AN: Hello, there! As you may have noticed I completely revamped this installment so far, mostly because it was crap. Secondly, because it was crap I didn't even like. So, same story, written in a manner slightly less horrible.

As for the story itself, here's a slightly more detailed summary:

AU. Rose and Tentoo have been together in Pete's World for over a year and are working on building a normal life together on the slow path. Fate seems to have a different plan though and secrets, past mistakes and tragedy catch up with them, separating the two of them and sending Rose on a journey to discover exactly what happened to her on Satellite Five and when she and Jackie arrived in Pete's World. But the answers are complicated, unwanted and may be the root of everything that has happened to her family and friends. Will she be able to make it right? Or are there some things that can never be fixed? Some futures that can never be regained?

So if that sounds interesting hopefully you'll put up with my very slow update schedule (life!), inevitable grammatical errors and rusty writing style and enjoy the story. (In which case you are awesome.)

Warnings: This story has an M rating because there will be some mature content, specifically foul language, a bit of violence and some sexual content, about as much as you might find in a Stephanie Laurens or Eloisa James romance novel. If any of that makes you uncomfortable then please don't continue reading.

Disclaimer:I own nothing, as you very well know.

"Will it be me, will it be you? / It's a bad man's world, I'm a bad, bad girl."

- Jenny Lewis, Bad Man's World

"Give it a rest, Jacks. Please."

Pete Tyler rested his head against the steering wheel of the car as he waited for his wife to continue her lecture despite his pleas for a break. It was an old argument now, one that he knew he was never going to win and one that she was never going to give up. There was a part of him that absolutely understood where she was coming from, and even a bit of him that wished he could give her what she wanted; but at the end of the day he couldn't bring himself to feel something he didn't feel: and he most certainly didn't feel as if Rose Tyler was really his daughter.

It wasn't that he didn't like her. Her time at Torchwood had earned his respect for her intelligence, bravery and character. But the person he had met all those years had changed completely. Now when he looked into her eyes he couldn't be entirely sure that what was looking back at him was one hundred percent human. And it bothered him.

He knew Jacks saw it too, though she would never admit to it. Rose may have changed but Jackie had the certainty of twenty some years to reassure her that the woman who walked through this world without ever seeming to be a part of it was still somehow her Rose. Even now, after the secret had sprung up between them she managed to treat the girl no differently. But he couldn't put it behind him as easily, couldn't ignore the little voice in his head that warned him that someday she would bring trouble down on all their heads.

"Fine," Jackie's voice pulled Pete back to the present, "But don't think I'm done with this conversation. Because I'm not."

Pete felt a smile tugging at his lips at his wife's petulant tone. Yes, it was tiresome to constantly rehash the same old argument but at least with this Jackie the things they fought about were real and not just about what diamond chandelier would keep them looking up to snuff. He'd take the messy wonderful life had now, with all its familiar squabbles and domestic issues over the simple, quiet lonely life he lived before.

"I'm counting on it."

"Oh, hush you!"

He could hear the humor in her voice over the phone and suddenly he longed to be with her again as soon as possible, "I'll be home soon. Then you can rail at me all you want Mrs. Tyler."

He could practically hear her pleased blush as she told him she loved him and they made their goodbyes. For a moment, he allowed his mind to wander familiar paths as he thought about his wife and how much had changed since she'd come into his life. In the last few years she'd turned everything upside down completely, from his home to his family to the simple nightly ritual of a cuppa tea while they just sat and enjoyed one another's company. He knew how lucky he was to have gotten this second chance; there were very few of those to go around.

A brisk fall rain tatted incessantly against the window, bringing him back to the present. If he didn't leave soon the milk would spoil and it was past time Tony was tucked into bed. Pete carefully started the car, flashing on its head lights as he struggled to make out the road before him through the rain. He was in a hurry now, all the more eager to see Jacks as the rain began to properly pour.

The figure that appeared in the road was unexpected and Pete gave a shout and hit the brakes, the car wheels skidding along the wet pavement. There had been a moment of sickening clarity when the headlights had reflected back the familiar face at him before the car flipped and crunched, leaving him trapped upside down on the opposite side of the road. When he came too he tasted blood in his mouth and was horribly aware of the lack of sensation in his legs. Around him the night was quiet except for the sound of a heated conversation before him.

"This isn't what I signed on for!"

A woman sniffed in disdain, the strange cultured tones of her voice cutting off the flow of conversation, "Let him go then, if he lacks the stomach or spine for it. I trust you won't have any similar qualms? No? Good! Then our business is concluded."

The sound of her footsteps echoed across the pavement and then Pete was aware of a pair of loafers at his eye level.

"Pete Tyler! Fantastic to see you again. Well, maybe not as far as you're concerned."

"You," anything else Pete wanted to say was interrupted when the figure crouched down, his mad hazel eyes boring into Pete's.

"I'd like to say it wasn't personal but well, ever since you left me to die over in Devonshire the line between personal and business has blurred somewhat."

"Please, my son..."

For a moment something like pity flashed across the man's face but it dissipated as he moved to reveal the revolver in his hands.

"Mundane, I know. The head of Torchwood deserves to go out with a bit of a better bang than your average bloke, but needs must."

He paused, grin widening as he took aim, "See you on the other side, boss."

There were things he hated about being human. It wasn't the domestics, he found a sort of perverse pleasure in all those things he had so assiduously avoided before. He mastered movie nights and ordering take away, could make a decent loaf of banana bread and pick a throw rug which tied a room together. He had a job, a proper one, as professor of physics at a nearby university and owned more than two suits. And he talked, a lot. Not about his past, parts of which were fuzzier than he would've liked and other parts he felt didn't have a place in this new life that John Smith was building for himself, but he talked about the now, the future and all the things he hoped and fear would come to pass in them.

And then, of course, there was Rose. Rose Tyler: flatmate, best mate, occasional snogging mate. Although, he wouldn't mind a bit more of that, but she had asked to go slowly so she could have a chance to fall in love with him, Professor John Smith, properly and for himself, not just who he looked like. How could he say no to that?

And there had been progress. Kisses and touches that lingered, glances that seemed to say so much more than words. And now it was all about to change. And change, he discovered, was his eternal enemy.

It was the transient nature of it all that he found so disturbing. How quickly people were there, and then gone. His other self had kept people at an arm's length to try and mitigate the pain but not him, not Professor John Smith. His time had seemed so limited, so small, that he hadn't bothered to guard his singular heart. And so he began to care deeply, not just about Rose, but for the impromptu family that had grown up around them as well. And now that was fractured, changed and nothing would ever be the same.

Carefully, he lowered himself so that he was perched on the bed besides Rose's sleeping form. All this time and the sight of her still took his breath away. It wasn't just the physical, though he was well aware that she was beautiful. It was something more undefinable, that ephemeral quality which made her Rose, that allowed her to slip past his defenses so seamlessly he hadn't noticed until it was too late. And even once he noticed he didn't regret it for a moment, even though he'd known that It was selfish and dangerous and doomed.

This time though was meant to be different; it was supposed to be just the two of them on the slow path to forever. Almost immediately though there had been signs that it wouldn't be that simple. Signs he had done his best to ignore, to disprove, to erase because there was nothing he had ever wanted more, whether he was called the Doctor or John Smith, than this life with Rose Tyler. Just the two of them together, just as it should be.

Rose stirred slightly in her sleep, murmuring nonsense against her pillow. Her face was content but otherwise gave no indication of the dreams which crossed her mind. He regretted bitterly the role he was about to play.

"Rose." His voice was gentle even to his ears, his hand sweeping a tangled swath of hair back from her face, "Sweetheart, you need to wake up."

Her eyes fluttered, and fixed on him sleepily. Something in his face must have given away the nature of his news, because her own hardened and became shuttered in reflection, "Doctor? What is it? What's happened?"

"There's been an accident."

And just like that the tangle of timelines that had always kept her destiny just out his view snapped and solidified into a single golden thread.