DISCLAIMER: Possible spoiler to Doomsday. I do not own Doctor Who past or present, nor do I own PROBE, Tomorrow People or Baker Street.
Doctor Who:
Meeting Again, For the First Time.
It wasn't a bad life, Rose told herself… and when she managed to actually keep busy with work, she could almost believe it. She managed not to think about him at all for the most part, and the busy pace at Torchwood kept her from feeling the emptiness inside. She no longer asked herself why he never talked about Sarah Jane Smith, just as she was glad Mickey didn't try to get her to talk about him when she wasn't ready. She didn't know if she would ever be ready.
She did enjoy her job at Torchwood, for one, she hardly ever had to work as a dinner lady. Another was the wide range of remarkable people she got to meet, like the detective Sharon Ford who was recruited when she stumbled onto something she should not have seen; one day Rose wanted to ask her exactly how many piercings she had. There was also the wide range of alien items that had been recovered in and around England, everything from a Biotronic computer found in an abandoned subway station to pieces of Nestine meteorite. She did make special effort not to touch anything that looked like it could have been of Dalek manufacture. She had managed to stay autonomous within Torchwood, as long as she continued to provide a source of useful information, she was able to float from department to department as a general consultant… of course it didn't hurt that her Dad was one of the most powerful people in the Peoples Republic, not to mention Torchwood.
Rose put down a report she had been reading, one of many filed by Doctor Elizabeth Shaw of PROBE… one of Torchwood's many front organizations that didn't realize they were part of something much larger. Creating under funded public investigating organizations was an approach Torchwood had developed after they failed to take full control of the UN organization UNIT, and allowed them to be publicly active while still safely secret. It was the time of day she liked the least, time to go home.
Mickey and Jake had to stay over another shift, which was just as well. Something didn't seem to quite fit when the three of them were together, Mickey feeling something for her that she wasn't sure she could return to him, and for some reason she felt a similar connection existed between Jake and Mickey.
At home, and what a home… she wasn't sure she would ever get use to such a large house, her Mum and Dad fawned over the baby. Pete would take her out from time to time, to get her to relax and to try and bond with her for Jackie's sake, it wasn't easy for him to try and be a dad for a daughter he had never known. There were fights at home too, over weather or not they needed to buy a private zeppelin or any number of another hundred things. Still they were tog ether and happy, and that made Rose happy, but she couldn't help feeling the same separation from her life that had always been with her, she had just never been aware of it until she had met the Doctor.
Still she looked twice at any blue boxes she happened to run across, and not because it was a Torchwood directive. On weekends she would travel the country some, see what there was to see, go wherever it was her heart moved her. More often than not she stumbled on something interesting enough to call in a Torchwood team, and on one occasion she had even met Dr Shaw while she was investigating a mental institution at the center of a set of bizarre deaths.
She planned to go traveling again in the morning since she had the day off.
As usual she wasn't sure where she was going when she set off, she went bought a ticket and got off the train somewhere between where she started and her final destination. She found herself wandering streets, her mind in a daze, she wasn't even sure when the buildings on either side turned to trees, but once hunger took hold she began to take more notice of her surroundings.
Finally she noticed a tavern, and went in to rest, eat and possibly call a cab. Bad Wolf Inn was its name… that cosmic joke was beginning to get a little old.
She heard it shortly after she started eating, and was back on her feet before her brain fully could tell the rest of her what was going on. Within seconds the shouts for her to pay the bill were in the distance as her feet rant towards the distant grinding sound she knew so well.
Off the road and into the woods, passing trees and then she saw it. The final flicker of the light on top as the TARDIS finished materializing. She came to sudden halt as the Door opened and a man stepped out. He was wearing a shaggy brown coat, and brown pants, both obviously intended for a much shorter man, he had a distinguished face and sandy brown hair that was just starting to gray. He tried to take a step, but fell to the ground unconscious.
"Doctor," Rose shouted rushing to him. It wasn't either of the faces she knew, but who else could it be?
She pulled out her key, of course she still kept it, and tried the lock. It seemed to stick a bit, as if it wasn't sure if it was the right key or not, but the door swung open allowing her to drag the Doctor back inside.
The control room wasn't what she expected, instead of the dingy organic looking control room with odd controls she found a pristine white chamber with a control pedestal covered with more traditional buttons and switches. At least the Time Rotor was unchanged. She made the Doctor as comfortable as she could then left the control room, hoping the kitchen was where she remembered it, because if it was the same as the last time all he really needed was a hot cup of tea… superheated to clear out the synapses or something like that.
She poured two cups and allowed a third to burn, she sat sipping her cup in the corner. It wasn't long before he opened his eyes. He didn't say anything, he just looked at her silently.
"I don't know you, do I?" he asked.
"No."
"That's a relief, I not sure how much of my memory they took from me," he squinted on eye, continuing to stare at her, then switched to squint the other one. Rose imagined he was wanting his 3-D glasses. "I'm not him, you know."
She smiled at him, "I know. Different universe, different TARDIS, different Doctor, even a different regeneration. Different, but still the same."
"Old hat to you, is it? What was your name?"
"Rose, and I've been around a bit, it's never been boring with you, Doctor."
"Are you wanting to travel with me then?" the Doctor asked, jumping up and walking around the console, scratching his head.
"Not if you don't want me to."
"It seems like a version of me did, still, it doesn't look like Ill be going anywhere for a while. The Time Lords have taken away my memory—"
"The Time Lords still exsist?"
"Of course they exist, they are one of the most powerful races in the universe, but I cant remember the dematerialization codes. They've stranded me here, in one place and time. How can anyone live like that?"
"It is rather difficult," Rose replied with a mock serious expression intended to remind him that very few humans ever traveled through time.
"It may take me some time, but Ill get it working again, I just need to take it apart and figure out how to reprogram it again. And then… How would you like to visit Metabelis III?" the Doctor asked with a gleam in his eye.
"Well, wont you need a place to work?" Rose asked.
"Well, not really, everything I need is right here in the TARDIS. Why, did you have a place in mind?"
"There is Torchwood, where I work… but of course you would be considered a prisoner there, as you are listed as enemy number one in their founding charter."
"Torchwood? Never heard of it, almost thought you were going to suggest UNIT. Still, I have made a career of being held prisoner, but it can be very inconvenient at times."
"You could always pretend to be somebody else, Doctor, and Its not just me, Mickey and Jake would also be on your side."
"Thank you for the generous offer, Rose, but I rather value my freedom. So, if you will just step outside and Ill be off."
Crestfallen, Rose stepped outside the TARDIS and turned to watch as its light flashed and the grinding sound began. But the familiar grinding sound began to break up and falter, it was obvious the TARDIS was not going anywhere.
A moment later the door to the TARDIS opened again and the doctor stepped out, now wearing a velvet smoking jacket and a shirt with frilly cuffs and collar.
"Well, now, Rose. Where was it you were taking me again?" The Doctor asked with a friendly grin and sociable attitude that Rose knew was hiding the frustration of not being able to go where he pleased.
"Your not actually going to wear that are you?"
"Why not? I think it makes me look rather distinguished. By the way, what do you think of my face?"
Author's Note:
I do not intend to continue this, but if anyone else does want to run with this idea, I would love to see it.