you were contacting The Preachers with information?" asked Rose, now confused as to his position here.
"Torchwood can't be totally trusted yet, I suspected they might have been taken over by Lumic and I'm still not sure they didn't play a part in it. I think the technology Lumic used wasn't from this world."
The Doctor was thinking that Pete didn't quite know just how near he was from the truth. He didn't say anything though, he thought it best not to. Pete didn't need to know what had happened on another planet in another universe. "Right Pete, anyway, thanks for backing us up, we really appreciate it and we're really sorry it had to be that way. We were caught off-guard and didn't know what else to do. We would have waited for you to get things moving but we didn't exactly have a choice. We start tomorrow trying to replicate the power cell and I'm going to try to re-configure my ship to work in this universe."
"Well it might be a good idea to contact Jake and Mickey, let them know you're still here. I could use their help in getting Torchwood sorted out." He saw the look on their faces when he mentioned Mickey. "Is there something I should know, about the two of you? Is there something going on between you?"
Rose swore she went bright red. There was no point in denying anything but she left it to the Doctor to actually say something.
"Well maybe but that's not important. I don't think bringing Jake and Mickey back just for this is a good idea. There are Cybus factories to bring down, let them organise that."
He hoped he'd got out of it.
Pete got up. "Well alright for now Doctor but I am going to need them back if I've got any hope of getting Torchwood organised. I can't leave Jack in charge, he's more of a field agent, not very diplomatic. Getting him out though is going to take some doing, he's got a whole team behind him as you probably witnessed. Right, I'll be off then. You two got somewhere to stay tonight 'cos I've got my house fixed up, you can stay with me if you like. The house seems empty now."
"We have somewhere for tonight but if we don't get away tomorrow we might take you up on your offer. Thanks."
Pete shook hands with the pair of them. To Rose he said, "Rose, I would have been proud to have you as my daughter. When this is over, before you leave, I'd like to know more about where you came from, if that's alright." Rose nodded.
Pete left them and Rose sat back down in the chair, the Doctor sat on the desk just to her side and took her hand in his.
"We'll do it Rose, we'll get home I promise. No matter what it takes, I'll get you back to your mother even if she does slap me for us getting involved."
That made Rose smile, she was sure of him now, that this wasn't just for comfort if he was willing to face her mother his most feared enemy in the cosmos.
Before they left for the day, Rose went with him to the lab where the Tardis had been taken and power had been hooked up so he could work inside and a guard was put on the door with instructions no-one else may enter but he still unhooked the power and locked the Tardis door before they left. They got a ride back to their hotel and were told they would be picked up in the morning although Jack wanted to know why Rose wasn't staying with Pete Tyler. Rose explained they'd stayed at the hotel until she was sure she would be accepted by the Tylers but was moving the following day since the hotel had been paid in advance.
Back at their hotel, it was strange passing where the Tardis had been parked when they went out for dinner. They told the owner they would be leaving in the morning and Rose settled the bill with the money the Doctor got out of the cash machine. Hopefully he wouldn't have to get any more out, he was hoping Pete would look after things. Rose decided not to be as shy when they settled down for the night, teasing him as she got ready for bed, first unbuttoning his shirt and then kissing his bare chest as he lay on the bed waiting for her. They made love again, this time for longer, finding new ways to please each other. Rose was hardly believing this was actually happening to her and it had taken getting stranded on another world to get them together.
The next morning after breakfast, Rose gathered her things and they waited for the Torchwood car to pick them up. Rose called Pete and he said it was okay for them to stay with him if they hadn't got any closer to leaving. He made them promise if they got their ship working they would at least say goodbye. Once back in the Torchwood lab, Rose did what she could to help get the ship working again, fetching and carrying, the power cell was being analysed under close supervision and a solution was found to getting the Tardis to work in this universe by the end of the day. It would be ready to test the next day, the duplicate larger power cell that had been manufactured was charging up and hopefully, would be ready in the morning. The entire lab was put under guard again and they set off back to Pete's house but Rose got a shock when they arrived.
Mickey and Jake were waiting in one of the reception rooms as they walked in hand in hand, talking and they suddenly let go, Rose couldn't look at him, not now she and the Doctor were lovers.
"Rose, why didn't you call me, you should have said you were still here. Pete rang us, we came back as soon as we could, we were in France, got a Zeppelin back earlier. Have you fixed the Tardis yet? Can we help?"
Mickey looked at the pair of them as they looked awkwardly at each other.
It was the Doctor who spoke. "Mickey! Bit late but never mind. We should be able to get away tomorrow, everything's going well. Didn't want to bother you, you were busy liberating places from the Cybermen. Rose and I got into a hotel and now Pete invited us to stay. He wanted us to show him the Tardis and tell him about our universe."
"You stayed in a hotel? Together?" Mickey asked "You two are together now aren't you? Admit it, I saw the way you two hugged when we were going off to stop Lumic. Didn't take you long then, once I was out of the picture." Mickey huffed then crossed his arms. "You didn't reckon on getting stuck here though did you and you didn't think you'd have to face me again."
Just then Pete walked in and saw the awkwardness in the room. Jake was trying not to laugh, he had spotted the looks between Rose and the Doctor back in the van the other night and could have told Mickey there was something between the two of them, he recognised when people were in love.
"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Pete asked, looking from Rose to Mickey. "Oh, there's some history between you two, that's why you didn't want me to bring Mickey back. Sorry but I need him and Jake here, I'm going to try to get as many Torchwood people behind me as I can to take over. You'll just have to settle your differences but since you'll probably be leaving tomorrow, it shouldn't be that difficult. Anyone care to join me for dinner?"
They all followed Pete out of the room and since Mickey now knew, Rose made a point of holding the Doctor's hand again as they walked to the dining room.
She whispered to him, "My mum would love this place. Maybe one day she'll find a rich man and get married again and live in a place like this, don't you think?"
The Doctor squeezed her hand and whispered, "Yes, one day, she just might."
Dinner was a bit awkward, they spoke mostly about where the three of them had come from, there seemed no harm and Jake and Pete were fascinated. The Doctor figured Mickey would have told Pete anyway once he had come back. Mickey was still glaring at them although Rose couldn't understand why, she had already admitted he was no longer her boyfriend and Mickey seemed to have just wanted to be a friend. It was too late now, she was in love with the Doctor and nothing would change that.
Everyone made their excuses and Rose was shown to a room and Pete wanted the Doctor to stay in another room but they weren't having any of it, they insisted on being together so Pete just sighed and gave up. All Rose wanted was a proper bath since there was only a shower in the hotel so while she was getting ready, he ran the bath for her and poured some fragrance into the water and left her in peace. She was more relaxed when she came out, just wrapped in a bathrobe which she soon lost once she got into bed and they made love, he was kissing her all over, smelling the fragrance on her skin, telling her she was beautiful as she sat hovering over him and he ran his fingers on her skin. Afterwards as they lay together he asked if things were going to be different when they got back.
"Do you still want to carry on being together when we get back? You don't regret this do you Rose?" he asked as he pulled her down for another kiss. "I'll risk getting slapped by your mother because you are more than worth the feel of the back of her hand on my face. We did the right thing Rose, we waited until we thought Mickey had gone away, how were we to know Pete would call him back before we left?"
"I know but it didn't make it any easier, seeing his face when he realised but no, I don't regret anything, I wanted to be with you. I want to keep our relationship when we get back and I'll try to smooth things with my mother."
The next morning, they all piled into Pete's car and went to Torchwood, Mickey and Jake were anxious to see how things were progressing, Jake was fascinated with the interior as was Pete and now with extra help and the new larger power cell in place, the final adjustments were made. Fingers crossed, it would allow them to have enough power to get out and through the void, back to their own universe. Final checks were made and all but Rose and the Doctor stepped out and pulling all the levers then releasing the handbrake, the central column began to move, more like normal. If all went well, they would be able to test everything out, re-materialise and say their goodbyes then be off. Rose had fingers on both her hands crossed as she sat on the jumpseat.
More than two minutes passed, the central column was still moving, all power inside the ship was off except for dim lighting. He tried to land again and a few minutes later, the column stopped, he checked on the monitor, the three men were all still standing in the lab. Rose opened the door.
"We thought you weren't coming back, we've been waiting nearly an hour," said Pete. "We were just about to leave."
"Oh," said the Doctor, "Time must run differently here. That explains some of it, if this world is running ahead of ours, that's why we fell out of the time vortex, it's the difference." He ran around checking a few switches. "Did we actually vanish Mickey, this is important because we could de-materialise before but we never went anywhere. You're the only one that can answer that question."
"I think so yes, I couldn't detect any sign of the Tardis, I even stood in the place the Tardis had been standing in, you'd definitely gone."
"Great! It worked then. Right, we'd best be off then and if we don't see you again, Pete, we owe you, we couldn't have done it without your help and maybe one day, I'll be able to return the favour, now I know about the time differences, I can control it with a few adjustments. Jake, take care of yourself and keep fighting and help Pete sort this Torchwood out and watch out for that Jack. Mickey, I'm sorry you had to find out about Rose and I, it was already beginning to happen, neither of us could help it."
Rose said her goodbyes, gave Pete and Jake a hug, and said 'sorry' to Mickey who in the end wished them all the best. Then they stepped back inside the Tardis, fingers crossed again, the Doctor dashing around the control panel, making adjustments and Rose watching him, wishing she could help but her being there was all he needed, now he knew about the time difference, it made things easier to adapt to it. The central column was still going strong and ten minutes later, all the power came on, he checked the readings on the monitor and cried out 'yes' triumphantly, ran around to pick Rose up and spun her around, kissing her passionately.
"We're home Rose, we're back, we did it. I can tell we're in the right universe, it feels right, every star and planet is in the right place. Now let's head for your mother's place. Tell you what, let's give her a real surprise and land in her front room!" he laughed, kissing Rose again.
"She'll kill you if you do that," she laughed, kissing him back.
After what seemed like an age to Rose, they landed, right on target in Jackie's living room, he checked the screen again and there larger than life was one very annoyed Jackie Tyler with her arms folded and tapping her foot, waiting for them to emerge. "Well she can wait a while longer," Rose thought as she flung her arms around her lover and snogged him to death. They wouldn't have stopped apart from the knock on the door, well more like pounding and a cry of 'Rose, are you in there?' filtering through.
Rose ran down the ramp, saying she should tell her mother about them and he thought about it for a second, then tired of cowering from his feared nemesis, took hold of her hand.
"We'll tell her together but first, give her a hug and tell her about Mickey, eh love?"
Rose smiled when he called her 'love' as it made her feel like she truly was his girlfriend and after giving her mother a hug to rival her own, they told her about Mickey and how they had got stuck on a faraway world, Rose thinking 'parallel universe' might be a bit too much for her mother to believe, other worlds and planets she could cope with - just about.
Then instead of getting the slap he expected, they told Jackie they were now going out together properly and he promised her he would now take even more care of Rose than he had ever done before. He left Rose alone with her mother for a few hours while he moved the Tardis to the back of the estate and mended some overstrained parts of the console but he wasn't going to tell Rose he was taking out the parts that would allow them to go back to the other universe, he didn't want them to get stuck there again and never be able to get back. Now he knew how to do it though, it would be easy to do it again if the need ever arose but until then, he wanted nothing more than to go collect his Rose, take her to bed and call her his special girl because that was what she was to him, she made him feel young again, made him feel loved for the first time in too long but he knew in his hearts that they would pay the price one day for it but he was going to make the most of it while he could now there was no Mickey to distract him because that was the real reason for his hesitation.
Mickey might no longer have been her boyfriend but it never felt right, not like humans do, have a boyfriend or girlfriend and move on and still see their exes' around and think nothing off it, even getting new ones to make the ex feel jealous but that wasn't him. He hadn't planned to land on that other world but it had done him a favour in the long run, it had given him Rose at long last, the Rose he dreamt about, the Rose who now shared his bed and he made love to, the Rose he had wanted since the word 'run' and now he had her. Collecting Rose from her mother's flat, they walked hand in hand back to the Tardis, to his bedroom and he really did show her the stars.
The End!
Will continue in 'Return to Pete's World'
