Owen stood over Alec as he listened to his irregular heartbeat, wondering if what Pete and Jake had talked to him about was true or not – that Rose had found the clone Doctor who had run away from her instead of giving her the happy ending she deserved or he was a pretender, who was doing a very good job of going along with who Rose wanted him to be. Before he'd left, he'd gone to see Jake.
"Jake, I'm going down to visit Rose and this Alec Hardy. She seems convinced it's that Doctor she lost."
Jake looked up from his monitor. "Yeah, we know Owen but what do we do? She'll not listen, she has it stuck in her head. She disappeared, left work early and drove down to Broadchurch after she saw it on the news. Pete's going down tomorrow."
"I know, I was supposed to go visit on Saturday but Alec, or whoever he is, got taken to hospital last night by Rose, she was worried about him," Owen told him
That was news to Jake. "I expect she'll call later then? You have something to help his condition, even if he is actually part Timelord?"
"She more or less just asked me if I thought she was right, she could be starting to think she's wrong. Pete told me Alec had memory loss but personally, do you think he's faking it?" Owen asked him.
"I don't know what to think Owen but I hope if he's got any decency he'll admit it. Maybe he saw his chance, to get Rose's help dealing with his illness?" Jake replied. "I really hope we're wrong and it is him but as to how he got here is anyone's guess. Give my love to Rose, unless you want me to drive you down there?" he grinned.
"No thanks. I want to be able to do my job when I get there, you scare the life out of me the way you drive Jake," Owen had laughed.
"Well if Alec is genuine or not, Rose only has herself to blame this time," Jake told him. "She wants it to be him and she'll be upset again when she finds out, who knows how she'll react? Don't say anything though Owen, Pete's gonna talk to him and get him to come clean with her, if he is pretending to go along with it but don't withdraw the offer of help."
"Don't worry Jake, Rose wouldn't want me to even if she is wrong about who he was. Well, best be off, if he almost had an attack last night, he needs this medication, it will help him enormously."
So Owen was now listening from the back, Alec taking deep breaths.
"Anything other than the dizziness yesterday?" Owen asked him.
"Promise not to tell Rose?" Alec asked as he let his breath out. "I have been feeling dizzy for a while, before she came here."
"Had you contacted your own GP?" Owen asked him.
"I was going to, before all this started. Then Rose turned up, claiming she knew me and I realised I had no recollection of her or my past," Alec told him. "I do recall who my own doctor is though, I saw him fairly recently before I came here, he was keeping the paperwork filled in."
Owen only half believed him. "I'm not here to question that Alec, if Rose says she knows you, that's good enough for me to offer help to you. She won't let anything happen to you."
"I know, from last night. She sensed something was not right and normally, I would have argued about seeking medical help but she established a cover story for me," Alec grinned as he fastened his shirt.
"Yes, she makes up cover stories for a living, to establish aliens living amongst us. Has she told you about what she does?" Owen asked him, hoping Alec would admit one way or another he was or wasn't one of them.
"No, we were too busy trying to establish our past relationship. She wanted me to try to remember on my own but I am not getting very far."
Owen thought he wouldn't, if he wasn't genuine. Still, it was not his place to try to convince Alec to come clean or convince Rose she had the wrong man.
"Right, let's go see Rose and tell her about this medication, I can promise you that you'll see a vast difference in a few days time Alec and who knows? It may help get your memory back when you stop worrying about how ill you are."
That's what Alec was afraid of, that Rose would expect him to start remembering when he felt better. He had never deceived someone on this scale in his entire life and he didn't like what he was doing. He'd seen a chance and taken it, to get through the investigation that he'd not expected to be conducting. His friend had convinced him that staying by the coast in a quiet seaside town was just what he needed and look how it had turned out?
He followed Owen down the narrow corridor where Rose was waiting in the kitchen area and Alec hoped she'd not been listening but the doors had been closed. She handed Alec his drink and indicated to Owen's.
"Well, what's the verdict?" Rose asked Owen, taking her sip of her own tea.
"Well he's not felt dizzy today so I'd say that was an improvement on yesterday," Owen concluded. "Best play the food poisoning card the rest of the day. Start this medication tonight, you take it twice a day for a week, then once a day, in the morning. You can take another later if you feel the need but to be honest, in the trials we've done, no-one has needed to."
"So does he still have to be careful?" Rose wanted to know.
"To a certain extent, still not too much exertion but try to get some exercise such as swimming or walking and not having sex or chasing suspects," Owen grinned.
"They're both physical activities," Rose joked.
"Yes, I realise that Rose," Owen replied, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, if you must chase any suspects Alec, let someone else do all the running and don't take the lead. You may be able to run a little, not too much. Right, now about stage two of your treatment Alec. I'll explain it to both of you."
They both listened as Owen went through what he believed was the right treatment for Alec's condition, since Owen had looked up his patient file and seen he'd not been given a very good chance of surviving a pacemaker being inserted.
"So this is an alien device?" Alec asked, already regretting asking since he was almost convinced Rose thought he was some sort of alien.
"Yes, from a group of off-worlders as we like to call them. Alien these days can mean you just come from another country, not another world or dimension. Has Rose told you?" Owen asked him.
"I told him Owen, well some of it, Pete will tell him the rest of it. Alec, they wouldn't use anything that was unsafe," Rose promised him.
"Rose is right Alec, we'll give it our utmost attention and get it ready for you. Any questions?" Owen wanted to know.
"Yeah, I have one Owen," Rose told him. "This medication, can it be made available to anyone like Alec?"
"We've treated family members of Torchwood employees, our lab has begun processing the drugs on a small scale but we can't let it go commercial. This Doctor Jones, she could keep in contact with us and we can supply the drugs to those similar to Alec's case."
"Yeah, you could mention it when she contacts you. Alec and I have to get back to work, want to join us for a quick lunch?" Rose asked Owen.
"Rose, we had best not eat where we were yesterday," Alec warned her.
"Oh yeah, maybe we can just go to the café on the corner then?" Rose suggested. "Leave your car here Owen, unless you want to pay for parking?"
"Very amusing Rose," Owen grinned.
They all set off and were approaching the road when Alec's phone rang. It was Ellie.
"Sir, we're just setting off to the depot, the wagon just got back."
"Good, go supervise then, Rose and I got held up. Call me if you find anything, cleaning materials, clothes the killer could have worn and wanted to dispose of," Alec replied.
"They'll be a lot of bags to go though," Ellie sighed, thinking it would be a tedious task.
"Take as many officers as you need but the wagon does not dispose of its load until you get there and search every bag, understood?" Alec asked her.
"She's gonna love that Alec," Rose smiled, holding his other arm as he put his phone away.
Owen had to admire the way they reacted around each other. She was going to take some persuading Alec Hardy wasn't her Doctor and he'd hate to be around when she did find out. He remembered Rose from when she'd got back from losing the Doctor's twin, she had been so intent she was going to bring him back, well the real one but to lose both of them was unfair and if the man in front of him, Rose chattering away to him wasn't the genuine article, he also hoped Jackie Tyler would go easy on him for deceiving her daughter.
They all ordered lunch and Rose asked Owen how things were going back at Torchwood.
"You've only been gone a few days Rose," Owen reminded her. "You should have heard all the rumours that were going around when you left early."
"I can imagine Owen but at the time, all I wanted to do was get down here to find Alec. I had to sneak out of the house while my mum was out, then when I got here, he didn't remember me, did you Alec?" Rose asked him.
"I knew who you were, just not the finer details," Alec replied as their food arrived.
Owen thought any man in his right mind knew who Rose was, most didn't have the nerve to even approach her let alone pretend to be the man she had clearly been in love with before being left here. They all walked to the corner so Owen could retrieve his car after they'd eaten and he told Alec after a few days, he should feel a big difference.
"If they don't start working Alec, call me on Monday and I'll put a rush on the device we are testing," he told Alec.
"Thanks Owen, for all you're doing," Rose replied.
"Well I'm glad we could help Rose, I don't like keeping all these things secret but we have an image to maintain, being a secret organisation," Owen smiled. "It was nice to finally meet you Alec, you've been the topic of conversation these last few days."
"Really?" Alec asked as he shook hands with the man who had probably just saved him from risking surgery he may not survive.
"Well yes, Pete himself spoke with me over this and when he told me, I was glad to help you, being who you are," Owen told him.
Alec wondered if he meant being a police detective who didn't want his boss to find out or this man Rose thought he was.
"Thanks for coming down Owen," Rose told him.
"No problem Rose, you take care of him and bring him up to Torchwood as soon as you can," Owen replied.
"Yeah, as soon as this is over, we'll be there, won't we Alec?" she asked him, looping her arm in Alec's.
They walked back to the station, finding Ellie absent from her desk along with a few others she'd roped in to help search the bin wagon so they went into Alec's office without being asked why they were late back. Two hours later, Ellie returned and knocked on his office door.
"I've sent a bin bag to be tested, we found one with black clothing inside and some dirty cleaning cloths," she told him.
"Outstanding Miller, the search was a success then, we have them now," Alec told her.
"Not necessarily, if they wore other clothes underneath or wore gloves. We've still no proof it was Danny's killer," Ellie replied.
"Who else would be out dumping clothes at that time on the same night?" Rose asked.
"Yes Miller, like Rose said," Alec joined in. "We will wait and see then. What time did you arrange the reconstruction for?" he asked Ellie.
"Around nine when it starts getting dark, I'm having to get someone to look after my youngest. Why do it so late?"
"Because someone could have seen him on their way home from work or going out somewhere," Alec replied, wondering why he had to do all the thinking around here, well except for Rose. "We should do it later," he added.
"Not with my son leading it," Ellie protested.
"Get a unit to call for us, since they will be blocking all the roads on the route," Alec told her.
"Give me your caravan number then," Ellie asked him.
Alec thought that was going to be a mistake. "We'll walk across to the station then, half eight."
Rose knew why he'd done that.
"Let me know when you get anything back from forensics. Now they will be glad Torchwood took some of the pressure off," he continued.
"Yeah, I bet he is, I really don't like him," Rose agreed.
Ellie went off after saying she'd get back with the results – if they were ready today.
"Tell them to make it a priority," Alec insisted.
"They won't like it," Ellie replied.
"Then tell them to send more evidence to Torchwood," Rose told her.
"Brian will love that even less," Ellie joked.
Rose went to make herself useful by collecting any messages still on desks then said they should be getting back to get ready for later. She wanted Alec to have a rest but he had other ideas as they made something to eat, putting his arms around her and kissing her neck.
"We have to go out, remember?" Rose asked him. "Give that new medication a try before we go."
"Rose, I don't expect it to work right away love," he replied, going for a kiss.
"Aw, you never know Alec, it's gotta be better than what you're already on."
"I know love. I would never have got them if you had not come to find me," he replied.
He hoped she'd take that the right way, that she'd come to find this 'Doctor' and not him.
"When we get back tonight, maybe you'll not be as tired," Rose smiled at him. "Next week I'm gonna be out of commission, with you know what. Alec, you'll have to find out if you actually do have an ex wife or not. If you have, I think I can explain better how you lost your memory."
"Then tell me now Rose, this is getting more complicated. Can't you trust me with the truth?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's just some things are better coming from my stepfather Alec. We were here before I got stranded here. You stayed behind to stop the Cybermen going anywhere else, I couldn't get back again."
"So how did I get here again?" he asked, thinking no way he could keep up the pretence much longer, especially if she found Daisy and Tess, who would tell her he'd known them a lot longer than the four years he'd supposed to have been here.
"We found a way back but something was going on, not only back there but in every alternate reality and I know you don't remember the Daleks but they would have wiped out everything. We stopped them but when you had a chance to stay with me, you ran."
She thought there was no point just yet admitting there were two of them, he would have a hard time believing what she'd just told him.
"Let me get this right Rose, we saved every alternate world?" he asked, leaning on the counter. Rose nodded. "Just how many are there?"
"We've no idea, we only went to a handful of them, until I found the right one," she replied.
"Are you so sure you did?" he smiled. Rose tapped his arm playfully. "I mean it Rose, think about it."
"Yeah, it was the right world or you wouldn't have been there. You said travel between worlds was impossible, we got here by accident the first time. Then this Torchwood developed a dimension hopper, they helped us back on our world, came back and the devices stopped working. It was when the Daleks were messing with things, the devices started working again."
Alec was rubbing his face, Rose went back to tending the stove. How the hell had he got himself involved with all this?
"Maybe you had best leave the rest for your stepfather to explain then?" he asked, thinking this was already too much to take in. "Just one thing though, how did we get here by accident?"
"Alec, you're not ready to find that out yet," Rose smiled as she stirred in the pasta sauce.
After they had eaten, Rose went to get changed then they made their way across to the station to find Bob waiting in a marked police car. A lot of people were already gathering, Ellie and Tom at the start as Rose and Alec joined them. Rose was hoping the press wouldn't focus on her, the point was to jog memories of a week ago. Beth approached them.
"What's she doing here?" Beth asked Ellie.
"Beth, she's here to help," Ellie tried to assure her friend.
Alec turned around to defend Rose. "Rose is not here to take away what this reconstruction is about, she is here to show her support."
"Fine, just keep her out of the papers," Beth replied.
"I told you, I'm not here for that. Do you want to know why this bothers me?" Rose asked her. "Because my half brother isn't that much younger than your Danny was, that's why. This is personal."
"Leave it Rose," Alec told her, pulling her to face where Ellie was standing just behind Tom.
Alec gave the nod as Tom put his skateboard down and began to move, Rose taking his arm. They walked quietly behind the Latimers, Mark having tried to apologise as they'd gone in front. The procession walked past the hotel and down the High Street, hundreds of people behind them, more joining from various points on the route until they came out by the caravan site and crossed the harbour bridge, the food stalls all lit up and string lights across the lamp-posts.
Mark turned around as Beth went to put her arm in Ellie's.
"You think this will really do some good?" Mark asked Alec. "Sorry Miss Tyler, for Beth earlier, she's just upset."
"Don't worry about it," Alec assured him. "She is bound to be upset but Rose has been a great help the last few days, she freed up officers to do their jobs."
They all gathered on the east pier, people crowding around and talking as the film crews and reporters had followed. Alec went to join Ellie and Tom as his dad led him away.
"Go home Miller," Alec told her. "Tell Tom he did right by Danny. See you in the morning."
"Yeah, Alec's right Ellie, you should go home," Rose agreed, trying to hide behind him as the cameras were moving around.
Ellie nodded then went off only to be caught by Beth but while the cameras were watching her, Rose and Alec managed to dodge them. Getting back to the caravan, Rose made a drink while Alec turned on the news. He hoped he'd done the right thing, bringing even more of the media down on the town but if it found Danny's killer, it would have been worth it. As they got into bed, Alec was sure by now he should be feeling the effects of being out but he was feeling better than ever.
He turned to face Rose as he got into bed, going for a kiss.
"Someone's feeling better," Rose remarked. "Those pills working already?"
"Care to find out?" he asked, pushing Rose onto her back.