A/N: Hello! This is my very first fanfic ever! I'm really excited to share this with everyone! If you have any questions about what is going on, there is some stuff that won't be addressed until later between Rose and the Doctor.
I'm hoping to update this at least once a week. I hope you enjoy it!
It didn't take Torchwood long to create a vortex manipulator, without tearing at the walls of the void. It had been both a simple and huge request on her part. She needed a piece of her life back, a piece of him. She needed a piece to remind her of what they had together, so she asked Torchwood to create it; a cuff that would allow her to travel across time and space once everyone was gone.
She carved small initials on the inside the longer she had it. It started with a prominent D for the man she would always love. Soon came the JH for her best friend, killed in battle. Then there was a SJ for the past companion who taught her so much. As more time passed and loved ones passed away, she would carve their initials in as well.
It had been lonely for her, all these years. Jackie and Pete were long gone, died of old age about a century back. Tony, Mickey, and Jake were around for awhile, but even their lives seemed fleeting compared to her own. And then there was her Doctor. Not her pinstripes Doctor, but her blue suit wearing metacrisis gift from the gods Doctor. At least, that was what she thought when they first left Bad Wolf Bay together. Now, even he was gone from her life. Sure, he managed to hold on longer than everyone else, but he wasn't a Time Lord. He too had to go. A JS was carved onto the brown leather.
She used to wonder why she was still here. She was human. Rose Tyler was born human, raised human, and she was meant to die human. Except she hadn't, she hadn't died at all or aged a day. She knew it must have had something to do with traveling in the TARDIS, but Sarah Jane had aged just fine! But Sarah Jane hadn't looked into the heart of the TARDIS. Rose changed that day, and now she could not get back to him or the ship that gave her seemingly eternal life.
The big Bad Wolf was stuck in another universe. No not the Bad Wolf, The Lone Wolf. That's what she was.
Rose took in a deep breath and pressed down on her vortex manipulator. This is no time to feel down or pity herself. Somewhere out there, there was someone who needed her help.
"ALLONS~Y!"
--o+~+o--
Rose arrived on a dessert planet. Clouds of sand filled the air like oxygen would fill a lung. She had only been travelling on her own for about five years now, with a century of Torchwood experience under her belt. Herheart was beating fast and she couldn't help but smile, despite herself. "A new planet, a new adventure, I love this part!"
Rose stared into the orange sky at the two suns, beaming a brilliant smile at them. The sound of consistent drilling could be heard all around her, until it wasn't. One by one Rose heard drills stop all around her. That can't be good.
Rose ran to the sound of the loudest drills and came upon five large mobile oil rigs surrounding a deep pit. She was quickly ushered away.
"Hey blondey, I don't know who you think you are, but you need to scedattle your way out of here pronto."
Rose mentally rolled her eyes and turned around with a charming smile. "Hello!" She studied the man carefully. Definitely human, but this is absolutely not Earth. Two suns in the sky, but they don't appear to be natural. And the size of those mobile oil rigs indicate…OH! I must be in the 40th century! "Why are the drills stopping?" Rose asked, looking the man straight in the eye. If there was one thing she learned from traveling with the Doctor, always act like you own the place.
The man eyed her skeptically then peered over her shoulder at one of the drills. "Who did you say you were again?"
"I didn't."
"Right, well you need to get going. Everything is just fine here so don't you go worrying your pretty little head." The man hurried Rose away with a sickinly sweet, and fake, smile.
Oh no you don't. Rose turned on her heel and stared back at the man with a hard stare. "What is wrong?" The man started to open his mouth, but Rose cut him off, "And I'm not local so don't even bother covering up. Frankly, I don't care about PR or alerting anyone of a problem. Your drills are suddenly stopping one by one, you are sweating while there is no heat, and you are far too eager to send me away. I want to know why."
The man stared at her, unsure of what to say. This woman clearly was not a local wife of one of the workers, or a worker herself based on the clothing. A traveler perhaps, but all entry was supposed to be watched and recorded. And then she said it, "I'm here to help." And by the look in her eyes, he dared to believe her.
--o+~+o--
"So you're saying that your workers are disappearing?" Rose looked at him seriously, "How? How do grown men just go poof!?" She used her hands to demonstrate what she thought was a good example of a 'poof'.
The man, which she now knew as Androvax, shook his head. "I wish I knew miss. They just started disappearing about thirty minutes prior. One by one the drills stop and I fend the men gone. Not with their families and not at the pub."
Rose stopped in her tracks and Androvax looked at her strangely. "How long ago did you say this started?" she said in a low voice.
"Half an hour ago. Why, does it matter?"
"Oh, it matters. It matters very much." Rose took a deep breath. Thirty minutes. That was how long she had been on this planet. If this had anything to do with her arrival, there was only one place to find out. "Take me to the pit."
--o+~+o--
When they arrived, Androvax gasped and stomped over in anger. "They're all gone! I swear those men-" he took a deep breath to compose himself, "They are on company time right now. They can't just all disappear like this." He looked over at the pit and turned back to Rose with an exasperated look on his face, "I am positive this is a practical joke now Miss Tyler." He looked over at the pit angrily and pointed, "THOSE! Those stupid men thought it would be funny to place statues around it! Where did they even get stone on this planet?! All it has is oil!"
Rose felt her body go cold. Something felt terribly wrong. "You mean those statues aren't meant to be there?" She turned to Androvax.
He grumbled and looked at her, "No! That's what I'm telling you, the men must of done it!"
Her brow furrowed as she contemplated that. It made no sense. If then men had done it, then where were the men? Rose looked back up at the pit and gasped. "What the-!" The statues were no longer looking into the pit as they were before. They now all faced towards Rose and Androvax, pointing their stone fingers. "That's impossible! Stone cannot move!"
Androvax shook, terrified, next to Rose. "Tha- that's no ordinary stone." He started to back away slowly, never taking his eyes off of the statues. "Legend has it that there is a creature made of stone that can send you away with one touch."
"Send you away? Away where? What does that mean, Androvax?" she watched the man, now fearful, retreat away from her, away from the statues.
"Just away. No one ever comes back to tell their tale."
"And their name?"
"The Weeping Angels."
Rose left him be, seeing that he would be no further help. Now she had an explanation for what had happened to the men. She could work with that. She started to walk towards the pit and these Weeping Angels. Behind her she her the footsteps of Androvax turn into a run as he yelled back at her, "Don't blink!"
As she approached closer, the sand in the air affected her more and more until a few blinks escaped, against her better judgment. The angel statues were once again looking at her. The one in front had a communication device in its hand and a voice broke through.
"Rose Tyler. You will save us."
"What have you done with the workers?"
"Rose Tyler will save us."
"What have you-"
"Or the Doctor will die."
No. There is no Doctor here. There isn't…wait, how do they know about the Doctor? "He doesn't exist here."
"Correct. We are all not where we belong. A legend is exactly what we were meant to be here."
"What do you mean?" Rose studied the angels. She had been blinking freely, a dangerous if not effective test. They hadn't moved a muscle since she approached.
"We fell through this hole. Our sisters need the help of Rose Tyler. Save them. Save us."
"How?"
"Go back."
Rose looked down at the hole and looked back up to the angels with narrowed eyes. "Back where?"
One blink is all it took. One more blink and she felt the brief sensation of stone on her skin. And then Rose Tyler was falling deep into the pit.
"Back to him," was the last thing she heard before slamming her hand down on her vortex manipulator. She didn't care where she ended up, so long as she was alive. There was a strange tingling sensation as her stomach flipped. A bright light flashed and then Rose Tyler was gone.