Wow that was painful. Haha. XD
I know, I know, it's short! I'm sorry, but this chapter has to be. Don't worry though. I'll be uploading a second chapter later this evening to make up for it. :)
One of you guys (can't remember who at the moment) mentioned that I should do a chap from Pete's World to show what they were doing. My initial response was... blech (Rose. Murder. I will murder her. XP) But I can't deny that whoever you are, you're right, so here it is. Thanks for suggesting this, or I wouldn't have done it myself. At least not until WAY later when I absolutely had to. XP
Despite the fact that I dislike Rose, I try very hard to keep her in character and not bash on her in my writing, because that's not... professional? Ooh, not the word. I'm not professional. Bad taste. That's the word I'm looking for.
So yeah, here it is.
He was gone.
She had searched the house for him, but he wasn't there.
She had assumed he was already at work.
Until the Torchwood Agents swarmed the mansion, searching for him. They asked her and Jackie when last they had seen him, what he had been doing and if he had talked to anyone.
Of course, he hadn't. He really only talked to her and spent a lot of his time in his study with the TARDIS coral, talking to it, trying to figure out how to get it to grow faster. He talked to Pete some, but really only when he had to, and Jackie he didn't see very often. She was worried about him, but he wouldn't open up to her.
Pete had come by later that day, looking grim. He took Rose aside and sat her down in the sitting room, then sat down on the seat across from her, letting out a long, heavy sigh.
"Dad, where's James?" she asked, eager to get answers. She didn't feel like beating around the bush. James was missing and she was going to find him.
"He's..." Pete hesitated, as though the answer pained him and her breath hitched in her throat as terrible possibilities flooded her mind. "We found a rip in our universe. A man came through. The man you met yesterday. You remember him?"
Rose nodded impatiently. "Name starte' with an M or something."
"Morgan. Well, he's missing as well," he said, then looked at her. "Well, missing isn't exactly the right word. More like left because he felt like it. He screwed up our network and got out of the building undetected. Left us scrambling around trying to get systems up again for a good hour."
Rose just shook her head at him. "What's that mean? What do you mean?"
Pete sighed. "We think he took James back through... to your universe."
Rose stared at him, hardly believing her ears. She had heard him wrong. He was wrong.
"Rose," he said, his voice as soothing as he could make it, trying to comfort her.
"He kidnapped him?" she asked softly.
"I don't know. Whoever this guy was, he was a good liar. He had information he shouldn't have had. He could've lied to James just as easily."
"He would've known," Rose stated.
"He might've. But he might not. We're not ruling anything out yet."
"Well, when are we going to go get 'im?"
"Rose-" Pete started gently.
"Don't you say I can't go, because you know better. I'm gonna get 'im," she said, resolute, her throat tightening.
"No, Rose-"
"Dad-"
"Rose, we can't go get him!" Pete expelled.
She blinked at him. "Wha'?"
Pete sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly. He looked at her again, face drawn. "We can't go get him. The portal closed."
"Well, open it!"
"We can't. We don't even know how it opened in the first place. Rose... we can't get to him."
"So, wha', he's just... stranded there? With no one? All alone?" she asked, her heart sinking, tears welling up. "There's got to be a way."
"There isn't," Pete said. "Believe me, if there were, I'd do whatever it took to get him back, but there isn't. At least not on this end."
"What'dya you mean?"
"Well, James is smart, for one, and then... there's always the Doctor."
Rose stared at him.
"If a portal was opened, the Doctor has to have learned about it."
"Dad, you know the Doctor runs into half of the things he does by accident," Rose said. "Besides, I doubt he'd care."
Pete looked at her in surprise. "Why wouldn't he care?"
"You weren't there when he left us. He looked mad at 'im. Really mad. I don't think he wants anything to do with 'im. It's hard to explain exactly."
"Rose, he's the Doctor. It doesn't matter what he thinks of him. He'll help. That's just what he does. You know that," he said, looking at her with fresh concern. "You know that."
Rose looked down at the floor. She did, or used to, but after being left at Bad Wolf Bay, she wasn't sure. Maybe she was just angry at him for abandoning her. Maybe the idea of possibly losing James was making her thinking unclear. Whatever it was, the feeling wouldn't go away. She felt betrayed by him; abandoned. Like he didn't care anymore. She couldn't imagine what James felt about it.
"Rose, trust me on this," Pete said, grasping her shoulders and looking into her down-turned eyes. "The Doctor will help get him back to us. To you. In the meantime, I've got analysts working on how that portal opened. If we can figure out how to open one, ourselves, believe me, I'll be the first one through. We'll get James back."
Rose nodded, not feeling very comforted. She wanted to help, to do something, to be there with James. He hadn't been away from her since he... generated. At least not for more than a few hours. She wasn't sure what he would do. But then there were a lot of unknowns that accompanied this situation. If he left willingly, he might be alright, but if he had been forced... she didn't really want to think about it.
"Who was he? Really?"
Pete shrugged. "We don't know. He was a genius, whoever he was. Maybe even James' league of genius. There are only two people I would've bet on to take down our security systems, and that's James and the Doctor."
"What do you think he might've wanted with James?"
"I'm sorry, Rose, I don't have any answers right now. I have no idea, but when I do, you'll be the first to know. Alright?"
She licked her lips, hugged herself and nodded, feeling utterly helpless.
Pete stared at her for several seconds. "Listen, I've got to get back to work. Do you um... do you need anything?"
She shook her head.
He nodded. "Jacks will be home, so if you need... something... she'll be here," he said, then hesitantly left.
Rose sat on the couch, thinking over what all she'd just heard, wondering where James was and if he was alright.
She must have sat there for half an hour before she got up and walked over to the window, looking up into the sky, a small part of her hoping that she'd see a blue box spinning wildly through the sky. It didn't.
She shut her eyes, then looked up at the clear blue sky again. "Doctor... I don't know where you are, or when you are or if..." she stopped, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Or if... you love me still... but if you do, please keep James safe. Bring 'im back... please bring 'im back."
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