Author's Notes:
I'd blame Heather916 but I really don't blame her. This little fic has gone through more drafts than I can count (all of which Heather read) and more blood, sweat, and tears than anything else I have ever written.
The drive to the tavern was quiet, both men lost in thought as Jake navigated the well known streets of London. The meeting had been set up this afternoon and the decision to meet away from the office and without going through official channels had been a risk that Mickey was willing to take. Things had changed over the past few years. But the route that Jake took was familiar and comfortable and gave Mickey time to think about his first night on this parallel Earth and how his life had changed in the years since then.
Bad Wolf Tavern was the first place that he and Jake had stopped at after watching the TARDIS disappear three years ago. Jake thought a drink was in order after the night they had both experienced. They'd stopped at the first place they had found, empty save only a barkeep behind the counter. Jake began talking about Rickey, and Mickey realized the man still needed to mourn. Mickey listened to the stories and the background of his doppelganger with amused detachment and found himself wondering about his rash decision to leave the TARDIS and take up a dead man's life.
When Jake finished, Mickey felt compelled to talk about the man he was—to make Jake see that though he may look like Rickey, he was his own man. It was the only time he had talked about Rose, the last time he had mentioned her or the Doctor-until two weeks ago. Mickey stole a glance at Jake in the driver's seat and noticed his companion looking for a place to park the van. Jake, there was another difference. Mickey had had his mates back home, but there was something different in his relationship with Jake. There was no attraction there, he meant what he said- he wasn't taking Rickey's place, but there was something about saving the world together that bonded two people. He trusted Jake with his life and now he was trusting his judgment.
They'd visited the tavern often after that first night, finding it to be a great source of information to gauge the public mood about the Cybermen. He had sat and listened as people tried to make sense of the recent events, each theory more bizarre and unbelievable than the last, of course none of them even touched on how bizarre and unbelievable the truth was. Even though he had expected it, he hadn't been prepared for how people would react to the Cyberman invasion. They seemed restless, there seemed to be a compassion for the creatures who had once been loved ones. When Mickey had heard talk of rehabilitating those who were still shut in factories, he had broken his bottle.
He remembered finding out about one man in particular. This man had found his girlfriend outside the destroyed warehouse. She had been partially converted but still seemed to retain part of her human traits. Her boyfriend had found a way to keep her alive and began looking for ways to 'cure' her. It had been when this woman, this creature, began to kill everyone in her path that Mickey and Jake had been sent in to dispatch the problem. He had watched as the man stood in front of this thing that had once been a person, trying to save her, only to be deleted by her a moment later. Mickey and Jake had taken the shots that ended her life. No, Mickey had never forgotten the lessons he learned from Ianto Jones.
After the Cybers disappeared, two and half years ago, the public seemed to forget about them and moved on to more current topics. Mickey hadn't forgotten though. It had been his job to find them, to track them through the rip in time and space they had disappeared through. He had found them three weeks ago. They had moved across the void, that space he had fallen through years ago, and Mickey was sure they had ended up in the same universe he had come from.
Three years, and he finally had allowed himself some glimmer that he could see Rose again. He had missed her, missed her smile, missed how stubborn she could get, simply missed her. He had presented his plan to Jake as soon as he realized where the Cybermen had gone. If the Cybers could cross the void, why couldn't Torchwood do the same thing? Jake had gone quiet, then nodded and touched his ear piece to contact the director. As he and Jake entered the pub Mickey reflected on several things that he still didn't understand about his new home. People walking around with earpods in all day long only scratched the surface. Football being called soccer and curfews at night were high on the list as well. The difference that topped his list though was seated at the table in the back, waiting for him -Pete Tyler.
It had been Jake's idea to meet personally with Pete. Truthfully, Mickey still hadn't forgiven the man for his refusal of Rose. Mickey had watched her heartfelt plea, watched her reaching out for just one hug, only to have her heart broken as she watched him walk away. Mickey knew that had only served to make his own departure harsher than he had planned, and that was one thing he still hadn't forgiven himself for. Oh, he had made the right decision, there was no question about that, but he hated what it had cost Rose.
He had successfully avoided Pete Tyler for the past years. Communicating only via email and only when it was absolutely necessary. He had left any face to face contact to Jake. It had been more difficult when he and Jake had joined Torchwood, but Pete seemed just as eager to avoid Mickey's presence as Mickey was to avoid his. Mickey would have avoided this meeting too, he thought as he and Jake moved to the table, but neither Jake nor Pete had given him that choice. Taking a seat opposite Pete, Mickey only hoped Jake could convey how vital this plan was to protect his Earth as well as Rose's Earth.
Letting Jake take the lead in this informal 'meeting,' Mickey leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. Ever the operative, he scanned the crowd all the while listening to Jake present the information he had worked years to determine. Mickey wished a third party was present at this meeting, someone who might actually listen. To Pete Tyler he and Jake were still nothing more than Scooby Doo and his gang with their blue van. The conversation didn't go as Mickey had planned or even hoped. Pete seemed to have forgotten how it had been Mickey and Jake...with a little bit of help from the Doctor...who had stopped Lumic, destroyed the Cybermen, and saved one Peter Tyler from certain death. Yes, he and Jake were the first that Pete always called on, no matter the trouble, but he saw them as the brawn, only capable of leading other 'brawn.' Unfortunately, brawn was getting them nowhere tonight.
"Really boys," Pete started again after a few minutes of Jake's pleading, and the term boys made Mickey cringe. "I just don't think that it is worth the risk. The Cybers are gone. They are not our problem anymore. But if you come up with anything to fix the climate changes let me know."
Pete began to push back in his seat, ready to leave. Mickey knew enough about the man to know that the moment he walked out the door there would be no hope of ever crossing the void. This wasn't the time to stay quiet and let Jake fight his battles for him. He knew that this was something that they had to do, if only because it was the right thing. She had taught him that.
"Enough, Mr. Tyler," Mickey said, slamming the drink on the table. "You know as well as I do what those things are capable of and I am positive that what they did is what is affecting the climate!" Mickey made to stand up, throwing some money on the table to cover the bill. Jake rose with him and Mickey could tell both men were unsure what their next action should be. "There is only one man in this or any universe that can sort out this problem, and this could be the only chance we have to get him." He stared unblinking at Pete, ignoring the uncomfortable quiet that descending on the occupants of the table, willing him to understand.
It was Pete who finally broke the silence, rising from his seat, his gaze leveled at Mickey, "You think that you are really going to save the world by driving that big blue van you're so fond of across the void to the Cybers?" Pete's response was more an amused statement than it was a question and Mickey was ready to reach across the table and show this man exactly what his hired 'brawn' could do, but that voice in his head, Rose's voice, prevailed.
Instead Mickey met Pete's gaze, "Once saved the world with a big yellow truck, reckon the van might be a little easier."
Mickey refused to look away. He would leave this 'meeting' as the one with the final say; Pete Tyler would not get the better of him. After what seemed like ages Pete shook his head and laughed, his demeanor instantly changing. Sinking back in his chair he added, "A big yellow truck? Now this one I have to hear."
Mickey was dumbfounded. Moments ago this man had compared him to a cartoon dog and now here he was wanting to share drinking stories. Mickey turned to Jake, hoping to get some support from him, but Jake simply dropped back into his seat and quirked his eyebrow.
"What?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink. "I've been wondering about that story since you mentioned it that first night."
Mickey looked at both men in disbelief. Weren't there more important things to discuss then his adventures (or misadventures) with Rose and the Doctor?
Pete looked over at Jake and gave him a conspiratorial grin which made Mickey inwardly groan, "Convince me that you saved the world with a big yellow truck, and maybe I'd believe you could do it with a blue van."
The left side of Jake's mouth quirked up at that and Mickey knew he had lost. Dropping back down in his seat he sighed and reached for his drink. "I hope that you are willing to keep these coming," he said looking at Pete and indicating the brown liquid. "Because this story isn't a quick and dirty one-off. This story involves the Doctor, his ship," Mickey paused, looking Pete right in the eyes, "and one Rose Tyler."