Cold hard ground
The Doctor strode into Torchwood- looking for the lives of him that he wished to be anywhere but where he was- flanked by Ianto, who was struggling to keep up with his long strides and talk at the same time.
"Yes, so if you could please make your way upstairs, Sir? Mr Tyler is waiting in the upstairs laboratory. There's a transmission that he wants you could see."
"What kind of transmission?" The Doctor asked warily, eyeing the young man beside him as if he could catch a disease from him. It was unnerving, yes, but the Welshman had dealt with worse during his short time working in London. "Is this why Pete asked me to come in?"
"Yes, sir," Ianto nodded, leading the taller man into the lifts. "If you could come this way, unless you want to walk up twenty-six flights of stairs."
"Ay, we've walked further."
Ianto's brow furrowed slightly as he tried to figure out what the Doctor- Doctor who, precisely? - had meant by "we". Ignoring it for the time being, he held on to one of the silver bars that wrapped around the interior of the lifts as they ascended, looking attentive. The Doctor wondered how it felt to have an office job like he did- at Torchwood, maybe, but essentially it was the same as any other. A boss, a pay check every month, and rules and regulations.
Whilst Jackie had tried to convince him yesterday that she wouldn't make him work at a bank or anything, it still felt stifling to walk into a place like this, with its seating-regulated floor spaces and cheap glass mirrors lining every second wall.
Even worse that it was Torchwood. Luckily, this universe's was set out very differently to his own- stopping him seeing the phantom of someone who wasn't there once the lift doors opened and him and Ianto stepped out into what looked like something out of CSI.
Spotting Pete through one of the glass walls, The Doctor frowned at the sight. He was surrounded by five people in long coats, one of whom was fiddling with a bunch of sparking wires. As he and Ianto approached, Pete's voice became clearer.
"- magnify the waves then! It can't be that hard!"
"It's not that simple, Mr Tyler. The waves are distorted, and we can't preserve them, so-"
"Dammit!" Spinning around, Pete spotted the two newcomers. He nudged the Chinese-looking woman next to him out of the way slightly and motioned for the Doctor to stand next to him. "Doctor, quick, get over here."
He shuffled through past the scientists who all stood gazing towards the oldest human in the room. The Doctor's attention, however, was focused mainly on the screen.
All humans associated blue and silver surfaces with futuristic technology, in some way. To the Doctor, of course, it seemed practically prehistoric, but he'd always liked the way that they deluded themselves into thinking that colours dictated progress. The screen in front of him was silver-edged, with a pale blue light shining from it in the cold fluorescent lights hanging above. Letters were appearing slowly, adding to the short message that it already read.
TORCHWOOD.
PLEASE ALERT PETE TYLER AND THE DOCTOR TO THE INCOMING MESSAGES. PLEASE ALERT PETE TYLER AND THE DOCTOR. MESSAGE FROM-
"Who is sending this?" He asked. Normally, it took him to actually cause some damage to whatever planet he was on before anyone came looking for him. And why did they want Pete?
"It's from another universe," the human began. "Your universe, to be specific."
Knuckles gripping the edge of the table until Pete could see the knuckles underneath his human-like skin ripple and tense, the Doctor's face darkened, and his face turned away from the screen to glare at the man who'd let him in when he'd had nowhere else to go.
"That's impossible, and you know it."
"We've been getting them since just after you arrived. They were always very faint," Pete carried on, pretending to not have heard him speak. "Tosh here thinks that although the main passage to this universe closed immediately, the rest are taking a little longer. Whoever sends these must have figured a way to make the transmissions clearer."
"Sir, we have a new message." Tosh said, but the Doctor was already walking away.
There were plenty of universes, plenty of potential gaps which still needed to be closed, plenty of people who could have sent the messages in the first place. Bringing him here was stupid beyond all comprehension. He could hear one of the males talking- something about a video- but he was too angry to care right at that moment.
"Doctor?"
Oh.
He spun around quickly, eyes lighting up. "Rose... where are you?"
Reaching out to stroke the computer screen, he finally gave in to the falling sensation his hearts had been feeling ever since he heard the words your universe. Trust his Rose to manage what he couldn't.
"I'm in Cardiff with Jack," Rose said, and for second- one shining, glorious second- he thought she could hear him, before she continued talking and he realised that it really was just (not just never just) a recorded message, one that meant he could never reply. "His friend Tosh helped me get this message through one of the last closing gaps. She's spent the last two weeks solidly trying to find a way for me to send this- she's almost burnt herself up so I could say goodbye."
Her voice broke as she gave a small laugh, and The Doctor was so focused on her that he didn't notice the strangers leaving the room at Pete's frantic hand waving. Only the three of them- Pete, Rose, and the Doctor- remained as she began to speak again. The Doctor stroked the screen gently, looking up only when the ghostly echo to the message vanished, leaving it static free. Seeing Pete near the volume controls, he looked down again as she continued talking.
"Its proberly obvious to you, super brain, but Tosh warned me to tell you that there's nothing you can do to make this video last, and there's no way for me to get through to you. We've been prodding at the rift, but no luck. I'm just an image- no touch."
He'd already known that, in the way his stomach twisted even as he dreamed of their reunion on the few occasions that he had slept since arriving here. His entire being screamed out at the chance of fracturing the walls, making the whole thing collapsed, fighting against everything he wanted.
"If I could I'd ask where you are, but I think I've worked it out- you'll either be with mum or with Pete at Torchwood, like I am. Whatever it is, it could be worse- a few months before I met you, mum dragged me to Norway, would you believe it, some place called Darlig Ulv Straden for a funeral. I checked it out when I got back, it meant Bad Wolf bay... It's like I was telling myself to hold on, innit. I'm babbling on now," she choked back a sob, rubbing at her face as she glanced at whoever was on the other side of her screen. "It's just, we've got two minutes, and I don't even know if you're there. I can't think of what to say!"
"Anyway, there are six of us here. Me, Jack- our Jack, I'd explain but I don't have the time- Tosh, and three others. I'm helping out for a bit- I'm going to start helping them monitor the Rift, keep things safe down here for a bit. But yeah, defending the Earth just like usual." She laughed, before turning serious again.
"You've been announced dead here. UNIT came looking, they tracked my bio-signature or something and told me that you used to work for them, had the files and everything. Jack told them- Canary Wharf, about the Daleks and Cybermen and stuff, and then next thing you know, you've got a special plaque at the memorial centre. But we know better, right? You're off with my mum and Mickey, having a whole new adventure. Its ok, you'll only have to wait a few centuries until we discover time travel according to Jack, and then you can be off again. Have some adventures for me, eh?"
Tears began to run down her face furiously, as she gripped the table she stood on front of.
"I'm never going to see you again, am I? I've got photos and stuff, though, the TARDIS keeps throwing them at me, which is more than what you have, I suppose. Oh God, listen to me moaning at you," she sniffed, "when I'm not the one- whatever you do, don't be by yourself. I've got the TARDIS, you stick with mum, find someone else, just don't be alone. I lo-" she broke off, wiping her face again as she struggled to speak coherently against the cascade of tears running down her cheeks.
"Doctor- and this is quite right too, because it could never have been anyone else, not really, not when you think about it. I lo-"
And then, in the space of time it would take someone to blink, the message broke off, and the Doctor was left stood there as his world collapsed around him for the final time.
In a different Torchwood building in a different universe, Rose stilled as the screen in front of her turned blank. Two faces turned to look sympathetically at her, and Jack wrapped her in a warm hug that didn't defrost the icy chill that had settled in her bones.
So, I had to change the goodbye a little, what with it being Rose talking and it being one-way only (I'm mean, aren't I?) but what did you think?
Please review!
Chloe xxx
