Alec was summoned into Elaine Jenkinson's office. She had already received a call from Pete Tyler and had been a little surprised Hardy was wanted to be instrumental in the man's stepdaughter's recovery. She'd received a preliminary report of Rose's rescue and was amused to see how big a part Alec had played in it.
"Alec, take a seat. I expect you're here about Rose Tyler?"
"Yes, have you spoken to her stepfather?"
"It's all arranged Alec, you are on special assignment, again or rather a continuance of going over to New York but until her arrival in the town, I expect you to still perform your duties."
"I can do that but I need to leave early on Friday, to go collect her."
"Has she no-one to bring her down?"
It was the sort of reaction he'd been expecting.
"Yes but I promised her I would go up and escort her down personally."
"Is there something I should know?"
"Not yet. She took a liking to me whilst we were in New York, there is nothing to it though I cannot guarantee things will not change. She is upset and needs her family around her and if things do change, it will be because she had the time to think about it."
"I'm glad you are seeing sense Alec, it wouldn't look good if your name was linked to hers for the wrong reasons. Make sure Ellie doesn't let on to that nephew of hers."
"I have already mentioned it to her, if something does get out, we know he will be responsible. Maybe it would be better if Mr Tyler puts out a press statement."
"I'll leave that with you Alec, I dare say you will be talking to him?"
"I spoke with him earlier but you already know that. I can talk to him when I go collect Rose."
"Well it will be best if the papers get it out of the way before she leaves London, we don't want them laying siege to the town again. Have arrangements been made for her?"
"I will ask her when I talk to her later, she has several more therapist appointments before Mr Tyler will let her leave London. He asked me to make sure I did not arrive earlier than planned."
"Well I can see to that, there are a few unsolved crimes around here that require yours and DS Miller's attention, I've passed them on to her."
As he left the chief's office, he thought at least she'd agreed to go along with it, it was better than using up all his leave or taking it unpaid. He had no idea though how long it would take and as much as he was looking forward to having Rose here for a few days, then a few days with Daisy, he didn't know how long it would be before he would be begging to go back to work. Being on medical leave had driven him crazy and had it not been for getting his contact to send him the Sandbrook files and him digging through them, he may have forgotten his fear of the river.
Pete had decided to finish up early and go and try to talk to Rose, see how her first session went after he'd left her. Tony had expressed he wanted him to pick him up from school anyway. Jake had stopped by his office and said he couldn't get anything out of her.
"She didn't want to talk Pete," Jake had told him.
"I'm sure you tried Jake. Do you think she will talk to Mickey?"
Jake laughed. "After he told her mother? I don't think so, do you?"
Pete smiled, it would take some forgiving on Rose's part.
"I think we should put some sort of press statement out, what do you think?"
"I'm surprised it's not already been picked up on, the press are a bit slow on the uptake."
"I'll have my press team put something together, say Rose went missing for a few days in New York but she'd been shopping and stayed with a friend."
"Yeah, sounds like a rich heiress goes on a shopping spree kinda thing."
They both laughed and hoped Rose would also see the funny side, it may lighten her mood.
Meanwhile Rose and her mother were enjoying themselves in the shopping mall, they almost didn't get home in time for Pete coming back with Tony and they arrived just as Rose and Jackie had got inside, a pile of shopping bags in the entry-way.
"Someone's been having fun then," Pete remarked as Tony ran to Rose. "It will make it easier to tell you what my press team has come up with Rose."
"Did you bring me anything back Mummy?" Tony asked Jackie, who was sorting out which were hers.
"I got you some t-shirts, if we go visit Rose when she goes to stay with her new friend."
"Has she got a new boyfriend? Have you Rose? Have you got a new boyfriend? Can I meet him? Is he a policeman? Mummy, can we go visit?"
Rose wondered where all the questions came from for such a young boy.
"Tony, I've not even gone yet, I just got back from that trip with Dad," Rose assured him. "You'll meet Alec on Friday, he's coming to visit."
"Where does he live?" Tony asked her, diving in the carrier bag his mother handed him.
"By the sea, mum and dad can bring you down for a few days, not this bank holiday but the next one, Alec's grown-up daughter is visiting the first one."
"Are you sure it's a good idea, you being there at the same time?" her mother asked as she had separated her carriers from Rose's.
"I have to meet her at some point, Alec's going to find a place for them to stay, where he is is too small, so he says."
"Where are you gonna stay then?"
"At the pub by the side of where he is now, he's gonna send me the details, he might be able to go in and book it for me."
"I talked to him earlier Rose," Pete told her. "He's arranging to take some leave. You can ask him to call in and book it but all costs are on me, tell him when you talk to him."
"I might see if he can rent something bigger then I don't have to stay too long at the pub. He mentioned about a caravan, if he can't find anything."
"There are some really nice caravans now Rose, not like that bank holiday weekend in Clacton when you were twelve that Jimbo lent us, do you remember?" Jackie asked her, taking no notice of what her son was doing.
"Yuck, that was awful, we had to sleep on the seating area and the floor wobbled every time you moved. You wouldn't use the cooker or the fridge and you sent me to get water every morning."
Rose smiled, remembering that the rest of the weekend wasn't that bad.
"Yes, well I want to talk to you about that Rose, when you've put your purchases away. Who paid?" Pete asked.
Jackie had a guilty look on her face. She might have been this Pete Tyler's wife a few years but she still couldn't get used to not being on a tight budget.
"Well since it was mainly for Rose's benefit, I'll let you off but Jackie, try to keep it down eh?"
"You can't take it with you, Pete Tyler," Jackie laughed, taking the empty carrier from Tony, who had stuffed the contents of the bag into one with her things in, while she'd not been looking.
"Tony Tyler, now I have to sort them out. Come on, before your nanny gets here, we'll go put them away."
Tony grinned and followed his mother upstairs. Pete turned to Rose.
"Right, so how did it go with Dr Hunt?"
An hour later, Jackie staying out of the way, Rose was interrupted by her phone ringing as Pete had told her that if she was going to share a place with Alec, she'd better make sure she still didn't think everything that had happened to her would magically disappear.
"Can you excuse me Dad? It's Alec."
"Sure, go ahead and tell him it doesn't matter about the costs, if he finds somewhere."
Rose nodded and walked off. "Hi Alec, sorry, I was talking with my stepfather."
"That's no problem Rose and I apologise for earlier, Miller was with me and we were outside. So, how did your first session really go?"
"You could have talked in front of Ellie, I wouldn't have minded."
"Well it was not just her, I did not want the rest of Broadchurch to hear me asking how things went."
"Ok, for a first session, did she call you?"
"Yes, she said you had just left. I can't say what we discussed though. How does your brother like having you back?"
"Fine, mum went and told him I was coming to stay with you, now he wants to visit though I did mention it the other day but now she went and confirmed it, I won't hear the end of it now."
"Well it will have to be after Daisy's visit. That reminds me, I have to call her, I have to tell her you are going to be here."
"How do you think she'll react? She thought it was just gonna be the two of you."
"No matter Rose, I don't expect you to go home just for her sake. I may take the easy option though and just go rent a caravan across the river from me, then it will not be so much of a rush finding something before Friday. I will go to the letting agents though, get them to let me know if something suitable comes in."
"Alec, you don't have to leave your chalet for me. I can stay at the pub."
"My chalet is no place for a growing teenager, my bedroom door barely closes. No, I will go to the caravan office in the morning and book a three bedroom model for next weekend then you can come and join us. I will make sure there are two double bedrooms, Daisy can have the twin room or whatever the other one is. Would you like me to book a room at the pub for you?"
"Mmm, please. Book it in my name though, a double, dad's paying. Just breakfast, I can eat with you, we can stay in your chalet until bedtime, then you can walk me back or you can stay," she teased.
"Now Rose, let's not get too far ahead eh? You still have a long way to go yet in your recovery."
"I know that but maybe I'll make a quicker one when you arrive?"
"Quite possibly Rose but we have an agreement. I intend sticking to it but I have some news. The hearing is next Monday, in Portsmouth, you may have to get to Broadchurch on your own a day or two later."
"Oh, is it so soon? Well, it's important, I know that and you have to attend. How long are you expecting it to last?"
"Hopefully only one day. I may be able to go back for you."
"Nah, Jake will bring me down, I'm not talking to Mickey."
"So I heard, Miller informed me he told your mother about the restaurant."
"You mean he squealed on us more like, the rat. He was always doing that, when I went travelling with the Doctor, just 'cos I went off and left him. Never mind though, it's all in the past now, just like with what happened with Kilgrave."
Well she was hoping it was but something deep inside was telling her she'd not got away with her first time with him. What would Alec think though? If she told him, he would go off her – rather quickly or would it make no difference?
"Yes, what happened with Kilgrave is in the past but you have to accept you still need help. I will call you again tomorrow, I will book you a double room, I expect you will need it for your clothes."
"Yeah, you and Jake at the airport, I'll have you know I restrained myself when I was packing to go to New York."
Alec smiled to himself, if that was restraint, she would need a bag like the one belonging to Mary Poppins, or a Tardis, so he'd been informed if it was indeed bigger on the inside.
"Then I had better get a reasonably sized caravan with extra space, had I not?"
"Very funny Alec. I can always go back for more anyway, I'll just pack for a couple of weeks, I'll maybe ask Ellie if I can do my laundry at her house."
"I have laundry facilities in my chalet, for as long as I keep it though I may give notice on it, if you either like the caravan or something else comes up."
"Pete said he'd cover any cost, don't let price hold you back. Maybe you could get a caravan with a balcony and includes a washing machine? Oh and you could look at holiday cottages, that are already furnished."
"Anything else?"
"Nah, don't think so."
"I was joking Rose, I expect you want your home comforts?"
"I can rough it, if I have to."
"In a caravan?"
"Long as it's not like the one me and mum were talking about earlier that one of her old boyfriends lent us."
"You must tell me about it sometime."
"Don't worry, mum will. I'd best let you call Daisy then."
"Yes, I had been trying to put it off. She knows I went to rescue you but nothing else. I have to tell Tess as well, I don't want Daisy asking if she already knows."
"Bye then, you'll call me tomorrow, won't you? Do you know how to video chat?"
"I believe so, I will try that tomorrow then, not that you need reminding what I look like, unlike my daughter."
Rose smiled to herself. "Yeah, I know what you look like, not who you look like. Everyone thinks I'm gonna break down, when I see you again."
"Are you?"
"Nope, Marsha asked me if I thought you were Kilgrave come back, when you found me."
"What did you tell her?"
"That you told me who you were."
"You believed me."
"Yeah, Kilgrave didn't have a Scottish accent, did he?"
"So I have been told. I think you need to talk about a lot more than the differences between Kilgrave and myself."
"That comes later, she's just touching the surface, I know how this works, trust me."
"I just bet you do but don't hold back Rose, this is more serious than those last times, I have been told about them, well some of it."
"You mean the last time I went looneytoons and thought a bloke I saw on the news was the Doctor? Or the time there was that court case where that man got away with some murders then the barrister got accused of killing him?"
"Isolated incidents Rose, goodness knows how many more there are out there who look like me or rather the Doctor. I bet if you were to look back in history, there will be more."
"Yeah, that's a great help Alec, aren't you the one having an identity crisis?" Rose laughed.
"No, I can deal with it better than you can. You were torn apart from him, through no fault of your own, it is bound to have a lasting effect on you. Your mother was right to keep you away from the news when I made the headlines."
"I followed the case on the radio and the papers, as long as she cut your photo out. She tried to tell me there was a discount coupon on the other side, like I was gonna believe that."
Alec let out a laugh, something he'd been doing more of since meeting Rose, a few days ago. Maybe he should have looked her up before all this had happened. Yeah Hardy, nice one, as if she wasn't bad enough already.
"She was doing it for your own good Rose, you know that now. You never answered my question though. How could you not think I was Kilgrave coming back?"
"Really? Well, for starters, Kilgrave wouldn't have your accent, he certainly wouldn't have called he was a detective and Kate would have seen through him. He couldn't have fooled everyone. Alec, don't do this to me, please."
"Sorry, I had to ask."
"No, you didn't."
He knew he'd blown it now, she may never talk to him again.
"I said I was sorry Rose. You are going to get worse than that from your therapist you know? She is going to ask you the difference between Kilgrave and myself and possibly the Doctor."
"You think I don't know that Alec? I told my mum, maybe this was what I needed, a wake-up call."
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"That I will keep seeing the Doctor everywhere I go but now, I hope I have at least one who won't disappear on me. Do I?"
"Yes, you do Rose, for as long as you want. Your stepfather asked how I felt about it, I assured him I was going nowhere."
"Even if Daisy doesn't like me?"
"Ah, then I may have to give it some further thought."
Rose went quiet and he realised what he'd said. Since when did he keep trying to be funny?
"Rose, I was joking again. Miller said I have no sense of humour."
"And you're trying to prove her wrong? Geez Alec, you shouldn't be trying to prove the point with me."
"I know and I apologise once more, maybe now is not the right time to try that sort of thing. You can tell me off, good and proper when I come to see you."
"Yeah, I'll hold you to that. You owe me, big time."
"Yes, I do and I will pay in full, you have my word but since I have just discovered I may indeed have a sense of humour, I shall try to bury it again."
"Not on my account. Sorry Alec, it just got to me."
"I'm the one who should be saying sorry. I am going to keep doing this, you will have to keep telling me."
"Yeah, I will. I wish you could come up sooner."
"Oh, you still want me to come and visit after I proved what an idiot I can be?"
"You're a lovable idiot Alec, don't change on my account."
"I will try not to. See how things are a few days eh? You still need that time Rose."
"Yeah, you're right, I have to be sure I'm over it but it's gonna be a long few days."
"You can do it Rose, I have every faith in you. Maybe now, it will all finally be over, you will get over your ordeal and come to terms with the Doctor not being able to get to you."
"I hope so Alec, it's all I've had the last few years, thinking that he's come back and somehow been hiding from me but maybe I can come to terms with it, if you help me?"
"I will be only too happy to help you, whatever it takes. Bye Rose, I will talk to you tomorrow and don't worry about getting on with Daisy."
"Bye Alec, don't forget to vid-call tomorrow."
Alec hung up and stood by the window, staring across the river and wondering if the caravan sales office was still open. No, he could leave it until morning, couldn't he? He had to call Daisy before she read anything in the papers about Rose's rescue but he hoped Pete would come up with a suitable cover story, probably about Rose going on an unscheduled shopping trip.
He went to sit outside on the garden chair, the one he'd sat on when Tess had brought him home from the hospital, not that long ago. She'd said she was going to sleep on the sofa but she'd squeezed into the spare bedroom though Daisy would instantly turn her nose up and ask if he was joking.
He retrieved her number and waited to see if she would answer.
"Hey Dad, not calling to put me off coming down there are you?"
"Should I be? That is your mother's job. You may still change your mind, I have something to tell you."
"Your shack fell into the river? I didn't want to stay there anyway, can't you find something else? I mean, who lives in a shack?"
"Excuse me, it's been my home for several months now, why is everyone picking on it?"
"I was just kidding Dad, geez, chill out. So, what have you got to tell me then?"
"You now I told you I went to New York, to help find Rose Tyler?"
"Yeah though there's been nothing in the news about it, are they trying to keep it a secret or something?"
"Yes but there will be a press statement soon. That was who I was calling about, she wants to pay a visit to Broadchurch."
"Oh, is that all? She'll be staying in the best hotel, won't she? Dad, no, don't tell me. She's not staying in your shack?"
"No, she is not staying in my chalet. She is going to stay at the pub next door for a few days."
"Phew, that's a relief, mum said how run down your place is, she was surprised it's still standing. So, she's going to be in your town for a few days, what's that got to do with me? Wait a minute, you don't mean she's going to be there while I am? Dad."
"Calm down Daisy. Yes, she will be here when you are, she is coming down early next week, I am going to see her in London this weekend and I had planned on bringing her back with me but I have to attend a court hearing in Portsmouth on Monday."
"Yeah, mum mentioned it, she's really annoyed that stupid bitch Claire Ripley is trying to get away with it. Are you going to come and see me, since you're not going to be far away?"
"Well if the hearing is only on for one day, I was going to go back and collect Rose but if DS Miller and I have to stay overnight, I will drive over and see you."
Daisy began to giggle. "Well don't give anyone the wrong idea after last time, will you?"
"Not you as well? You know that was the defence in Joe Miller's trial, trying to get him off?"
"Yeah and it worked, didn't it? I'm just having you on again Dad, really. So, is there something else I should know? You and Rose Tyler maybe?"
"She's just a friend Daisy but I want you to meet her. She has been through a lot, she was held captive for over a week and she is coming here to help her get over it."
"With you? Come on Dad, why Broadchurch?"
"There are some things you need to know."
"Why didn't she run away when she saw you?"
"A very good question but she stayed and now she wants to come down here. I'm going to rent a large caravan Daisy, I'd like for Rose to stay with us, if you agree. Her stepfather does not want her to stay on her own for too long, a few nights, she will be able to cope. I know this was meant to be for us to get along again but Rose really needs our help."
"Yeah, it's always one thing or another Dad, there was Pippa and Lisa going missing, then you left."
"You know why that was, Rose is different, she has to live through it and you are old enough now to know that being in the police, things get to some people more than others. So, are you still coming down?"
"Yeah, though mum will try and talk me out of it no doubt but it beats spending the bank holiday weekend with that loser Dave, he'll probably spend it at the pub. I swear if he moves in with mum, I'm running away from home."
"Aye, I don't doubt that but don't worry us by going missing, if you are going to run away, come to me."
"You mean that, really? Even if Rose decides to stay? What's she like anyway? Mum reckons she's a bit stuck up, having all that money."
"No, she is not stuck up, she grew up with nothing before her mother met and married Pete Tyler. Mind you, she had enough luggage with her for a short trip to New York."
"Well, I'll give her a go, see what she's like but if we don't get on, will she go back to staying at the pub?"
"If you don't get on, I will talk to her about it. She has a younger brother so she is used to being around younger people, you should get on."
"I'm not that young Dad. So, I'm still coming down, despite you trying to put me off but you can tell mum."
Tess had to pick that time to walk into the kitchen.
"Tell me what Daisy? Is that your father? He'd better not be putting off your trip to Broadchurch, Dave and I are going away for the weekend, he's telling that no good wife of his he has to work."
"I don't know why you bother with him Mum, he's never gonna leave her."
"That's none of your business Daisy Hardy. If that's your dad, I want to talk to him."
Alec was listening with interest, he could have told her that Dave was just using her to get away from his nagging wife, even after all that time.
"So, what are you telling Daisy that you don't want me to know?"
"That I may have got myself in deeper than I thought, with Rose Tyler."
Tess had to laugh. "You are joking Alec, you and Rose Tyler? You were supposed to just be going over to find her so Daisy said though you could have talked to me about it, not get involved with her."
"I am not involved with her, well not like that, not yet anyway. She went through a lot Tess, she needs someone right now, who is not going to hold her captive or run away from her."
He quickly explained about her losing the Doctor and how he looked like both her lost friend and her captor. He thought it best to leave Carver out of the equation.
"Well, you'll have your work cut out then, if she's taken a shine to you. You'd best not stuff it up, had you?"
He felt like saying her leaving him for an older, more robust man was not him stuffing things up.
"I have no intentions of letting things go wrong. Daisy has agreed that if Rose is still here when she comes down, she will try to get along with her, Rose knows Daisy is going to be here."
"Well I hope you're not going to offer her your sofa, or your spare room?"
What did everyone have against his chalet? He could have died in there a few weeks ago and no-one would have found him for days, he knew that now and when he'd passed out on the decking, he could have fallen into the river. Why did he still insist on punishing himself? Maybe Rose was his reward for everything he'd been through and maybe in a strange way, he was this universe's way of compensating Rose for the loss of the Doctor. He certainly had some big shoes to fill by all accounts.