I have recently fallen in love with the Rose and Alec pairing, which spurred this fanfic into action. It takes place after Broadchurch season 1, so it falls in canon for that, but I have yet to watch any of season 2, so don't expect it to follow that line too well.

I've mapped out about half the story already, but another update might not come straight away due to multiple exams.

Also, if anyone would be willing to beta this story, I would be very grateful.

Enjoy!

Rose sighed as she drove along the Dorset coast, heading toward the Broadchurch hotel – Trader's, she thought it was called – Pete had set up. There was a small reading right in the center of the town, nothing too crucial. A bit of an energy flux, perhaps a glimpse of a rift – nothing big enough to cause a moderate to severe level of catastrophe, but enough to jumpstart local folklore.

Torchwood looked into it briefly, performing a background check on the area to rule out major threats. If this were the only factor, no one would have even bothered to go up to the area. What has everyone worried area the mysterious disappearances of seemingly random residents. Cue Rose.

She had been working with the dimension canon for years, and the farthest she had gotten was the void. Once the stars started returning, it was mostly Rose that worked on the project, usually with only Mickey's help. At that point, she was the only one that had something to lose. Months later, Torchwood shut down the project completely, deciding that ripping fabrics in reality wasn't worth the sliver of hope of getting back to the other universe.

This was one year ago. Afterward, Rose threw herself into her work, becoming more and more reckless on missions; they got to the point where Pete stuck her on desk duty. Being behind the desk only gave her time with her thoughts, so when, about a year after the matter, the disappearances started in Broadchurch, she jumped on the chance.

She pulled into Trader's parking lot, and got out her luggage from the trunk of her sleek black Torchwood-funded SUV once parked. She checked in quickly and went up to her room, not bothering to unpack her things into the wooden dresser that a box television sat on top of. She wasn't sure how long she would be here and she had to get over to the Broadchurch Police Station as soon as possible. She would have preferred to have an opportunity to shower after the drive, but settled for just taking one after the meeting.

Rose sighed and grabbed her purse again, heading out the door.

oooo

The drive was thankfully short, considering how small of a town it was.

She made her way through the doors, stopping at the front desk. "I'm Agent Tyler, sent from Torchwood. I was told I would be meeting with the DI today?"

The woman glanced down at a sheet. "You can go on and head back there, DS Miller will show you to his office," she said, while pointing in the direction of a single door.

Rose nodded her thanks, though the woman had already placed her attention elsewhere, and headed through the door. The precinct was on the smaller side, which wasn't too surprising. She only had a moment to size up before a woman with dark curly hair was in her line of vision, a friendly smile on her face. "Hello, you must be Agent Tyler." She held her hand out for Rose to shake.

Rose took the hand and gave it one firm shake, returning the smile. "That's me. DS Miller, then?"

She nodded. "You can just call me Ellie, though."

"You can call me Rose, then."

She smiled, and then glanced over her shoulder. "I'll go ahead and take you to DI Hardy's office." She motioned for her to follow as she began walking. "Fair warning, he's a bit of a grump. Don't take it personally; he's like that with everyone."

Rose had fair share of grumpy coworkers on her hand at Torchwood, so she wasn't too worried. The Doctor had done a good job of hardening her up on their travels, as well, with the different types of beings they ran into. "I've dealt with that sort of stuff before."

The door to the office was shut and the blinds were closed. Ellie knocked on the door quickly and then peeked in. Her words were muffled as she spoke, and a moment later she opened the door all the way and ushered for Rose to go inside.

She smiled in gratitude and stepped through, then turned to the man.

Her eyes widened and her breaths became short and irregular, and she was sure her heart had all but stopped at the sight before her. "Doctor?"

The DI, or perhaps the Doctor, raised an eyebrow in reply. "No, Detective Inspector. Says it right on the door."

Rose's eyes dulled for a moment, and then she used all her willpower and training to reign in her emotions, leaving her face blank. This man wasn't the Doctor. The Scottish accent was only mild proof, but she could already tell by his demeanor that the man's personality was a 180 from his. She felt a flash of anger at her dad; didn't he do any background checks on the people she would be working with? Did he know?

She blinked a few times and focused on the Detective Inspector, ignoring her racing heart. "Um, I'm Agent Tyler. They sent me from Torchwood about the disappearances." She had already prepared herself for an onslaught on questions regarding Torchwood. Any in-depth knowledge was not widely known outside of the employees, and if it were her, she would want to know who she would be working with. After the shock to her system though, she wasn't sure how well she'd fare.

DI Hardy frowned and crossed his arms, not bothering to get up from his chair. "Don't see what bloody outside resources are needed for," he muttered under his breath. "They sent you here, but didn't bother telling me what you're even for."

Rose nodded and let out a long sigh. She had to keep the information brief. The only reason she would need to give a more in-depth explanation is if she indeed found any alien activity in relation to the case. "Torchwood is a government-funded organization dealing with unique threats. There is suspicion that these disappearances may be of special circumstances, which is where I come in."

"What kind of unique threats are we talking about?"

She shook her head once. "That's classified. I'm here to scope the area and validate our suspicions, and if that happens, then we'll talk more. Now, how about you brief me on the case." She kept her gaze level with his. She'd dealt with the look of the Oncoming Storm; this man's glare was nothing.

Eventually, he grunted and his frown deepened as he swiveled over to a manila folder. Rose took a seat and looked down as he opened it up. Now, she couldn't bring herself to look at him any longer than necessary. "We've had a total of six disappearances in the span of six months. They seemed to have vanished in thin air; no trails or leads have been found."

She braved a glance at him, then looked back to the papers inside the folder. She read them over carefully. "Not even in the same areas?"

"What does it look like?"

She sent a glare his way and placed the paper back on his desk. "Can I get a copy of these? I'm going to brief my team later and I'll need the details."

He grunted again and grabbed the folder. He craned his neck to call out the door. "Miller, get some copies made up of this case!"

Ellie walked into his office seconds later, rolling her eyes. "I'm your DS, not your secretary."

"That's I'm your DS, sir."

oooo

Once Rose got back to the hotel, she rushed straight for the bathroom and turned on the shower, peeling her clothes off and sliding under the water. Now that she was alone, she allowed herself to give in to her feelings. Every thought was right back on the Doctor. How was she supposed to focus on this case with DI Hardy working beside her? She left London to get away from the memories, but instead managed to find herself in an even worse predicament.

Tears streamed down her face, washing her grief down the drain with the water.