Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, and all the characters you recognize belong to the BBC. I'm just having fun with them for a bit. And, since they're off in a parallel universe, I can't imagine anyone will mind terribly.
The first in what I'm tentatively dubbing the "Pete's World" archives. I hope to finish this one off and write quite a few more in the same universe, but we'll just see how this one goes first. Reviews welcome and encouraged. Enjoy! =)
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!
Rose Tyler groaned and fumbled for the snooze button on the alarm clock beside her bed, too comfortable and too recently woken from sleep to muster the willpower to lift her head from the pillows. She jabbed blindly at the interface, and, after a moment, the beeping subsided. Sighing, she forced one eye open just far enough to read the backlit screen of the clock. The blinking readout flashed 7:30, and as she watched it flipped to 7:31. Burying her head in the pillows for a moment, she threw off the covers and half-slid, half-rolled out of bed. She shuffled to the window and threw open the curtains. Bright sunlight streamed into the room, its golden light mixing with the pinkish tinge of the walls and floor, and briefly blinding her. Rose rubbed her eyes, blinking away spots. As her eyes adjusted, she stumbled to the closet, tripping over a mixed conglomeration of newspapers and CDs strewn across the floor. She steadied herself by not so gracefully colliding with the door, and bracing herself against the doorknob.
She had been determined to keep her room clean in this world, if only to prevent accidents like this, but as the months had dragged on and she had gotten steadily more consumed in her quest to find a way back to the Doctor, her room's tidiness had fallen by the wayside. Frustrated, she tucked a strand of unruly hair behind her ear, and opened the closet. At random, she selected a set of clothing and changed hurriedly. As she did so, she reflected on just how similar her room really was to the one she'd had in her own world. Everything was pink: the walls, the floor, the sheets, the pillows, the drapes, everything. When she and her mum had first been stranded in what the Doctor had dubbed, "Pete's world", her not-quite-father had provided rooms for the both of them and tried to make them comfortable. They had sufficed for a time, but it hadn't taken long for Jackie to start complaining. Rose smiled, remembering her mum's typically loud protests. Despite the fact that their quarters were larger than they had ever been on the Powell Estate, Jackie explained, very loudly, that "We've had enough changes in our lives already without living in a new house as well!" Faced with the unstoppable onslaught of an angry Jackie Tyler, Pete quickly began working on something called, "Operation Jackie-in-the-box". He spent months with his workers building an exact replica of their house and belongings, right down to the notes on the fridge. Even the furniture looked the same, as if someone had gone to her old room, grabbed her stuff, and dropped it in this replica.
Rose opened the door to her room and walked to the bathroom. She flicked on the light switch and hastily ran a brush through her hair. She stopped when she saw a picture on the mirror. The familiar lines of a faded blue police box stared back at her. She felt sad as she stared at it, and idly traced its outline with a finger. She'd placed little reminders all over the house, but for some reason she couldn't quite explain, this one always caught her off guard. It had been so long since she'd seen that old box, nearly two years in fact, but she'd never stopped searching, never stopped trying to get back. She quickly returned to brushing her hair, knowing she'd be late if she didn't leave soon. Still, at the back of her mind, Rose felt she was missing something. Something important. She briefly glanced at her reflection in the mirror, then, satisfied, she grabbed her jacket, which was hanging from the door, waiting for her, and rushed down to the kitchen.
"Dad, we're going to be late! Hurry up!" Rose shouted, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"Good morning, Rose." came a familiar voice from behind her. She froze in mid pour, while the little voice in the back of her head, telling her she was missing something, kicked into top gear. She turned slowly to face the speaker.
The Doctor was sitting at the kitchen table, dressed in blue- and white-striped pajamas, sipping his own coffee through a bendy straw, and perusing a section of newspaper. He looked up at her, "Is everything all right?" The mug dropped from her hand, as Rose flew to the table and all but tackled the Doctor with a hug. The sound of shattering glass, tumbling chairs, and one very surprised Time Lord split the air.
Half a moment later, Rose demanded, "How did you get here?"
"What, don't you remember?" the Doctor responded, winded and sprawled on his back, but with the faintest touch of a smile crossing his face, "Pete flew out to get us. Your mother talked our ears off for half the night, and we finally got some sleep when someone remembered to get her a cup of tea, which I promptly spiked with a relaxing agent. Simple enough really, she was so busy chatting away, I don't think she even noticed."
"No, I mean how did you get here?"
"Time-stream jumping, the reality bomb, Davros... the Daleks." he said, the last coming noticeably slower and more hesitantly. He stared at the floor for a moment, his mind wandering. Then, he pushed to his feet, and continued quickly, "Anyway, I think that's the lack of sleep talking, am I right?" without pausing for an answer, he proceeded talking at 90 miles per hour and started picking up the fallen chairs, "Now that, that's a hard thing to forget. Of course, it's to be expected, your human brains can only process so much at one time."
Rose wasn't listening. At the mention of the Daleks, the jumbled puzzle pieces of missing information clicked into place. She stared at the Doctor, the half-human, half-Time Lord Doctor.
Noting her stare, the Doctor paused in his supersonic cleanup and straightened, "What?"
Before she could respond, Pete Tyler strode into the kitchen. He buttoned his jacket, and said distractedly, "Good morning, you two. I'm not interrupting anything, am I? Like you said, Rose, we're going to be late." He looked up, his eyes wandering around the room, taking in the spilled coffee and the table and chairs knocked askew from Rose's enthusiastic greeting, "What happened in here?"
"Limitations of the brain." the Doctor called over his shoulder, picking up a dripping, coffee-stained rug and carrying it off in the direction of the washroom.
Pete watched him go, then turned to Rose, "What's he going on about?"
"Nothing." Rose responded, staring after the Doctor.
He followed her gaze, "Riiight, uh, well, we'd better go. Jackie wants us to pick up some more of that tea the Doctor gave her last night."
Rose scoffed exasperatedly, "We have loads of tea. And, wasn't that the one he put the Benadryl in?"
Pete sighed, "Yes it was. Your mother always drinks tea before bed, but after how well she slept from it last night she's convinced it's the best sleep remedy she's ever had. Now she won't rest until she's had more."
"Can't you just tell her?"
He looked at her dubiously, "You want me to tell your mother that the Doctor drugged her to get her to stop talking?"
"All right, to the store it is then." Rose remarked, grabbing the car keys off the counter and rushing out to the car.
After Rose and her father stopped to pick up the tea, they drove to a tall building that shadowed all around it. As Rose slammed the door to the car shut, she looked up at its massive walls. A large "T" was emblazoned on its surface. Torchwood Tower. Once it had been an all powerful government branch specialized to defend against alien threats, now it was staffed and run by the people. Fortunately, with the change in command came a change in policy as well. Torchwood was no longer an overtly aggressive line of defense, but instead took a more cautious, less confrontational approach to potential alien threats. The result was a Torchwood less feared by the masses, and more open to new ideas. Pete had joined Torchwood first, just after the Cybermen had attempted to seize his world. His personal vendetta against the Cybermen for the death of his world's Jackie Tyler, and his innovative thinking had lent themselves well to Torchwood's unique goals. After Rose was stranded in Pete's World she also decided to join Torchwood, given her firsthand experience with aliens. Both Tylers had risen through the ranks of the institution to become important individuals amongst those who tracked suspicious alien activity and technology.
Rose led the way to the building, Pete trailing a pace behind. As they reached the doors, a pair of guards stopped them. Rose thought she remembered the two from a staff briefing some time ago, but couldn't put names to their faces. They obviously remembered her however, if their sudden straightening postures were to be judged by. Nevertheless, they still demanded an ID before they could pass into the building. Rose and Pete both pulled out their identification and flashed them at the guards, who immediately unlocked the doors and let them pass.
Inside was a bustle of activity; black-clad, pinch-faced men and women roved this way and that carrying stacks of paper and motioning to one another, lab-coated technicians flew from station to station with test results and numerous questions, a few badge-wearing officials stood apart from the chaos looking over the operations with a keen eye. The two of them pushed through the throng of people, and crowded inside a passing lift. They exited on the fourth floor and followed a dizzying series of tunnel-like passages. Rooms branched off on every side, further adding to the confusing layout of the floor. According to the builders, this was designed to give the maximum space for offices and departments, but in reality it doubled as a very good intruder defense, and a terrible first day for any new employees, as newcomers and veterans alike frequently lost their way in the maze of corridors. As they passed a sign pointing to the administration section, Pete grumbled, "What good are signs when they all point to the same general location? There could be an army lost in here and we'd never even know." They came upon a flustered-looking woman staring at each of three paths of a fork in the hallway.
"Are you all right, miss…" Rose began, smiling at the girl.
"Carol Johnson, ma'am. I work in the new Specialized Developments section." she replied, quickly straightening and trying to regain a modicum of professionalism and calm.
"My name's Rose, Rose Tyler, and this is my dad, Pete. Nice to meet you, Carol Johnson."
"And you, Miss Tyler." they briefly shook hands, and Carol returned to peering down each hallway carefully.
Rose smiled, "You aren't lost by any chance are you?"
Carol turned red and mumbled, "Um, yes."
"Great, so are we. We can be lost together." Rose grinned, "Come on, let's go this way." she gestured at the right-hand path.
"Are you sure that's the right way?" Carol asked hesitantly.
"No, but it's better than sitting 'round 'ere." Rose replied, and set off down the corridor.
They continued through many winding, twisting halls, and passed more than a few other lost employees on their way. By the time they reached their destination, a score of people were trailing behind them, each of them with varying degrees of impatience and fatigue. Several of them had been there for some hours unable to find their way, and one or two had been there since the day before.
"We need to start issuing maps to all personnel." Pete remarked as the grateful employees dispersed and hurried off to their stations, "This is becoming a nightmare."
"Or at least put in emergency supplies." Rose joked, "I think we passed a dinosaur skeleton in there."
As they walked past rows of occupied cubicles, a few formally dressed staff members followed them and began hammering them with questions, and bringing them up to speed on the latest developments.
"We need your initials here, here, and a signature here—"
"If I could just take a moment of your time—"
"Miss Tyler, this showed up on your desk twenty minutes ago."
"Sir, you're needed down in the weapon testing facility for your approval on—"
"Danny, stop waving these lab reports in my face, and take them down to Margaret Jones." Pete said irritatedly to a lanky red-head who was trying to get his attention with an official-looking paper and clipboard.
"But she told me to bring them to you." the red-haired man protested.
"Well what does she want me to do with them?"
"She needs your thumbprint here, and your signature here for—"
Pete interrupted him with a wave, "Yes, yes, fine." He scribbled his signature and marked the papers irritably, and the man scurried off.
Ignoring the crowding throng for the moment, Rose turned to her father and inquired loudly, drowning out the babbling of the officials, "What's on the agenda today?"
"I think they were going to pull us into a briefing for some new aliens they found wandering through the solar system." Pete responded, raising his voice over the surrounding people.
"Same old, same old then." Rose sighed, "The way they treat the discovery of a new type of alien, we might as well just watch the news stations' reactions on the telly. It's all big threats, and security plans."
They passed through a security door to the next section, and Rose continued, "Still, it could be worse I suppose. At least we haven't got UNIT breathing down our necks—" She stopped and stared at the sight before her.
Sitting in a chair behind a desk, with his feet propped up on the table, and talking animatedly into a phone, was the Doctor. As she watched, he suddenly hung up the phone, and jumped out of the seat.
"Put that down! You could hurt somebody." he shouted, startling a bulky, young officer, "Oh, blimey, you would think Torchwood of all organizations would be more careful with this stuff, but no," he snatched the piece of machinery the surprised official was carrying and held it up to his eyes, inspecting it carefully, "You lot just blunder around, picking up whatever technology you find. You see blinking warning lights and shiny keep out signs and think 'Ooh, let's go touch it.' Humans, sometimes it's a wonder you survive."
"What does it do?" the man asked civilly, seemingly miffed by the Doctor's reaction. Rose guessed this wasn't the first time the Doctor had caused a scene that day.
"This," the Doctor explained, flipping it over in his hands, "is a relic of the Xyrell Empire during the height of their military prowess." he looked up at the man, "With one wrong word or touch you could've blown a hole in the side of your tiny little world."
The employee Rose had met earlier, Carol Johnson, was standing nearby and clutching a different box-shaped piece of metal tightly. She looked down at it, then at the Doctor, then back to the box in rapid succession before asking in a worried voice, "And what's this, Doctor?"
The Doctor glanced at the box for a moment, then replied, "That is just a lunchbox."
"What, seriously?"
"Oh, yeah. What, you didn't really think humans were the only species out there to bring their lunches with them, did you?"
Spying the two Tylers silently observing him, he waved them over and greeted them exuberantly, "Pete, Rose, hello! Good thing you're here, this lot could blow us out to the ends of the universe at any moment."
He continued flipping the alien artifact nonchalantly, as Pete looked on uneasily. Finally, he asked the Doctor, "What are you going to do with that?"
The Doctor looked down at the relic, "Oh, this? It's harmless now."
"I thought you said it could tear a hole in the Earth?"
"It could. Before. Past tense."
"What did you do to it?"
"Simple, I took out the batteries. Here, take a look." he said, grinning, as he tossed the roughly spherical device to Pete.
A shallow indentation on the back of the device revealed a small opening with copper-colored wiring sticking out and a space for a square-shaped battery. The Doctor brandished the tiny metallic cube at them, then took a hammer from the desk and smashed it into a fine powder.
"There we go. Couldn't make it run now even if you wanted to." said the Doctor, blowing the metal residue into the air and brushing off his hands.
"Doctor, why are you here?" Rose asked suddenly.
The Doctor and Pete exchanged apprehensive glances and the Doctor replied, "I thought I could, I don't know, help out or something. I mean, you can see what some of these operatives of yours are doing, they're a danger to themselves with this stuff."
"We've managed to survive long enough without your help." Rose said matter-of-factly.
"Doctor, could you give us a minute?" Pete asked after a moment.
He nodded and strode over to one of the outside windows, and began rifling through a loose pile of uncatalogued technology.
Pete led Rose a little ways off, and turned to face her.
"What is he doing here?" Rose demanded.
"Well, last night we were talking, and we both agreed that he should come work here for a while. You know, make our jobs easier, and still keep himself occupied with something that's at least vaguely familiar."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"Honestly, Rose, I didn't think this would be an issue. What's gotten into you?"
She looked past Pete's shoulder to the Doctor. He was absently fiddling with a strange harmonica-like device and staring dejectedly out the window and up at the sky.
"It's not him." Rose said shortly.
"What, the Doctor? Of course it's him." Pete protested, "He may be half human, but that is definitely the Doctor."
"No, I mean it's not him. He's… different. Like something's changed."
Pete turned to look at the Doctor then shook his head and replied, "Something has changed. You of all people should know that things aren't going to go back to normal after just one night."
"He's used to change though. He's never been like this."
Pete scoffed, "Give the man some credit, he's practically had his entire life turned upside down."
Rose's brow furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"He's stuck here. He's not travelling, he's not saving the day, and you're barely looking at him. You can't expect him to be the same when he's had everything he used to do and everyone he used to know stripped away. And since he doesn't have his TARDIS anymore, there's not much chance of him going off to see the dinosaurs or meet new aliens before teatime, now is there? Unless he can do that, you're just going to have to get used to this new Doctor."
He patted her shoulder for a moment reassuringly, then walked back in the direction they had entered from.
"Wait, where are you going?" Rose called after him.
He turned back to face her briefly, and replied, "I've got a briefing to attend on," he consulted a piece of paper, "species 159-7, apparently."
"We're both supposed to be there." Rose pointed out.
Pete waved his hand dismissively and continued walking, "As of this moment you're on sick leave. Right, Johnson?" he addressed this last question to Carol, who was passing nearby, still holding the alien lunchbox.
"Oh, um, yes sir." she responded quickly, setting down the box on a nearby desk and tapping a few keys on the computer, before straightening and confirming, "Sick leave registered in the system, sir. I hope you feel better soon, Miss Tyler."
Rose watched as Pete left, irritated by and grateful of the liberty he took to make sure she adjusted. She took a deep breath and went to the window where the Doctor stood, still staring out at the sky.
"Hello." Rose said in the most cheerful voice she could muster. It sounded strained even to her ears, but she hoped he wouldn't notice.
The Doctor's gaze lingered on her for a moment, before flitting around, searching for something. After a second he asked, "Where'd Pete go?"
"He had a, um, a meeting thing about the new aliens." Rose replied absently, brushing back her hair with a hand.
"Shouldn't you be there with him?"
"He thinks I should take the day off."
"Oh. Good. Well… good." he responded awkwardly. He stared off into space for a moment before seeming to come back to himself and gawkily adding, "Well, I guess I'll see you later then."
"Hold on a minute," Rose countered, "What are you going to do?"
"Well they've got an awful lot of stuff that needs sorting." the Doctor answered, waving around a bizarrely shaped contraption.
"What kind of stuff?"
"You know just… stuff."
"It's a wonder we ever managed without you." Rose replied trenchantly, the ludicrousness of the situation bringing back memories of similar banter.
"I'm fine, Rose, really. Look I've got my stuff, and my things to sort. Oh, this one makes sandwiches." he said in affected fascination, before tossing the device into a nearby disposal chute.
Rose knew he was trying to deflect the conversation, and the tightness in his smile said he knew that she knew it. She glanced at the heaping piles of mechanical thingamabobs, before saying, "How long will it take you to sort through this? Ten minutes, twenty? You're already bored out of your mind. No, I'm not leaving you here to terrorize everyone else with your questions and mad ideas."
"I can keep my questions to myself." the Doctor protested.
"Please, you're like a kid in a candy store." Rose scoffed, " And right now, the clerks can't deal with a sugar-crazed kid. Come on, you could use a day off too."
"But it's my first day." he pointed out.
"Well, you always said you'd hate getting a job. Now stop making up excuses and let's go." Rose said, somewhat exasperated. He didn't seem to have an answer for that, so she grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the exit. He followed immediately, his intense boredom with what he'd been doing evident by his almost bouncy stride the farther from the cubicles and desks they got. Rose lead them through the twisty passages of the building and to the elevator, which they used to reach the first floor, and exit the tower. It seemed strange to her to be dragging him along behind her, as he was usually the one to be pulling her off towards whatever—likely dangerous—place they were going next.
"Where are we going?" the Doctor asked after they had put some distance between Torchwood and themselves.
"Not sure," Rose said, scanning the streets. A neon diner sign made her stop and turn, "Fish and chips." she announced, "We're going to get fish and chips."