Rose walked past the cars parked along the road. A gust of wind blew pieces of trash around. She pulled her hair into a messy ponytail as she looked for a red umbrella. She glanced down at her notes to be sure she was on the right cross street. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her partner's number.
"How much farther? You sure I'm in the right spot?" She asked.
"Where are you?"
Rose gave him the closest address she saw as he checked the coordinates.
"The shop should be another two blocks down. Remember it has a red umbrella in front of it. Just make sure they are selling illegal alien products. We need one purchase, and then we'll send in the agents. See you later hotshot."
Rose smiled as she hung up the phone. Two blocks was nothing. She used to run so much more back when she was with him. She bit her lip and pulled her red jacket tighter around her.
She trumped along the sidewalk, fighting against the wind, until she came across the red umbrella leaning casually next to what appeared an antique store. She walked in without hesitation. The cue to acting the part was acting as if she knew exactly what was going on.
She pushed open the door, and heard a bell jingle from somewhere above.
"Hi! Can I help you?" A petite brunette asked. She was leaning against the counter flipping through a magazine.
"Fancy umbrella you got out there. Is rain in the forecast?" Rose casually asked, fingering crystals that hung from a lampshade on a nightstand table.
"One can never be sure. Follow me this way, please." The worker walked towards Rose and flipped the sign on the door so it read closed. She motioned for Rose to follow her through a door in the back of the shop.
"What interests you?" The brunette dropped the pretense of being a perky worker.
"I hear you got some pretty interesting stock back here. A bit out of this world you could say?" Rose raised her eyebrows meaningfully.
Rose stared at the worker as she turned her back on her, and unlocked a wardrobe. She opened it to reveal rows of vials each containing different concoctions used for different things. Rose walked towards the wardrobe, glancing carefully at each of the containers. She recognized a few of the names, and knew they were illegal on her planet. She picked up a small vial that resembled a prism. It was deep blue, and she felt a pain in her heart as she thought of what the color meant to her. She gingerly held it in her hand, as she looked at it closer.
"What's this?" Rose asked.
"It's an elixir. It will take away your feelings for someone you care for."
Rose glanced at her, a sharp look on her eyes. "Is this for real?" Of course this universe would want to throw it back in her face how she could never have him.
"Yes. Took it myself to get over my ex-girlfriend. She cheated on me."
Rose bit her lip as she looked at the vial in her palm. Could she do something like this? She thought back to last week when Mickey confronted her about not moving on. It's been a year since she was trapped here, eight months since Bad Wolf Bay. She never went out anymore. Her own mum told Mickey how she still cries herself to sleep at night. It's gotten worse since Torchwood started using the Dimension Cannon. All the universes she went to, and she has yet to find him. Her doctor.
She stopped wearing her mascara after the ninth universe disappointed her. Maybe it was time to move on. Who knows how long it has been for him since he said goodbye. What if he moved on? What if he forgot about her? She felt her heart constrict at the thought.
"I'll take it." Rose thrust the vial towards the trafficker. She won't have to take it, she just needs proof for now. She'll figure it out later.
Fifteen minutes later, she walked out of the shop with the blue vial in her pocket. She rounded the block before she pulled out her phone and called the Torchwood agents waiting for her. She gave them the affirmation, and they responded they would raid the place in an hour.
Rose leaned against a dirty, brick wall, breathing in deeply. Her fingers were rolling the vial unconsciously. She looked down the road to see an old couple taking a stroll towards the neighborhood park. She felt hot tears prick at her eyes. Before she could think twice, she opened the vial, tilted her head back, and let the elixir flow down her throat.
She coughed and spluttered, as she tasted the bitterness of the liquid. The tears flowed freely as she prayed to whatever did exist out there, that this would work.
Three years later Rose is going through her closet. Her mother insisted she needed to make room for the new clothes she would need soon.
"I don't see why I have to get rid of my stuff. Can't we just move somewhere with a bigger closet?" She called out.
The Doctor poked his head in. "Because, my sweet Rose, we did that last time. And the time before that I might add." He grinned at her.
"Can't we just store it away at Mum's and Pete's?"
"Come on, when was the last time you wore," the Doctor plucked a yellow shirt from the pile, "this yellow shirt with a blue duck?"
Rose snatched it away from him. "That's a bad example. All of my favorite clothes are still on the TARDIS. I never got a chance to get them back before…" She trailed off.
The Doctor grabbed her hands, fingering the silver band on her left ring finger. "I know, and I'm sorry the alien me didn't think of that. We did have a major problem to attend too. But I promise I'll do my best to replenish your depleting wardrobe once our house is finished." He pulled her into a hug. She rested her head on his chest as she listened to the sound of his beating heart. She happily sighed as she wrapped her arms around her skinny husband.
"I'm going to miss this." She breathed into his chest
"Miss what? Your closet?"
"No!" She giggled into his chest. "Hugging you close!"
"Oh come on! You won't be pregnant forever." He pulled her away and put a hand on her abdomen. "You can't deny it won't be worth it."
Rose glowed watching him stare happily at her stomach. "It will be worth it, but in a few months my stomach is going to be a balloon, and that is going to keep us apart. Literally."
"Let's just focus on you getting rid of some clothes, and then we'll worry about the hugging. Although it pains me to say this, your mum is right. You need to make some room for the maternity clothes. Look at this!" He pulled a red jacket from a hanger. "I have never once seen you were this. Never in the old universe, and never in the – oh." The Doctor looked down as he heard a clink. "What's this?" He bent to pick up a blue vial from the floor.
"It's nothing." Rose said a bit too quickly as she tried to grab it out of his hands.
"Ah, ah, ah." The Doctor raised his arm above his head. "If there's one thing I know, it's your guilty face. And you, Rose Tyler, are showing nothing but your guilty face." He took the top off the vial, and sniffed it. "This is alien!" He exclaimed.
She snatched it out of his hands. "Promise you won't laugh?" She muttered, twisting the vial in her hands.
"I promise." He said solemnly.
"It was before I came back to you. Torchwood wanted to do a raid on a place that was selling illegal alien concoctions. I had to purchase something in order for us to raid the place. Anyways, I picked this one out because…" she bit her lip, "The lady said it would take away the feelings of someone you cared for. I couldn't do it anymore! I was heartbroken when we said goodbye. I fought my way to get back to you, but there were so many times when I would get to a universe and not find you. It killed me every time. I waited for you, and you never found a way in. It was all on me, and every time I couldn't find you…it just hurt." She finished softly.
The Doctor just stared at her, his eyes wide. "Rose I had no idea-"
"No, it's not that big of a deal. I have you now. It's not like that bloody elixir worked anyway."
"How do you know?"
"I knew the moment I saw you. When I finally made it back to our universe, and I saw you at the end of the street. All of those feelings came rushing back." She looked up at him through her eyelashes.
The Doctor cupped her cheeks in his hands, and gently pressed his lips to hers. Rose pulled away, a faint blush spread over her face.
"I'll throw this away. Mind taking the clothes to the car so we can drop them off at the center?" The Doctor nodded in agreement, while Rose walked to the trash bin in the kitchen. She looked over the vial one last time. She never thought she would be so happy to be conned into buying something so useless. She almost threw out the bottle until small writing on the bottom caught her eye.
She held it up closer to her eyes as she read over the warning printed on the vial. She bit her bottom lip as she tried to stop the smile that was forming on her lips.
WARNING: Will Not Work On Soulmates