Between being pulled across dimensions by an alternate version of Pete Tyler and the Doctor's whisper calling out to her inside her mind, six long months had passed for Rose Tyler.

Answering his call had led to the worst day of Rose's life. Dalig Ulv Stranden. Bad Wolf Bay. Pure desolation as the words her heart craved were stolen from her as surely as the man who'd been trying to say them. She knew he struggled with those three words, that's why it had meant so much that he'd even tried to force them out.

Rose had known the Doctor couldn't vocalise his feelings the first time she'd worn a dress from the Tardis wardrobe and he'd corrected his compliment of "beautiful" with "for a human."

Dalig Ulv Stranden had ignited hope in her heart and then crushed it by cutting him off, and she knew that even if she managed to find a way back, he wouldn't say it just because . Not without an imperative reason. Those three words were far too heavy on his tongue to be cast about carelessly.

Pete had driven them all back to the mansion after the image of the Doctor had faded from the Norwegian beach and Rose had spent the next week sobbing into her pillow, sleeping and occasionally being coaxed into eating something by her mum. Often, she'd wished she'd died instead, it surely couldn't have hurt more than knowing he was out there alone, and yet so far beyond her reach.

She'd told Mickey once that there was nothing left for her on Earth, not after seeing the stars, not after knowing the Doctor but now she found herself in the same position as she'd been in after he'd sent her home from Satellite Five, only this time she didn't have a Tardis to break into to help her escape.

It had taken a week of grieving before Rose could even contemplate pulling herself together, but she knew she had to. She'd promised him she'd have a fantastic life. Told him she was working for Torchwood and he'd been proud, thrilled that she'd not gone back to work in a shop and the memory of his grin at her news helped her stand, shower, dress, leave her room and eat a meal. It helped her survive.

She knew her mum was worrying about her and tried to reassure her, the stress wasn't good for the baby. She put on makeup and tried to smile. Even managed to force a laugh or two at some crappy TV shows, but Jackie knew her too well and so eventually Rose settled into a quiet state between pure desolation and her old bubbly self.

It was a fortnight after Dalig Ulv Stranden when she returned to work. Pete had made sure her job there was safe and she threw herself into the Torchwood Archives. Surrounded by folders and boxes of alien records and devices, a calmness enveloped her mind helping Rose as she fought to maintain her fragile facade, while simultaneously making her more productive as she progressed steadily through the archives. Rose eventually found herself working through alien artefacts one after the other like a machine, experimenting, writing reports, cataloguing and moving on.

She was like fine crystal that someone had struck with a fork. Her head was ringing, full of noise and questions, as tiny invisible cracks began spider-webbing across her surface while she struggled to hold her life together and not shatter completely.

It was a full month after Dalig Ulv Stranden when she realised that she was looking for a way to cross dimensions. The item she'd been cataloguing this time was a book, a history book of a people known as The Eternals. The book was written in an alien language but somehow, despite being a dimension or more away, the Tardis was still able to translate for her, and so she'd been given the task of translating the tome.

It was when she came across the mention of multiple dimensions that things began making sense to her again. Torchwood wasn't the escape she'd thought it was, it was a resource she could use. Hundreds upon thousands of pieces of various technology made it the perfect platform to contact, communicate and trade with other species, and Rose could use it. She could use all of it.

The Doctor had said that Time Lords used to travel between dimensions all the time, and while she suspected that there were no Time Lords in this universe, that didn't mean there wasn't another race that could breach the void.

The history book confirmed the sparks of ideas running through her head. The Eternals knew about different dimensions, and if a species knew about them then it wasn't too much of a leap to assume that there were species who knew how to cross the void. That's how Rose had gone from "Alien Tech Archivist" to "Head of the Department for Alien Outreach" one month after Dalig Ulv Stranden.

With Pete as head of Torchwood, Rose had her pick of staff, and she took her time in choosing them. Mickey was an obvious choice, as was Jake. Both knew her, both knew where she was from and what she was aiming for, and both of them trusted her. They would follow her orders, but also call her on any mistakes.

She stole Torchwood's best medical officer for her new department, Leo Jones, and encouraged his researching tendencies. She got him a state of the art lab, paired him with a scientist Torchwood had head hunted, Melissa Stewart, and let them have free reign with any information they gathered on alien medical technologies, biological information, vaccinations, diseases, plants and animals, and even genetic material of alien lifeforms discovered at crash sites.

She paired Mickey's computer skills with a young inventor named Sara Sato who made John Lumic look like a bona fide idiot and set the two of them loose with any mechanical pieces of alien technology that could be adapted, learnt from or hard-wired into earth technology.

Rose put Jake in charge of the team's combat training, including her own, and with the help of an old friend of his, Jimmy Slight, they were quickly the most well trained force in Torchwood. With the amount of hours Rose had them out in the field though, it wasn't long before the paperwork started piling up and she hired Lucy Coal as her admin assistant and international liaison. The girl spoke more than six earth languages, and when they needed access to other countries resources, her connections were impeccable. Between the two of them the mountains of paperwork swiftly became manageable mole hills.

Pete had jokingly called their combined force the big bad wolf and despite Rose's complaints, the name had stuck. While officially her department was still titled the Department for Alien Outreach, most of Torchwood now knew them as Bad Wolf One.

That had been a year ago, Rose realised, as she walked into their office to find a large cake with a candle stuck on it in the middle of their meeting room table. Rose and Lucy, Jake and Jimmy, Leo and Melissa, Mickey and Sara. The team of eight had officially been instated as their own department one year ago, and Rose hadn't even realised that the time had gone by so fast until one of them had brought in a cake to celebrate. They all loved their job, Rose knew that, but for her the year they'd been working together was just a year without the Doctor, and she stared at the cake in silence. A whirlwind of emotions flooding through her system as she tried to capture each one when they spiked across her mind.

Loss, regret, pride, happiness, contentment, sadness, grief, determination; Mickey's hand on her arm snapped her from her spiralling thoughts and she swiftly plastered a smile across her features. She knew he'd see through it, but no one else would, and that was the important part.

"You alright, babe?."

"Yeah, yes..." she answered him quietly, not wanting to destroy her team's celebrations, "Just... shocked, I s'pose. I didn't realise it had been more than a year since... It feels like so much longer and too long all at once, yah know? But I don't want to ruin this for everyone else, right? This is a means to an end for me, but for the rest of you it's... it's your passions, your jobs and I want to make sure it's sustainable without me."

Mickey nodded, and pulled her into a brief hug before they parted and moved to start the day.

With their choice picks of everything Torchwood located, it hadn't taken long for Roses' elite team to make contact with alien planets and with Rose able to speak to any species they encountered, more often than not social faux pas' were avoided and war's averted. Trade became the norm for Bad Wolf One. Trade of information, of knowledge, of skills and technologies, and by the time they did encounter a race that reacted with violence, the Earth was able to defend itself.

Their weapons were a deterrent, and always something of a last resort, and when the enemy retreated, Torchwood let them. Soon, Earth had space ships being built, warp drive technology, and a reputation for fairness and honesty with a strength to back them up that allowed Bad Wolf One to head out to the planets they'd been communicating with. It let them finally meet the races who'd traded knowledge and technology, to visit their homes and explore the worlds who had helped Earth advance.

They made friends and allies, and the occasional enemy, but everywhere they went Rose would always ask the same thing. Is there knowledge of inter-dimensional travel?

By the time Bad Wolf's 2nd anniversary rolled around, the only answer she had received was a resounding 'No', but despite that answer, she'd begun to see glimmers of wariness in the species she questioned, and she reluctantly let hope begin to grow in her chest.

The first year without the Doctor had been a shock to Rose. The second year they'd accomplished so much that she'd felt a glimmer of hope, but they were fast approaching the third year and Bad Wolf One was no closer to inter-dimensional travel than they had been during the previous months, and it was beginning to look like the third anniversary would bring her very fragile world crashing down around her ears. The third year, Rose thought to herself as she sat in her office with her head in her hands, fighting back tears of frustration, looked like it was going to end in a fresh wave of despair before she was able to force herself to pick up the pieces and keep searching.


Many evenings passed her by with her head in her hands fighting tears. More than Rose wanted to admit to, but she always forced herself pull her shattered life back together and keep going.

In the team's downtime she continued translating alien texts in the hope of finding more mentions of the Eternals or inter-dimensional travel, but it was like seeking out a needle in a haystack and her actual job, more often than not, got in the way of her personal research, so when Jake knocked on her office door she set aside her notes with reluctant but well practised resignation.

"Emergency message for Bad Wolf Alpha in the communications room," Jake explained, his smile apologetic and Rose smothered a sigh as she stood, heading for the door and signalling for Jake to walk with her.

"What do we know?" she asked, brushing non-existent creases from her white blouse.

"Not much, there's been a small transport ship in orbit for about an hour; it's been monitored but no one felt the need to interfere for the moment, then ten minutes ago we got an audio contact asking for you."

"Bad Wolf Alpha, huh?"

Jake just nodded, "Seems to be the only name they have, and they won't give any more information until they can meet with you" he explained.

Rose hummed to herself softly as she let her mind focus on their limited information and peppered Jake with a few more questions about the small ship before the pair entered the communication centre of Torchwood One.

The staff were well trained, Rose thought, as the moment she and Jake stepped up to the console the technicians cleared out to give them privacy.

Rose spared a moment, while Jake locked the door to the room, to slow her breathing and smooth her expression into a look of calm diplomacy before letting her fingers hit a flashing red button allowing the visual interface to connect.

Displayed on a large screen was a humanoid female that met Roses golden brown gaze with her own blood red orbs in silence. Both women regarded the other with healthy levels of caution, wariness and reluctant respect.

"You wanted to speak to me?" Rose offered the female humanoid the conversation starter but the red eyes remained stoic and all but unreadable.

"You are the one known as Bad Wolf Alpha?"

Rose didn't answer for a long moment, simply crossing her arms and leaning back against one of the abandoned desks while she took a moment or two to observe.

The cold red eyes were the most striking feature, but they were made more so because they were set against pure white skin. Her hair was the same pristine white and even that was made to stand out via the solid black fabric of what seemed to be a dress or robe of some kind.

Shoulders were held firm, neck extended and head high; whoever this was they had rules and guidelines they followed, lived by, and everything about her suggested to Rose that they had little tolerance for anyone who functioned outside of those rules.

"Yeah, I've been called that once or twice," Rose confirmed after the silence extended a moment too long to be natural, "Who are you though?" she added, tipping her head to one side slightly and watching the red eyes narrow.

"I am the Shadow Architect," the albino announced as though expecting to be recognised, but Rose simply nodded.

"Shadow Architect, okay then, and what do you want? 'Cause you've been orbiting Sol three for at least an hour and have only just made contact, and that makes me think you were looking for something, and now you've found it."

On a human the slight movement of the Architect's lips might have been the shadow of a smile, but to Rose it seemed mocking, condescending, and she forced herself not to react and simply wait for her answer.

"We detected an anomaly, something out of place. Something that didn't belong, steeped in void dust and leaking it into the atmosphere of this planet," the white woman explained and Rose did an admirable job of keeping her face blank even as her blood went cold.

"You do not belong in this universe, Wolf, and by order of the Shadow Proclamation you are required to return to your own time and place."

The room seemed to spin for a moment and Rose's mind raced. While she'd not understood the Shadow Architect's title, the Shadow Proclamation she knew of. If she was somehow breaking intergalactic law and they decided that Earth was harbouring her then this conversation could have catastrophic results, but why had the Architect singled her out? There were others with void stuff on them, some of them who belonged to the other universe, but the woman had only delivered this ultimatum to her and she frowned at the screen openly.

"I'm not here by choice, I'm trapped here," Rose explained, deciding to be honest about her situation and feeling a rush of relief at the surprise on the woman's face.

"You cannot stay, the others we have identified have filled holes that have been left by the dead, their void dust is being absorbed by the universe, but you do not belong."

Rose nodded slowly, accepting the words as they sank into her mind. Pete and Jake were born here, they belonged had their place, while Mickey and her mum had both taken up spots that had belonged to other people, real people who had once existed in this world, but Rose had no space to fill. Rose Tyler had never existed on this planet, in this universe, and she'd never felt like she fit either.

It was like over filling a balloon; eventually it was going to burst.

She'd thought it was because she didn't have The Doctor or the Tardis and tried to fill the ache with work, aliens, translations and looking for a way back, but if the Shadow Architect was right then it was because she had no place to slot into, no alternate person to become.

"I understand, but I also have no way to leave," Rose explained, "Believe me, if I had a way to return I'd already have used it... I've been searching for nearly three an' a half years now," she explained, and the woman leant back from the screen, her eyes moving away from Rose to something beyond as she seemed to frown in thought.

"Very well..." there was a moment of what seemed to be hesitation before her red eyes returned to Rose, "do not attempt to leave Sol Three, I will contact you again within one Earth day."

With her command issued the connection ended and Rose was left blinking at a blank screen in surprise, her mouth opening as her jaw worked on silent words that wouldn't come.

"Well, what the bloody hell was that about?" Jake asked from the back of the room by the still locked door, and Rose turned to stare at him for a long moment as she tried to process everything the Shadow Architect had told her.

"I have no idea," she admitted softly, letting the room stay silent for a moment before she shook her head.

"Alright, get someone in here to monitor the communications for the next twenty-four hours. If she calls back, I want to know about it the moment it happens," she ordered and Jake nodded.

"Head home, boss, something tells me things are gonna get crazy pretty damn soon," Jake grumbled and Rose agreed softly, shooting one last glance over her shoulder at the screen before heading back to her office to lock her files away so she could take his advice.


In the end it was just over a week before Torchwood received the promised call from the spaceship still orbiting the planet. It had been the one day Rose took off work and a small part of her wondered if they knew, if it was some kind of test to see if she would take the call or try to run, try to hide. To see if she would attempt to stay.

Rose made it to the communications room in record time. She was almost certain she was going to get a speeding ticket but she didn't care, pressing the flashing red button to connect the call the moment she was able to calm her breathing from the run through the building enough to speak.

"Architect," she greeted, nodding slightly and the woman offered the closest thing to a smile she had displayed so far.

"Bad Wolf. To recap, you have no wish to stay but do not possess a way to return to your own universe, is that still correct?."

"Yes," Rose answered, "when I was trapped here, I was told that the walls between worlds had been sealed-"

"That is an accurate analogy for the complex process of inter-dimensional infrastructure," the albino cut her off, "To add to that, however, walls must breathe or else that which is contained within would suffocate... To that end, the Shadow Proclamation is willing to help you return to your dimension."

As the world fell away around her, Rose's composure evaporated and she openly gaped at the woman.

"What?" she all but breathed, "but... why would you help me?" she asked, confusion and caution warring with the blossoming hope in her chest, and all of it painted clear as day across her face.

"Your presence here is causing damage, Wolf. If you were here intentionally you would be tried and executed for your crimes, but you pleaded not guilty and expressed a willingness to co-operate with the Shadow Proclamation, showing a willingness to leave if there was such a way."

The Albino levelled what was almost a glare at the young human before continuing, "We have found you a method by which you can leave; I recommend taking this offer Bad Wolf, because its alternative will not be pleasant for you."

Rose was silent but only because of the shock filtering through her system, and the Architect had growing fury written all over her features by the time Rose was able to react.

"Thank you."

It was the albino's turn to be shocked, but Rose could barely see through the tears of relief filling her eyes.

"You have no idea... thank you ," she managed, and the red eyes staring at her softened for the first time, becoming gentle at the humans palpable relief.

"When will you be ready to leave?" she asked and Rose took a deep breath, running through her mind everything she would need to prepare and quickly realised that besides saying goodbye, she could practically leave immediately. Her whole life had been focussed on finding a way home and she let her shoulders straighten and her arms fall from where she'd wrapped them around herself to hang loosely at her sides.

"Can you give me twenty-four Earth hours to say goodbye to my family?" she asked, "and after that I can leave whenever is best for you," Rose offered and the woman nodded, seeming pleased by the time frame.

"Very well, we shall reconvene here, tomorrow... at the thirteenth hour, Earth time," the Architect decided, and Rose nodded her agreement, grinning and thanking her all over again before they cut the communication.

Rose stood silently for a long moment in the empty office and she let her eyes flutter closed in relief as pure joy flooded through her veins.

She was going home.


A/N: Fun Fact: The main character from "Life on Mars" was originally meant to be named "Sam Williams", but the production company, Kudos, felt this wasn't striking enough and requested that the screenwriter, Matthew Graham, come up with an alternative surname.

Graham asked his young daughter for her opinion and she suggested "Sam Tyler". Graham subsequently discovered that his daughter had named him after the Doctor Who character Rose Tyler.