A/N: Wow :) Thanks so much for all the support! Hope you enjoy the chapter- two down, three to go!
Chapter 2
"Rose Tyler to the main office," crackled the female voice over the intercom. The blonde in question immediately stood up and stretched her cramped muscles. Then, with a sigh, she began sliding her paperwork into the vanilla folder on her messy desk. She enjoyed the fieldwork that came with working at Torchwood; the paperwork, however, was a different story.
"Rose Tyler to the main office," repeated the intercom, and Rose spared it an irritated glance. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," she muttered, leaving her office with another sigh. It had been a long day, and the twenty-one year old Tyler was ready to head home. The last thing she needed was a surprise meeting with her boss.
Walking down the hall, she glanced at her co-worker's closed doors. They were home already, making Rose one of the last employees to leave the building, like always. As one of the more experienced Torchwood workers, the blonde often had more work on her plate then other employees her age. That wasn't to say she was perfect- she'd made her fair share of mistakes in this new universe- but her experience in the field far surpassed most of her coworkers and gave her a respected reputation (a reputation Rose herself was ignorant of).
Just as the blonde reached the heavy oak doors that marked the head of her branch's department, a flash of light filled the room, blinding her. She stumbled back, blinking the spots away and struggling to see. As her vision slowly returned to normal, the Tyler quickly spun around, looking for alien threats. To her surprise, nothing looked out of order. Everything was exactly as it had been before the bright light, down to the last speck of dust on the windowsill.
"Excuse me, miss, can I help you?" Asked a familiar voice. Rose turned to see the secretary walking toward her, a stack of papers in one hand in a gun in the other. It was the weapon that caught the blonde's attention- although the gun wasn't aimed at her, Rose knew that Brooke detested all weapons after losing her father to a stray Dalek that had crept through the void.
"Brooke? Did you see that light?" Rose asked, still eyeing the gun in confusion.
"Miss, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the secretary insisted. "We're closing down for the night."
"I thought you hated guns, yeah?" Rose pressed, feeling uneasy. Why was her friend looking at her like she'd never seen her before in her life?
"Really, ma'am, I'm afraid-"
"Ma'am?" Rose echoed, beyond confused and a little hurt. "Brooke, it's me! Rose Tyler!" Now the brunette secretary looked confused.
"I'm sorry, Miss Tyler, but I think you've mistaken me for someone else," she said. "I never forget a face, and yours isn't ringing a bell."
"Brooke, it's me. Pete and Jackie's daughter? I work here?" Rose said desperately, scared despite herself. "If this is some sort of joke, it isn't funny!"
"You work here, you said?" Brooke repeated, opening the folder she held with one hand. "One minute. I have a list of our employees. What did you say your name was?"
"Rose Tyler," the blonde told her in disbelief. How had her friend just forgotten about her?
"Rose Tyler…" The brunette echoed, running one finger down a long list of names.
"Should be right under Rita Taylor and right above Ryan Tyron," Rose put in helpfully, having seen the list several times herself.
"I'm sorry, Miss Tyler, your name isn't on here. I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Brooke said firmly, having made up her mind the blonde before her had no business in Torchwood's headquarters.
"What? Not on there?" Rose echoed, shocked. "Can I see?" After a moment's hesitation, Brooke passed her the list. It only took Rose a few moments to find Rita and Ryan's names. Her name wasn't between them.
"I don't understand," Rose said numbly. According to both the list and Brooke, she'd never worked at Torchwood. Rose's hand moved for her wallet almost on its own; suddenly the blonde needed to see her name on something, like it was supposed to be. Opening her wallet, she reached for her driver's license, only to find that it wasn't there. Her license, her credit cards, even her money- it had all vanished.
"But…" Rose trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence. How do you convince someone you belong when all the evidence (or lack of it) says you don't?
"Miss Tyler, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Brooke repeated, her tone firmer this time. The blonde didn't respond, her mind racing a mile a minute. My things are vanishing. My name is gone. It's like I don't exist. What on earth could make that happen? It doesn't make sense!
"Miss Tyler," the secretary snapped, losing patience. "This way, please." With a start, Rose realized Brooke had raised her gun and was now pointing it at her. She hates guns, Rose thought weakly, her legs moving on their own accord down the hall. Somehow, she doubted pointing that out would help.
As she neared the exit, Rose glanced over at her office, just off to the side. She'd left the door open, but now she wished she hadn't. Beyond the door, Rose's office had vanished. In its place was a supply closet, looking exactly as it had before Rose had come and remodeled it. The blonde felt like she was going to be sick- taking down a powerful alien bent on destroying man kind? Easy. But having all evidence of her existence vanish? That was an entirely different story, and for once Rose wasn't sure what to do. How can you fight something that isn't there?
"Brookie!" Grinned a middle-aged man as they reached the lobby. Rose could only stare in surprise as Brooke broke away from the 'intruder' to give the man a hug. She recognized him- Brooke had shown her pictures, and there was no doubt in Rose's mind this man was Brooke's dad.
You're dead. You're supposed to be dead! Rose cried mentally, although she didn't say anything out loud. It made sense. No wonder Brooke had no trouble holding a gun. For some reason, her dad was alive and well. The blonde wanted to be happy for her friend, but she knew it was wrong. Her dad had died. She knew from experience you couldn't just bring people back from the dead.
"Who's this?" The man asked, gesturing vaguely to Rose.
"Oh, right," Brooke said, as if just now remembering the blonde was there. "I'll be just a second, Dad. Then we can go catch dinner, yeah?"
"Sounds good," the man agreed amiably. The brunette secretary turned back to Rose, leading her to the glass double doors.
"Good night," she said politely, her voice void of its usual warmth. It was a voice reserved for strangers and aliens, and it made Rose feel sick.
"'Night," she managed, leaving the building and stepping into the fall air. Unusually she'd watch the leaves fall, enjoying the beautiful season, but not tonight. She had to get home.
As if on cue, her phone began to ring. Pulling it from her jacket pocket, Rose was relieved to see 'Mum' on the screen. She answered immediately.
"Mum? You alright?" She said quickly, pressing the phone to her ear as she walked toward the parking lot.
"Oh, Rose! Thank goodness you're ok!" Jackie said, relief evident in her voice. "I dunno what happened! There was this light, sweetheart, and suddenly all my stuff is gone! I can't find the keys to the house, my car is gone, and the lady from the coffee shop doesn't recognize me!" Jackie's voice got higher and higher as she got more distressed, and Rose was quick to jump in the moment she stopped for breath.
"I know, mum, the same thing jus' happened to me," she soothed. "They're sayin' I don't even work at Torchwood anymore!"
"Sweetheart, you get home as soon as you can, you hear? We'll find your father and work it all out, yeah?" Jackie insisted.
"Yeah, mum," Rose agreed, stopping as she reached the parking lot. "Might be a while, though," she added, staring at the empty spot. "My car is gone, too."
"Mum?" Rose called, walking up the long driveway to where Jackie was arguing with one of the maids. As she got closer, snippets of their conversation floated through the crisp fall air to her.
"Whadda you mean, Pete's single? He's married to me!" Jackie argued, looking ready to deliver a slap to the terrified maid.
"Ma'am, Mr. Tyler lost his wife to the metal men years ago," the maid insisted, looking around as if trying to find help. Catching sight of Rose, Jackie immediately brightened as her daughter walked up.
"Rose, tell 'er that we're Pete's family!" Jackie cried, throwing a glare at the maid as if to say, this'll show you!
"Pete's my dad," Rose agreed, although she already had a bad feeling the maid wouldn't know what she was talking about.
A moment later, she proved Rose right, saying, "Mr. Tyler doesn't have any kids, ma'am." Jackie looked furious.
"Don't be daft, of course he does! She's his eldest! And he's got a son on the way!" She snapped, patting her pregnant stomach in proof. "Now are you going to let us in, or are we gonna have ta force our way in?"
"Mum," Rose warned.
"I'm calling the cops," the maid said in an unsteady voice, grabbing her cell phone and pulling it out of her pocket.
"You can bloody go ahead," Jackie shot back. "They'll tell you!"
"Mum," Rose repeated, a little louder this time. Jackie seemed not to hear.
Beep-beep-beep. The maid hesitated, her thumb just over the 'call' button. Rose closed her eyes and was wondering what prison food would taste like, when a new voice cut through the air.
"Jacks! Rose! Thank God!" Pete cried, jumping out of his car and running toward his wife and daughter. They'd been so busy arguing with the maid, they hadn't noticed the man was home.
"I told you," Jackie snapped at the maid, before turning to embrace her husband. The maid, stunned, slowly closed her phone and slipped it back into her pocket.
"You remember us," Rose said, not bothering to hide her relief. Pete seemed to know what she was talking about.
"'Course I do," he assured her. "But when I went down to the Chinese place to grab dinner, Marcus commented that it was a lot of food for a single man." His shock would have been almost comical in any other situation; Marcus, a close family friend, forgetting about Jackie and Rose? Who would've guessed?
"Well, let us in, then," Jackie said, although Rose detected relief in her mum's voice also. "My keys have gone and vanished, and Rose's too." Pete, looking troubled, unlocked the door and let his family in, scanning the house warily as if expecting an alien to jump out of nowhere and snatch his family away.
No alien appeared. A quick look around the house did, however, reveal that all of Jackie and Rose's things had vanished like their cars and keys. Pete, upset, had tried to call the police, only to hang up when they'd informed him they had no record of his wife and daughter.
"Dad?" Called Rose, walking into the kitchen where her father had just hung up the phone. "Grab your laptop, yeah? We should search Torchwood files, see if there's any mention of this stuff."
"Brilliant idea, Rose," Pete beamed, proud despite his worry, as he ran up the stairs to his bedroom where Jackie was staring at her empty closet forlornly.
"Gone, all gone," she moaned, gesturing to the half-empty room. "It's like I was never here!"
"C'mon, Jacks," Pete said gently, leading his wife away from the room before dashing back in to grab his laptop. He followed his wife downstairs all too eagerly; every empty spot where his family's things should have been seemed to mock him, daring him to solve an unsolvable mystery.
Downstairs, he plugged in his laptop and powered it up. His screen glowed to life, and Pete quickly opened the internet browser to hide his screensaver. Rose and Jackie saw it anyway, though- the picture had been a family portrait of sorts. Now, however, Jackie and her daughter had been erased from even that, so that only Pete was featured in the lonely image. Behind Rose, Jackie choked back a sob.
The Torchwood screen appeared, and Pete quickly typed in the password. The lock screen was quickly replaced by long lists of files and numbers that scrolled across the screen at impossible speeds.
"Let's see…" Pete muttered as he opened file after file. "Maybe this one?" Just as he opened the file, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Rose volunteered, glad to escape the almost stifling room. She all but ran to the door, throwing it open to reveal a very concerned looking Mickey.
"Mickey!" She cried, giving him a hug.
"Rose! Why doesn't anyone remember me?" He asked, looking worried. "And my things, they've all-"
"Vanished?" Rose guessed. Mickey's surprised expression was all the confirmation she needed. "Come in," she said, opening the door wider to allow her ex-boyfriend access to her house. "We've got the same problem, me and mum. Not even the staff remembers us, and Brooke insisted that I didn't work at Torchwood today."
"Is this some alien threat?" Mickey asked, familiar with Rose's jeopardy friendly life style.
"I don't know," the blonde admitted. "I'll bet anything it has something to do with that light I saw earlier, though."
"You saw it too?" Mickey asked, sounding relieved. "No one else seems to have noticed. I thought I was becoming a nutter!"
"No crazier than us, Mick," Rose grinned.
"Great," the man moaned. "I am a nutter!"
"Oi! I'll have you know-" Whatever Rose was going to say was cut off by Pete, who's voice suddenly echoed down the hallway.
"I found it!" He cried, excited. Rose quickly turned on her heel, running down the hallway and ignoring Mickey's confused "found what?" A moment later, footsteps told Rose he'd followed her.
"Hello, Mickey," Jackie said, giving Rose's friend a small smile. "Glad to see you still remember us, then."
"Who could forget you?" Mickey grinned back, before turning to Pete. "What'd you find?" He asked again.
"Answers," the tall man answered cryptically, worry clear on his face. "And they aren't pretty." At his family's (plus one friend's) cries of "Get on with it, then!", Pete elaborated.
"The universe is, according to this, 'correcting itself.'" Pete explained, glancing back at his computer files. "This universe was created as a result of your universe, right?"
"Yeah," Rose nodded. "All parallel universes are created by choices, or something like that. This one was like a kid playing kick, right?"
"Right," Pete nodded, looking a bit uncomfortable. Rose and Jackie didn't meet his gaze- as a family, they didn't like to talk about their differences in origin. "Anyway, something must have happened to this kid so that he never got the choice to kick the ball. However, the end result was still the same… so… our universe is… correcting itself now."
"Like, restarting?" Rose asked, sounding worried as what Pete was implying hit her. "But, we don't belong here. What's gonna happen to us?"
"I don't know," Pete admitted. "This kind of thing has never happened before." His concern was evident in his eyes and voice, although he tried to hide it for the sake of his family.
"Are we jus' gonna disappear?" Mickey asked, speaking what was on everyone's mind.
"It's a possibility," Pete admitted, looking like he might be sick.
"How come you remember us, then?" Rose asked finally, trying to divert everyone's attention away from the ominous chance of becoming nonexistent.
"I think," Pete said slowly, glancing at Jackie. "It's because of the baby."
"What does the baby have to do with all this?" Jackie snapped, placing a protective hand on her swollen middle.
"The baby exists because of us, right? Two people from different universes?" Pete clarified, sounding uncertain. "I think maybe I'm in the same boat as you."
"You mean you're gonna disappear, too?" Rose gulped.
"Maybe," Pete said softly. "I don't think this universe knows what to do with me. It can't get rid of the baby, because one person makes more of a difference than anything else. That's too drastic. But if Jackie just vanishes…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "I dunno. There's something we're missing here…"
"You think?" Jackie snapped, her fear and uncertainty making her lash out.
"Mum? Why don't you go put the kettle on?" Rose suggested, trying to pacify her frightened mother. "I could do with a nice cuppa, yeah?"
Most people would look at Rose and say something along the lines of, are you crazy? We might DIE and you want tea?! However, Jackie was not most people. She valued familiar routines and the comfort of normality. So, just like Rose knew she would, she nodded and hurried off to the kitchen to make tea.
"Is there any way to reverse this?" Mickey asked in an almost pleading tone as he turned back to Pete. "Anything we can do to fix things?"
"Fix things?" Pete echoed, shaking his head. "The universe is already 'fixing things'. Problem is, it's doing too good a job."
"You belong here," Mickey pointed out again. Pete winced slightly at the reminder.
"Yeah… obviously there was a blip in the system," he offered lamely, standing up. "I'm gunna go calm down your mum Rose," he added over his shoulder as he headed to the kitchen.
"Wonderful," Rose muttered, sitting down on the hard wicker chair with a thump.
"Yeah," her dark-skinned friend echoed. "Do you think it's gunna hurt? Not existing, I mean." Rose shot a glare at Mickey.
"Not helping, Mick."
"Sorry," Mickey said, having the decency to look properly chastened. From the kitchen, Pete's voice just penetrated the walls, where he was urging Jackie to calm down and promising not to let anything split up their family.
Both Mickey and Rose knew it was a promise he couldn't keep, and the knowledge seemed to add a chill to the air, a thick fear and feeling of ominous doom. Suddenly a scream split through the heavy air, shocking both Torchwood agents (or ex-Torchwood agents) to action.
"What's wrong?" Rose cried, running through the kitchen door and ready for action. What she saw made her stop cold.
Jackie was fading. Jackie was fading.
"Mum!" She cried, running to her hysterical mother's side.
"Jacks, stay calm," Pete said desperately, looking around as if trying to find something that could stop his wife from vanishing.
"Oh my God!" Jackie sobbed, looking at the back of her transparent hand.
"Mum, it's ok, you're gunna be fine," Rose lied frantically.
"I love you, sweetheart. Don't forget-" they never got to hear the end of the Tyler woman's sentence. She'd disappeared.
"MUM!" Rose cried again, tears running down her face unheeded. "No, no, this can't be happening!"
"Rose," Pete said in a choked voice. Rose spun around to find, to her horror, she could see through her other parent as easily as one looks through a stain-glass window.
"No, not you too!" She sobbed, running to her dad and flinging her arms around him in a desperate hug, as if that could keep him in this universe with her. Seconds later, she was holding nothing but air.
"No!" The blonde screamed, her lungs burning for air that didn't seem to want to come. She hadn't been trapped here only to lose everything, she couldn't have, it wasn't fair! From behind her, Mickey walked up and she turned toward him.
"Don't you dare vanish on me, too," she choked through her tears.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Mickey soothed, pulling her into a hug. He was shaken, but still solid, so Rose clung to her friend like a drowning woman in the middle of the ocean.
"Liar," she managed, sobbing into his shoulder. She shook with tears, crying so hard she couldn't breathe. She cried like she'd never cried before and never would again- cried in the manner of a young woman who'd watched her family fade from existence and been unable to stop it.
"Rose," Mickey said softly a few minutes later, and Rose blinked through her tear to find even he was now fading.
"Don't go," she whimpered, all her strength gone.
"I'm sorry, Rose."
And the blonde was alone. Slowly she slid down the wall to the floor, tilting her head back against the hard wall and letting her eyes slide shut. The tears still poured down her face, but now she was silent. She refused to die screaming at air. She would disappear as if she hadn't lost everything.
First the Doctor, she thought, wondering if the wall behind her really felt less solid, or if it was just her imagination. And now Mickey, Mum, and Dad. Is this what it feels like to give up?
Cracking her eyes, she looked down at her arm. It hadn't been her imagination- she was starting to disappear. She was too tired now to even cry, and too dignified to try.
Yes, she decided, closing her eyes again. This is what it feels like to give up.
A moment later, the kitchen was empty, as if the Tylers and Mickey had never existed. The universe they'd lived in knew no different.
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