Rose had been inspired by Alec Hardy solving the murder in Broadchurch and had asked Pete to send her to the police training college in London.
Had she known the detective was teaching new recruits over in Exeter, she would have gone but she'd been totally unaware. Her Torchwood training had given her an advantage and she had passed the exam easily and applied to become a detective constable but she had one condition.
"So Dad," Rose confronted Pete one morning. "Can ya get the commissioner to ask if I can train in Broadchurch then? Alec Hardy must still be there, the trial's about to come to an end and I'd love to go down there and make sure that monster gets locked up."
"I'm making no promises Rose, I'll try but it may cost me losing to Sir Roger at golf," Pete laughed, not that he minded if it helped her.
"I'll just go down for a few days then and catch the end of the trial, it must be almost over. I'll go down tonight and book in a hotel and drive over to the court in the morning then. I'll come back for the rest of my things later."
Pete agreed and wondered how he was going to appease her mother and how much it would cost. He then went off to call his friend to set the wheels in motion.
Over in Exeter hospital, Alec Hardy had just woken up from his much needed surgery to find Ellie Miller throwing a bunch of grapes at him – again.
"Why do people insist on buying those in hospital grapes?" Alec moaned.
"So if the operation doesn't kill you, choking on the seeds will," Ellie grumbled back at him. "A text saying you're getting the pacemaker?"
"I made it Miller," Alec laughed, something Ellie had never seen him do. "Give me a ride back to Broadchurch."
"No, I have things to do, besides, you'll have to stay in," Ellie replied.
"I can take him," Tess said cheerfully as she appeared, Alec thinking she should be annoyed he'd had the nerve to survive.
So as Tess drove him home, picking fault with his riverside chalet, Rose had just arrived by the harbour and was booking into the pub, yards away from where Tess was settling Alec in. The next day, having located where the trial was taking place, Rose got a seat in the courtroom, which was fairly busy and wondered where Alec was and so by the time the court was adjourned, she'd been disappointed he'd not shown up.
Not one to give up and the jury being sent to deliberate, she decided she wanted to know the outcome as much as anyone else but she'd had to show her ID badge to get in since the trial was almost at an end. She saw who she thought was Ellie Miller, having found out it was her husband on trial and thought she'd introduce herself as the woman sat with a teenage boy.
"Excuse me, are you Ellie Miller?" Rose asked, with a coffee carton in her hand.
"If you're with the press, I've nothing to say," Ellie replied, since she'd had enough with her nephew.
"Mum, don't you know who she is?" Tom asked, leaning on the table. "You're Rose Tyler, right?" Tom asked.
"Well yeah but don't shout it out," Rose grinned, remembering what the Doctor used to say when he met anyone.
"Oh, sorry," Ellie apologised, thinking someone was trying to get an interview and wondering where Hardy had got to but since he'd just got over his surgery he'd not missed much anyway. "What are you doing here?"
"I came for the end of the trial, I'm in the police now, just finished my training. I just wanted to say hello, I'm trying to get in the Broadchurch station," Rose replied, grabbing a nearby chair.
Ellie could see her sister making faces at her as if to ask what Rose Tyler was doing talking to her.
"Why would you want to go there? Murders aren't that common and not likely to be if the jury makes the right decision," Ellie replied.
"Mum, it's dad that's in there," Tom reminded her.
"Sorry, that must be difficult?" Rose asked him. "I've got a young half-brother, that's why I was following the case. I thought Broadchurch would be a better place to learn, rather than in London. Do you still work there?"
"No, I'm in the Exeter traffic division, I've no plans to go back there, well not yet. They won't want me back anyway," Ellie replied, not realising her paper cup was empty.
"If you want to go back then apply, don't let what others think put you off. Do you like it in the traffic division?" Rose smiled.
"No, I hate it, it's not me," Ellie admitted. "Excuse me, my sister wants me. Come on Tom, you go back with her and Olly, I have something to do."
"So do you know where Alec Hardy is?" Rose dared ask as Ellie got up.
"I'd love to know that myself," Ellie bluffed, knowing full well where he was and was going over to see him. "Stop sniggering Tom, you know what they said in there was a lie."
"Oh, what was said?" Rose's face lit up. "Did I miss something?"
Ellie shook her head. "You must be the only person who doesn't know then. Good luck getting in Broadchurch CID."
Rose went off and called Pete. If she was going to complete her training, she wanted to learn from the best.
Ellie's sister nudged her. "What's she doing here?" Lucy asked her.
"No idea, maybe she wants to see Danny's killer in person? She's got a young brother," Ellie replied.
Ellie couldn't forget though on her way to see Hardy. Finding the door open and Tess sat reading a magazine, Tess shushed her.
"Did I wake him earlier when I called?" Ellie whispered, grinning.
Tess shook her head. "It takes more than that. Did you do all this?" she asked Ellie, who had taken over the wall with maps and notes.
Tess got up to have another look at something she'd noticed earlier and was going to ask Alec about it.
Ellie turned when she heard a noise, the bedroom door being open.
"Back with us Alec?" Tess asked him, since he'd slept all day. "I'll make you a cuppa, you have a visitor."
Alec groaned something that Ellie thought resembled she was the last person he'd wanted to see when he woke up twice but let it slide.
"Hey, you'll never guess who I saw at court today?" Ellie asked Tess, since Alec had disappeared behind the door to get dressed, emerging putting his blue jumper over his head and his hair all messed up.
Somehow, Ellie thought he suddenly looked human.
"Rose Tyler?" Alec asked sarcastically, since the Lady Gaga gag had gone a bit stale.
"How did you know?" Ellie laughed.
"Stop winding me up Miller," Alec replied, taking the drink and Tess taking something that was pinned on the wall.
"No, seriously. She said she's completed her police training and she wants to get experience, here in Broadchurch," Ellie continued.
Tess stopped what she was doing. "You're not serious?" she asked Ellie.
"Well you'll find out if she's accepted. It might be worthwhile coming back to work here. Anyway, what were you looking at?" she asked Tess.
Alec finished his drink as Tess passed him something. "Well, once we get Lee Ashworth, I'll be gone," he declared. "It's not like they'll let me back, even if Rose Tyler gets the job. They can find another DI."
"Thought you'd want to stick around and meet her?" Ellie grinned, getting a smile from Tess.
Rose had got back to her hotel room, having persuaded Pete to stick his neck out that if she asked, Ellie Miller could get her old job back.
"So, is the trial over?" Pete asked, scanning the news headlines.
"No, they sent the jury home, I hope they can decide. You should have heard the defence lawyer, she was a right cow. I can't understand why she'd stand up and defend him. Yeah, I know, everyone gets a defence but I hope she can live with herself if he gets off."
"Well the town will move on Rose," Pete told her. "So, you still want to go and work there?"
"Yeah, it's as good a place to start my first job in the police as any."
"What if he doesn't stay Rose?" Pete asked her. "It'll be too late to get you transferred to wherever he goes. Sure you'll want to stay there?"
"Dad, I'm not going there just because of Alec Hardy," she tried to convince him and herself.
"You might fool yourself Rose but not us. Just be sure what you're doing," Pete replied.
The next morning, Rose almost came face to face with Alec Hardy, who had Claire Ripley in tow as she'd marched up to him and handed him the missing evidence bag from the Sandbrook case but Rose only just got a seat as everyone was let in the courtroom, Alec just behind her as he was talking to Ellie, who had nudged him and one hand on Claire's shoulder.
"Aren't you going to say hello," Ellie teased him as they saw Rose waiting to go in.
"Hasn't she got anything better to do?" Alec replied dryly, Claire looking back at him.
"She's trying to show an interest Hardy," Ellie chastised him. "If she goes to work in Broadchurch, she'll have to deal with the aftermath. What are you going to do anyway?"
"Get out as fast as I can," Alec quipped back, seeing Rose in front of him.
Ellie tapped his shoulder as Rose took a seat and he headed to where he'd sat previously.
"You might regret that," she told him, going to sit with Maggie and Olly.
Everyone was astounded after the jury were asked to deliver their verdict, Rose feeling sorry for the boy's mother as she cried out and dashed out, followed by Ellie. She could see Alec, who also had an astonished look on his face, wondering who was sat next to him and the judge was waiting for everyone to settle down.
Rose stood up with everyone else then followed the crowd out, looking for Ellie but she guessed she was consoling the other woman. After going halfway down the stairs with Claire and handing her over to Tess and a uniformed female officer, Alec couldn't resist going up to Rose after telling Tess he'd see her at Broadchurch station.
"Got something to do Alec?" Tess teased him, seeing Rose looking around.
"Miss Tyler," he greeted Rose "If you came to see justice being served, you were badly let down."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I know you all put in a lot of hard work on the case. Tell DS Miller I was glad to meet her, I hope she can go back to Broadchurch now."
Alec assumed Miller had told the Vitex heiress she'd taken a reduction in rank to try and come to terms with what happened. Rose was about to leave as he called after her.
"Don't do her any favours, she'll go back if she wants," he told her, since he'd figured if she'd got a job, her stepfather had something to do with it.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Rose replied, not certain even Pete could get the former DS her old job back.
Alec raised his eyebrows, somehow doubting that.
"What about you, now it's over?" Rose asked him as he was about to go find Ellie to go question Claire after telling Tess he wanted her to be present.
Tess had called after him of course he wanted her to be there.
"Look Miss Tyler, I don't know why you wanted a job in Broadchurch but as soon as I wrap up a few things, I'll be leaving so if you wanted to drag yourself down by working with me, then you are out of luck."
He turned to leave but Rose called after him.
"You did what you could, it's not your fault the defence lawyer was determined to get him off."
"Was this your first day here?" Alec asked, thinking he should go find Ellie before she disappeared.
"No, I was here yesterday, you weren't. I saw what she was like, you can't blame the jury for being fooled by her. Who was that woman in court with you?"
Alec thought she was being rather personal.
"Someone from an old case, which I have to get back to before she also escapes. Excuse me, Miss Tyler."
She watched him go back up the steps, since she'd seen Ellie leaning over the balcony then saw him catch up with her.
"What did she want?" Ellie asked, still not believing what had just happened.
"Never mind her Miller, let's go take it out on two very deserving people. While you are there, get your old job back."
"Thanks for the advice, you could get a job as an agony aunt. I won't get it back, not now."
"Well you won't know unless you try, you can give me a ride back to the station," Alec told her, sure that Rose Tyler would interfere but it was of no concern to him.
Rose had to admit defeat – for now but did he mean it and that he was leaving? Maybe he was going to finally solve his old case and he was going away for that? She drove back to her hotel and told the manager she'd be leaving in the morning, after speaking to Pete who told her she had a meeting with the new chief superintendent, whom he said was very keen to have her, given Rose's Torchwood background and who also thought Ellie Miller should put the past behind her.
Rose was already home after her successful interview and had agreed to start the following Monday, the new chief welcoming her.
"I had a request to consider you for my new fast-track program," the new chief had told Rose. "They'll only be two of you to start with, I want to see how it goes. Have you met Ellie Miller by any chance?" Rose was asked. "Only I got asked to take her back suddenly."
"I met her at the court, Ma'am," Rose replied, remembering her training and not to use first names unless instructed by the officer concerned and CS Clark didn't look like she was one of them.
The chief smiled. Knowing Rose Tyler's reputation, she must have had a hand in the former DS being approved to get her rank back.
Ellie Miller and Alec Hardy were just saying their goodbyes the next day after getting three confessions and discovering the missing cousin, well Tess had.
"So, where are you going then?" Ellie asked as she leaned in the doorway and seeing his bags were packed. "Not tempted to stay and see if Rose Tyler got the job?" she grinned. "I'm going back, the new chief called me earlier and it's not really worked out in Exeter, I really hate it there."
"Do you think she had anything to do with it?" Alec asked, looking at the time since he'd booked a taxi.
"Well if she did, I'm not going to go easy on her, I'll have to train her and another newly qualified DC. They'll both get the same treatment. So are you going to see your daughter?" Ellie asked him.
"I have to try Miller. Thanks for helping me solve that case," he replied.
"Yeah, you'd never have done it without me," Ellie agreed, holding her hand out to shake his. "I'm still not hugging you."
"Wouldn't expect you to Miller. Go on, get out of here, my taxi will be here soon."
As he walked across the footbridge for what he hoped was the last time, he couldn't help but wonder what working with Rose Tyler would be like. He could have fun kicking her ass when she screwed up, just because she'd worked at Torchwood and had plenty of money.
The taxi driver waited for him to straighten his tie and fasten the top button of his shirt, then as he got in the back seat, asked Alec where he was going.
"The nearest train station," was all Alec replied, thinking it would be ironic if it was in Exeter but somehow doubted it.
