"So what did you tell Jake then?" Alec asked, trying to remain calm since Maisie was looking at him.

"It's okay Alec, I told him that maybe I found myself in like a black hole or something, that I really didn't go anywhere and he seemed to believe me," Rose explained.

Alec thought he should have known really, that he could trust her not to endanger herself or her family.

"Sorry love, this has got me on edge, I should have expected nothing less from you. You think he will tell Owen?"

Rose put her arm in his. "I hope so, why'd ya think I made it up?" she smiled as Maisie climbed on Alec's lap to get to both of them.

"Ellie is coming over, she wants to talk to you," Alec told Rose as Maisie wanted to crawl onto her.

"Is she my therapist now?" Rose smiled as Maisie put her arms around her neck.

"Come on princess, we will go for a walk eh?" Alec told the youngster.

"So what does Ellie want?" Rose asked him as Maisie went to him.

"You need someone to talk to love that maybe you can't tell me or Torchwood. Rose, you're not pregnant already are you love?" he smiled at her.

Rose hoped not but who knew, she'd spent some 'time' with the other Alec and she was now all messed up but if she had been, would the baby have survived the trauma of being flung three years into the future?

"I don't think so but how can I be sure now?" Rose asked him. "You don't believe me do you? About not going anywhere and I lost three years."

"Rose, you have to consider you did actually go somewhere and lost all memory of it?"

"What? You don't believe me at all, do you Alec?"

"We will talk about this later, talk to your friend," Alec told her, trying to get up as Maisie tried to push him back and laughing.

It was Rose who got up. How could he not believe her? She was so mixed up with all these theories she didn't know which one was true. Had something really happened when she thought she'd just been standing there?

"Call her Alec, I don't want to talk to her," Rose told him, going into the kitchen.

Alec gathered Maisie up and put her in the playpen, the girl protesting then went after Rose, getting his phone off the coffee table.

"Miller," he said after Ellie answered as she was trying to feed the dog. "Cancel your visit, Rose is still upset."

"Oh, okay then, if you're sure?" Ellie asked him.

"Yes, I will see you tomorrow, she will be fine, she just needs a bit of time," Alec replied.

"Sounds like it. Tell me she's not going to still carry on with it?" Ellie wanted to know.

"I really hope not, they will have a fight on their hands should they try, they will have to put her there by force and then I will take every one of them down."

"I should hope so," Ellie told him, finally sitting down.

Rose had heard him as she went to make something to eat, staring at all the bags of frozen food that consisted of stirfrys and pasta and a few things she would never dream of eating and hoped he wouldn't insist she did. Alec saw her with the freezer door open.

"Why did we buy all this Alec?" she asked him.

"You like to keep the freezer stocked up love," he replied, going to put his arms around her.

"I don't like half of it. Would you really do that? Take Torchwood on like that?"

"Yes, I would and you know it. Have you changed that much Rose?"

"I don't know Alec, only you know the answer to that," Rose answered him.

He led her over to a chair, closing the freezer door and sat her down, pulling another chair round.

"Rose, I am making allowances for you love, you know I am trying my best to believe you did not go anywhere and everything changed around you. It is possible though that something else happened and you don't remember what it was. You could be the one who is right, that maybe you went to a world where nothing exists and you were back in a few seconds, making it seem like hours to us. There are a dozen reasons for what you think happened. Is that what you think happened?"

"How would I know Alec? My eyes were closed, when I opened them, I was where I started and everyone was busy. At first, I thought I'd landed in another world's version of Torchwood."

Then it struck her and Alec noticed. She had given the game away.

"Rose, you think you do not belong here, that this is another parallel identical world?" he asked her.

"How can it be Alec? You know me, I know people, here and at Torchwood," Rose tried to get out of it. "Please Alec, don't tell Torchwood, they'll drag me back, I can't do it any more. No, I'm on the right world, things have just changed, like the ripple effect, it has to be."

Alec grabbed her hand and pulled her to sit on his lap, Rose putting her arms around his neck and burying her head in his shoulder.

"It's okay love, you are still confused, it could just as easily have happened to Jake or one of the others," Alec assured her.

"I thought now, there was only me and Jake?" Rose asked him.

"They have agents on stand-by love, in case they think you are not able to go. Since we lost Mickey, they just cut the numbers down but if you are not well, you get out of going but that only delays the amount of missions that are remaining."

"So I'm never gonna be free, am I?"

"Yes you are love," he promised her, resting his chin on her head. "We prove this time it caused you psychological damage and prove you are not fit to take on any more and they have to let you go."

"I'm not going under that brain scanner, forget it," Rose replied, clinging hold of him.

"You won't, I can promise you that. Your father will get a team of experts to say you are not crazy but need help, that you are still affected by the loss of your friend. I will call him later and discuss it with him, it all depends on what Jake finds."

"Jake might believe what I said though, I said maybe I was just sort of suspended, that everything was carrying on around me, like I was out of sync."

"That was very clever of you love. Now, want to go for a walk and we will call for some food on the way back?" he asked, raising her chin to kiss her.

"Yeah and tomorrow, I'll go to the supermarket and get some food I like. Whose idea was it to get all those prepared meals for Maisie?"

"Would you believe yours?" Alec smiled as she got up.

"Did you approve?" Rose asked him as he got up.

"I know better than to argue over how you feed your daughter. Use them up then at the weekend we will do more shopping and change everything."

"Yeah? I can live with that. Sorry."

"I know this has been hard on you love but it will get better, once we find out where things are going at Torchwood. Sure you're not pregnant, getting all emotional?" he smiled, hearing Maisie call out.

"I'll get a test tomorrow to make sure, it could have happened before all this and I never knew but Alec, I lost three years, how is it possible if I was pregnant that I still am?"

"It could be possible that since you were not affected, neither was the baby, best get tested then we will know love," he told her.

After a walk on the beach, Alec carrying Maisie while Rose went to the takeaway around the corner from the police station, they'd sat on the harbour wall eating then made their way home, Rose quickly putting Maisie to bed.

In London, Jake had arrived before dinner to tell Pete what Rose had told him, Pete listening with interest.

"So do you believe her?" Pete asked him when Jake had told him what Rose thought had happened.

"It's that or Alec's theory and I know which one I'd rather go with. If Owen thinks recreating what happened will result in someone going nowhere or not remembering it, it has to be better than what he's likely to do if Alec is right."

"Yeah, you're right about that Jake," Pete agreed. "I can't stop Owen if he goes ahead and tries to invade the place we all thought Rose went to. If we can prove there was nothing there or Rose was suspended in time, he'll think twice. Who's to say the same won't happen next time? While I still have some influence, the board needs informing it will be a waste of resources and time. Have you finished going through what happened?"

"You know I can't tell you that Pete, if Owen finds out, then I won't be able to help you persuade the board. I can tell you one thing though, Owen's gonna have trouble deciding what to do about Rose."

"You mean nothing conclusive came of it?" Pete asked him. "If there's no proof either way, Rose is free, isn't she?"

"Yeah, let's hope so or Alec will do whatever he can and if that includes getting an independent medical assessment, he will," Jake replied.

"I know that Jake, he won't let her go off again, not after this. I think I might go into my temporary office tomorrow, just in case. I dread to think how Owen will take the news and I need to remind him that under the circumstances, Rose should be let go."

Rose knew when she got to bed, Alec would expect her to comply with him, she'd almost got away with it last night, he'd gone easy on her but now, if he thought she was pregnant, he might hold off again to make sure but if by some chance she was, it wouldn't be his, it would be the other version of him and she still wasn't quite convinced they were both the same, not yet. Now, he was doubting her that she hadn't actually been anywhere. As Alec got into bed after checking on Maisie, she turned to him.

She had her own decision to make.

"Alec, which version do ya think Owen will go with? The one you told him or the one I told Jake?"

"Rose, it does not matter what I think, when someone calls, you say you are pregnant and that will be it."

"What if I'm not though?" Rose asked.

"We have already told him we plan to have another, now though I promised we would hold off, to let you settle but he need not know that, we tell him we are going ahead, he'll have to accept that love," he told her.

"What will my dad say, if Owen goes with your theory? You really started something coming out with that."

"I know and I regret it now, I thought it would help but we cannot tell him what else we think, that will just make him worse and he will never let you go, since it involves you directly. Rose, even if he lets you go, there will be nothing to stop him calling someone else in to try, the project has to be stopped. Your father was considering a place on the board, you have to persuade him to go for it."

"Mum won't like it, she told me they're going on a cruise," Rose smiled.

"Well she will have plenty of time to plan it then, won't she?" he smiled back as he turned out the light. "I think if you are not pregnant, we could go with the idea you are then say it was a false alarm, he can't call you back, I'll make sure it is in the terms."

Rose thought she might well be anyway, the night before they had gone to Torchwood, despite him being ill at the time but she regretted now she'd ever thought of standing in front of the device. Now, this Alec was fit and well, like the other one would have been after the procedure. She would never know unless the ripple was recreated and then, Torchwood would get to know and she would be responsible.

"What you think love?" Alec continued, hovering over her.

"Yeah, let's go with that, they might believe it Alec, we said we were trying. If I go get a test, we can just say it was a bit early to get a positive result."

"That is not going to stop us though?" he asked, pulling the strap of her nightdress over her shoulder.

"No, why should it?" Rose replied. "You said we would take this easy though."

"We will love, I just miss you, you know that?"

Rose knew she had to give in, if just this once or she would lose his support and he was all she had. If she was stuck in this version of reality with no way back other than to get Torchwood to recreate the ripple, if there had ever been one, how could she be sure she would find herself back where she came from? There was too much risk involved, Alec could be wrong and something else had happened. She was here to stay and it wasn't that bad, judging that Alec was kissing his way across her after finishing with her neck.

After Rose saying she could manage to get Maisie to the nursery on her own the next morning, Alec kissed them goodbye and told her if Jake or anyone rang, she had to let him know right away.

"Yeah, I will but Jake might call you first," Rose told him as Alec put Maisie in Rose's car, the youngster grabbing his hand.

"Then we had best hope he has good news," Alec replied, going to tickle his daughter. "Bye princess, have a good time at nursery," he told Maisie. "Go get that test eh love?" he asked Rose, going to kiss her goodbye.

"Yeah, I'll call and get one and do it tonight, I don't want to do it on my own. Don't ask Ellie to come around though, I wouldn't know what to talk about, we didn't get on all that well before all this."

"Rose, you did not get on at first but you became friends during the trial, I told you that."

"Yeah, I know but she'll ask me things I don't know the answers to. Can you trust her?"

"Yes, we can trust her, do you want me to tell her what happened to you, well some of it?" he asked her.

"Yeah, tell her I had a bad experience and I don't remember things, she can help me cover it up."

Up at the Miller house, well not that she still considered herself married to the person who took Danny's life and got away with it, Ellie had just picked up the morning post, noticing one looked official. Brian was trying to get Fred to leave the dog alone again and Tom was picking at his breakfast. Ellie sat down to read the letter, Brian joining her.

"Does he want a divorce?" he asked her.

"No, I wish he did, the separation will have to do for now, since the judge turned me down because Joe wasn't found guilty," Ellie replied. "It's from the law firm Sharon Bishop worked for and I thought she was in charge. Seems there's been a lot of complaints about her and they're looking at old cases of clients she got off."

"Well that's good Ellie, there might be a re-trial then?"

"I doubt it unless new evidence has come to light, Mark tried after the trial and got nowhere and look how he ended up?" Ellie replied. "Anyway, they say they'll contact me again when they have sufficient complaints to get her disbarred or stopped from trying cases where it's obvious someone is guilty."

"Shame Hardy's wife didn't do something about it at the time," Brian told her.

"What could Rose have done?" Ellie asked him, putting the letter away.

"After you and Hardy got accused?" Brian laughed.

"Rose dealt with the lawyer in her own way, trust me, it was far more effective. If they'd got another lawyer to take her place, it would have delayed everything and we still might not have won. Right, we should be off, come on Fred, Tom. Rose never forgave you for bumping into her that time when she'd just arrived."

"Was she upset I suggested she was too busy doing her nails?" Brian grinned.

"It didn't help, then you wonder why she doesn't like you," Ellie laughed.

"I'm all cut up about it Ellie," Brian replied.

"Hardy wanted me to talk to her but he told me not to bother last night, he says she's been a bit off."

"Well she's probably just distracted by the fact he wants her to have another," Brian told her.

"Another what Uncle Brian?" Fred asked him.

"Never you mind, come on or you'll be late. Tom, I'll pick him up tonight, I'll tell the school he won't be staying, I'm going to cut my hours," Ellie told the teenager.

Rose had dropped Maisie at the nursery, saying hello to Chloe and her saying they would meet at four on the beach for a picnic then Rose drove to the supermarket, hoping no-one would see her paying for a pregnancy test at the desk, the more expensive reusable one.

Getting home, she read the instructions again and decided she'd rather wait until Alec got home. She had just got back when Pete rang her.

"How are you doing Rose?" he asked her.

"Still confused, sorry. Any news yet?"

"No, Owen's not said anything, I came into the office today, just in case. If he won't close the project, I'm taking that seat on the board and calling a meeting as the still deputy director, since I'm still it until next week. We'll get you out of this Rose, I promise."

"Alec promised me as well. I think I can get out of it though, even if he won't close the project," Rose told him.

"Jake told me what you thought had happened. I'd rather go with your version than his, sorry," Pete replied.

"Yeah, me too and Alec's regretting coming out with that. No, I meant something else but promise not to tell mum?"

"No, don't tell me you're pregnant?" Pete asked. "I won't say anything until you're sure love. Owen will want proof though."

"Yeah, we know Dad, I've got a test but tests can be wrong. Please tell me you and Jake have a plan if Owen won't let me go?"

"We have, don't worry. Jake's just arrived, we should be hearing from Owen soon, I'll call you back love," Pete told her.

Jake poured some coffee and sat opposite Pete's temporary desk.

"He's just let me go," Jake grinned. "I don't know what he's decided but I did everything I could. How did Rose sound?"

"Upset, not surprisingly," Pete replied.

"I might not have helped, I mentioned Mickey to her yesterday," Jake admitted.

"Jake, what did you do that for?" Pete asked him. "Never mind, it's done now. All we can do is wait but if he won't let her go, I'm calling a board meeting, they can overturn his decision if it brings an agent's health into question."

"I wonder what Alec's like?" Jake grinned. "I wouldn't want to be his DS this morning."

"We should have said that the other day though it was all up in the air at the time. Owen might not have been aware anyway, I may have neglected to tell him," Pete smiled.

Alec was sat in his office, trying to take his mind off what Owen would decide. He was prepared to go to great lengths to stop Rose going off again, he should never have let her go the last time. Was she right though, that everything just carried on around her while she stood there or was he right? Weren't they both the same explanations?

He regretted trying to persuade Torchwood that time had gone faster wherever she'd gone though, hopefully it would be proved otherwise, just as long as they didn't come to the same conclusion as he had or Rose would never be free.