The sound of fingers continuously tapping on the wooden table was resonating through Rose's skull giving her a headache. She resists the urge to snap at the perpetrator for the tedious racket.
"Mrs Tyler, you must understand that it would be best if we moved your husband to a medical facility he-"
"No. He's staying here. I have the money and resources to get him everything he needs and more. This is his home, I won't let you take him from it when that's the last thing he wanted." Rose interrupts smoothly, this isn't the first time she's had this conversation after all, not even the first time today.
"Mrs Tyler, your husband is very sick, he doesn't understand what he wants. He'd be much better off in a facility where we can monitor him."
Rose narrows her gaze at the woman. She works for Torchwood and thus believes she knows all about Rose and her husband. But no one really knows her and the Doctor. They believe her name to be Rose Marion Tyler nee Lewis and his to be Doctor John Tyler. But of course, those people don't really exist.
And she wasn't about to allow Torchwood full access to her vulnerable husband no matter what they said on the matter.
Which they know. This isn't the first time they've tried to persuade them otherwise.
"You don't know what sort of damage a move like that would do on his failing mind. He stays here where he knows and wants to be. You know this Andrea, so why must you continue to force the matter?"
"Your husband was a valued member of the organisation, he's done amazing things for us. We simply wish to repay him."
"Yes, which is why I accepted your referral of doctor Simmons for his care."
"After you vetted him yourself," Andrea mutters, flicking through the paperwork in front of her.
"Of course, I'm not about to put my husband's life into just anybody's hands." She picks at a piece of fluff from her jacket.
"And he's always under your watchful eye. I wonder, do you not trust us, Mrs Tyler?"
Rose smiles at her, a sweet and soft thing that draws your eye away from the venom in her gaze.
"If that were the case I would have left Torchwood many decades ago and would not have employed doctor Simmons at all. Now if we can please move on, I'd like to return to my husband."
Andrea sighs but raises her hands in surrender.
"Very well. There isn't much to go over. He's leaving everything to you, not that you'd find that surprising, you two have many friends yet keep to yourselves. And well, there's always your condition, isn't there?"
"Miss Wilkinson. Please focus and refrain from making time-consuming comments."
Andrea turns to appraise her with a critical eye.
"I've always wondered about you. You two are practically legends at Torchwood. And well, you don't age and yet you won't leave your dying husband's side. Will he thank you for it? I don't see it. The compassion you supposedly feel for him. You're so cold and detached, yet you clearly love him."
Rose stares blankly back, posture perfectly straight as she regards her.
"Do you know how old I am? I'm supposed to be lying in that bed beside my husband hooked up to a million monitors and instead, I'm sat here organising my husband's life in preparation for his death. The man I love is dying and there's nothing I can do about it. Wouldn't that make you cold too?" Rose chokes back the tears that threaten to fall.
It was perhaps her only regret. She'd promised the Doctor forever and now she couldn't die with her husband as they'd intended.
"As you have said, my husband has done a lot for Torchwood. I would hope they would have the respect to let him die as he wishes without prying."
That finally seems to get through to her, she looks flustered now as she singles out a specific document.
"Apologies, ma'am. Sign here, please. Then here. And here." Andrea says passing her the first document.
"Ya know, I had a job on Earth once before. I didn't know what to do with my money then either. It's still sitting in an account, I believe." The Doctor mused as he stared at his first paycheck.
"It's probably gathering interest," Rose told him, taking another bite of the pasta they'd prepared together.
"It does that?" At Rose's nod, he looked mystified before returning to the piece of paper in hand. "Huh, didn't know that. John Tyler. I'm never going to get used to that."
"You didn't have to choose Tyler," Rose grumbled.
She couldn't even keep her own surname, so he better not be complaining about it when no one had forced him. In fact, Pete had tried to dissuade him.
"Maybe I shouldn't have gone with John? Doesn't really fit. Doctor Tyler. Doctor John Tyler." He made a face after the second name.
"You could've chosen anything, could've been Doctor John Noble. Too late to change it now, really."
"No, I don't think Donna would have liked that. Even if we share certain genetics now."
Rose stared at her plate, just pushing the pasta around.
"Why did you choose Tyler, then?"
The Doctor finally turned to look at her, but she wasn't looking, staring as she was at her plate. Didn't she like it? Had he upset her? Should he have chosen something else? Well as she'd said, too late now. He thought to himself, swallowing back the bile that rose at the unpleasant thoughts.
He shrugged, it was a stiff and awkward movement.
"I've always liked it, it's got a good ring to it. Rose Tyler." He said nonchalantly, dragging her name out in that way he always did as he got up to put his empty plate in the dishwasher.
She smiled a little. Her name always sounded special when he said it like that, always had even when he'd been blue eyes and northern. It was a fairly common name all things considered, but when he said it, it was important.
But that wasn't her name anymore. Not legally anymore, never would be again... Unless. No. She shook the thought free.
She scooped the rest of her pasta into her mouth.
"And it's for bills, food, clothes, that sort of thing." She told him, returning to the earlier conversation.
"Ah yes, suppose I'll have to think of those things now. I still need to pay you back for my suits too."
When they'd gotten back there'd been a few things that they'd had to sort out immediately for the Doctor, clothes and identity being among the first. He only had the clothes on his back, sans the numerous layers he'd normally worn as a Timelord. It was too hot to do that as a human.
Rose had taken him to go and buy clothes during their first week in Pete's world. Of course, it had taken them a couple of days to get back to London from Norway first because that was just typical, wasn't it? All zeppelins had been grounded the day they got back due to weather conditions, a bad storm she'd heard one of the locals refer to as the 'Dårlig Ulv' storm. She'd tried to not think too closely on that one.
He'd picked out shirts, t-shirts, suits and trainers that matched his usual style. Though Rose had convinced him to pick out some jeans and even some joggers and sweaters. She figured they'd be helpful in the workshop or for comfort, now that he'd lost his superior physiology.
He'd even managed to find a long brown coat, it wasn't a gift from Janis Joplin but it would do.
Rose shook her head, "Don't worry about it. I used mum's store credit, she's in there all the time. Though you should probably get another pair of trainers after you burnt the other pair."
The Doctor scratched the back of his neck, a familiar sight when he was uncomfortable.
"Probably." He was silent for a moment as Rose loaded her own plate into the dishwasher. "You don't like it."
The simple statement caught her off guard. She turned to him with a frown.
"The shoes?"
"The name."
She shrugged, grabbing a cloth to wipe down the counters in lieu of having something to do other than meeting his gaze.
"Just surprised is all. Figured you'd choose John Smith."
"Oh." He sounded disappointed.
She turned to look at him confused by his reactions. Clearly, they were both missing something here.
"What?"
He shook his head, "Nothing, it's nothing. Here let me do that."
He took the cloth from her, resuming wiping down the counters. Rose didn't resist, still confused by his response; she barely noticed, even as she watched him wipe down the counters. He was avoiding her gaze just as she had done to him seconds before.
So that was that then.
"I've got a report to finish for Pete before we go on that field training exercise in a couple of days. I'll see you later."
He simply hummed in response, still not looking up from his task.
She found out years later of course, why he'd insisted on the surname Tyler as the freshly dubbed Mrs. Rose Tyler.
"You should really consider investing some of it. I mean you don't spend any of it except for travelling, might as well use it for something." Jake told them as he chucked a stress ball he found into the air.
Rose was working on another report while her husband worked on his latest project besides her. They'd convinced Pete to let them share office and lab space. He'd agreed simply because their spouts of boredom were haphazardous to the staff and Torchwood's infrastructure, while together they managed to keep each other occupied.
"Why would we invest it? I thought that was for increasing your wealth." The Doctor answered Jake confused.
Rose looked up from her report to watch him solder a wire in place, with his little magnifying eyepiece clipped onto his glasses, she thought he looked adorable. Even as he frowned, whether at Jake or the device in front of him, she couldn't tell.
"Well I mean yeah but still-"
"We're looking into charities to donate to, Jake. We really don't need it. I mean himself has been practically homeless for centuries-"
"Oi!" The Doctor interrupted her, she waved him off.
"-and I grew up on the Estates. We've already got everything we need." She shrugged.
"What about your house? You still living in Pete's old place? Surely you want somewhere better suited to the two of you."
The two of them turned to look at each other. Rose cleared her throat and shifted slightly in her seat.
"We're considering moving to Cardiff."
"What!?" Jake sat bolt upright in his chair to gape at them. "Why?"
"The TARDIS needs to be closer to the rift for her next stage of growth, light pollution isn't as bad in Cardiff making it marginally better for stargazing and well the rift is a wreath of activity." The Doctor explained.
"So's London! We get all the invasions."
"And we'll still be on call if need be but... We can't stay here. Sooner or later people are going to start noticing things. If we're stationed at the rift we'll be able to brush more things off as a result of our work. And it's not as if London is short of operatives." Rose told him gently.
Jake stared at them, gaze flickering between the two of them.
"You've already asked Pete, haven't you?"
"It was his idea." The Doctor corrected.
"The move. Not the reasons, obviously. But he's right Cardiff has been left rather unmanned for a while now and not many people understand the rift fully so he figured we'd be perfect for the job." Rose elaborated.
Silence fell over the trio as Jake fell back against his seat to absorb everything he'd just learnt.
"Who's taking over? You, Doctor?"
"Rassilon, no." He shook his head in disgust.
"I am."
"But why, Rose?"
Rose shrugged, "Pete offered it to both of us - co-leadership - the Doctor didn't want it. Too much paperwork."
"But what about everything here? You can't leave me with the rest of them."
"I don't think you'll have to worry about that." The Doctor muttered amusedly.
Rose smacked his arm, shooting him a warning glance.
Jake wasn't supposed to know about that yet. Honestly, they weren't supposed to have told him about Cardiff either but Jake had been there when she'd been working on the dimension cannon. Rose, Jake and Mickey had often been assigned field missions together, they were a good team.
"What? What's he talking about? Rose?"
"Nothing. Just ignore him."
Jake raised his eyebrows at her.
"You're kidding, right? I'm not letting this go. What's going on?"
Rose sighed, shooting the Doctor a glare. He at least had the decency to look sheepish, though she could see the lingering amusement in his gaze.
"The Scottish branch is looking for new leadership. Pete's been considering operatives from this branch to go up there."
"Who else is leaving!?"
Rose stayed silent, returning to her report.
"Rose? Who's going?"
"There are a number of potential candidates for the position." She answered slowly.
"But you know who." He said pointedly.
"Why would you assume that?" She frowned.
It'd been years since she first came to work at Torchwood and while officially she wasn't Pete's daughter, people had picked up on the deference he paid her. She'd always worried that people thought she wasn't worthy of her position because of it. But she'd worked her ass off to prove it and this transfer to Cardiff would further cement that fact.
But the lingering suspicion was always there.
"Please. Everyone knows your husband has free reign of our servers. Drives that lot up in IT mad that they can't find a way to keep him out." Jake scoffed putting his feet up on her desk.
Her husband chuckled beside her.
"I told you to stop doing that." She snapped at him.
"It's a teaching moment. How do they expect to keep hostile aliens out of their servers if they can't even keep me out." He told her petulantly.
"You know damn well why they can't keep you out. You're going down there tomorrow to help them improve their security." He opened his mouth to argue. "No! Don't even think about it, you're going. That's it."
Jake guffawed behind them, forcing them to break their battle of wills to look at him.
"Leadership looks good on you, Lewis." He grinned, knowing the name irritated her.
Rose scrunched up her nose at her old faux surname.
"Don't call me that." She told him, focusing back on her report.
"Apologies, Tyler. Now back to the topic at hand - good distraction tactics by the way - who's being kicked off to the highlands?"
"You are." The Doctor told him simply.
Rose spun around and smacked him again.
"Doctor!" She hissed.
"I'm going!?" Jake shrieked, dropping his feet from her desk.
Rose took a steadying breath before turning back around to face Jake.
"We don't know that. But you are one possible candidate. You've been privy to more of the top-secret projects here, including exclusive intel on the cyberwars. You would be a front runner. Mickey too if he was still here but he's not so it's looking like…" She trailed off.
He slumped back in his chair.
"I'm going to Scotland."
"We don't know that yet."
"Well…" Her husband dragged out the word beside her.
She glared at him.
"But who's gonna run off all the alien incursions without us here."
Rose stopped her silent reprimanding of her husband to focus back on the conversation currently happening.
"Lisa Hallett is being moved to field operative. She's shown more potential than any of the others. And there's all those new recruits." She waved off.
"I thought Lisa was going with Ianto to Wales?" Jake frowned.
Rose shook her head, "Pete wants her to complete field training here before she goes down."
"So everyone's moving is what you're saying?"
Rose shrugged.
"The London branch always gets all the fresh meat and then the old are reallocated. We've outgrown our boots here, specialities needed elsewhere. Torchwood One needs numbers while Two, Three and Four need expertise. You know this, people get moved around regularly. Now it's our turn."
Jake harrumphed.
"Still sucks. I don't even know who's on the Scottish team, at least you've got Ianto. And you met all that lot before when you were working on the dimension cannon."
"You're getting Martha." Rose shrugged, in an 'it could be worse' gesture.
Okay, so it wasn't the best that Jake was being shipped off to Scotland with no one bar Martha on his team that he knew. A team he was supposed to trust with his life. Others would likely join them, a Steve and Harry from this or that department likely. But it was just the way things worked.
"I thought Martha was staying here because of Tom?"
Rose shook her head, "The Doctor managed to convince Pete. And Tom's opening a clinic up there too. Apparently, the ET department at the local hospital is getting overwhelmed with the number of unusual injuries."
ET department was the term they gave to hospitals treating injuries of extraterrestrial origin. Usually, Torchwood got there first - especially in case of diseases - but not always. And in those cases, Torchwood would be called in when they were unable to treat them much further than getting them stable.
Tom Jones-Milligan's new clinic would mean that instead of having Torchwood come to the local hospitals - and often disturbing the other patients - they'd just be transferred to Tom, the new ET department.
"How'd you manage that?"
"I have my ways." The Doctor answered with a smirk.
Rose rolled her eyes with a fond smile.
"If I'm getting Martha, who are you getting?"
"We told you Ianto and Lis-"
"Donna." The Doctor interrupted Rose.
Rose sighed.
"You're getting Ianto, Lisa and Donna!? How'd you manage that one? I still don't understand how you got her to work here in the first place?"
The Doctor shrugged.
When they'd first come back to this universe the Doctor had gone looking for his best friend. He'd had no luck at first, eventually having to abandon the search as they tried to settle into a life of work, sleep and beans on toast.
But then they'd been called to an incident at a block of flats outside of Chiswick. They'd not thought much of it at first. London was a hotspot for invasions and wasn't the first time they'd both been called out to field missions.
Apparently, people had been disappearing from the complex. No one had noticed at first, one person here or there could be brushed off as staying out too late or moving on to somewhere else. But then the numbers started to wrack up and rents were left unpaid and well, that's when the landlord had gotten concerned, wasn't it.
Then there had been the noises. The scuttling in the night, like whatever it was, was coming out of the walls itself. So Torchwood had been called to investigate.
And that's when they'd found her. Donna Noble.
The Doctor had gone stock-still beside Rose at the sound of shouting when they'd arrived. Rose had looked at him in concern but he didn't seem to hear her. And after a second she realised why. She recognised the voice too.
They'd pushed their way through the other agents to find one Donna Noble cussing up a storm. She was poking the agent in the chest as she accused them of ignoring their plight because they weren't 'wealthy enough' and the like. And Rose was once again struck by how much she liked the redhead.
Sure most of the time they'd spent together had been in a bubble universe that the woman in question didn't remember but even when the world had been ending she hadn't lost her spark. And so far from home, it had reminded Rose of her mum.
"Miss Noble!" Rose called, ending her tirade as she turned to face them. "We're sorry for not getting here sooner, but the first several disappearances were not reported to any authorities. We understand your concern and we'll do our best to fix this."
But despite her attempt to reassure Donna, all she had done was given her a new target to redirect her ire. As the woman stormed over to them, she felt the Doctor freeze up further beside her.
"Listen here blondie. You may have your fancy government job and we may not be top of the chain but people are going missing. And we matter just as much as anyone else around here. So you can take your fancy government job and shove it up your arse!"
"Ma'am, I can assure you we'll do all that we can to help. I grew up on the Estates, I couldn't care less about supposed worth in relation to wealth. It's all a load of bollocks really. So now that we've got that out of the way, why don't you tell me what you know."
Donna's face shifted from an expression of outrage to something closer to being impressed.
She then quickly launched into her perception of the events that had occurred. The Doctor led the questioning, trying to get a clearer picture of what they were dealing with. Once Donna was finished Rose turned to the landlord - Mr. Wellis - that had been surprisingly quiet throughout the whole ordeal.
"Have the residents been evacuated as instructed?"
"Um no, most are at work and it would have taken forever to make the rounds."
Rose narrowed her gaze at the twitchy man before her.
"Do you mean to tell me tha-"
"I did it." Donna interrupted. "I was here when Mr. Wellis was given the instructions. I set the fire alarm off, everyone's in the courtyard out back already. It's just me left in 'ere."
"Thank you, Miss Noble. Mr. Wellis, I suggest you go join them. If we learn that anything that has happened here has been a result of your negligence, lost rent will be the least of your concern."
"You can't do that!" Mr. Wellis started.
"As Miss Noble has already pointed out our 'fancy government jobs' do in fact, mean we can do just that." The Doctor told him firmly, stepping in front of Rose to level the man with a glare.
Mr. Wellis immediately backed down, dropping his gaze to the floor as he nodded. Rose bit back a smirk. She'd dealt with a few nasty landlords in her life, they were all the same really. But they'd never dealt with the Doctor, a man that had stared down bigger and uglier things than landlords. Mr. Wellis didn't stand a chance.
"Mr. Wellis, I suggest you join the other occupants in the courtyard. You too Miss Noble." Rose instructed again, watching the landlord scuttle off.
"No chance. I'm coming with you."
"Miss Noble, you are a civilian, please return to the courtyard."
"And I told you, I ain't moving."
Rose sighed. She didn't need this right now but she could see the Doctor beaming away. Ignoring her for the time being, she turned to the agents. She split them into groups and instructed them to search the different floors for anything suspicious.
"Keep your comms on at all times and report anything unusual, you know the drill. Hop to."
They immediately moved to do as instructed, leaving only the Doctor, Rose and Donna in the foyer. Rose turned back around to face Donna.
"Listen if you thin-"
"Miss Noble, it is against literally every single protocol we have in place. I strongly advise you to return to the courtyard where you would be safest. I appreciate all your help so far, but it is simply too dangerous for you to remain."
Donna scoffed, putting her hands on her hips.
"Too dangerous? Too dangerous? I live here. And have lived here even with the disappearances. For three weeks this has been going on. I didn't shift then and I'm not shifting now." She straightened up. "And someone's got to keep an eye on you lot."
Rose sighed heavily, turning to stare at the ceiling as she considered her options. She knew what the Doctor would say. After all, he'd brought her along to far more dangerous adventures than this when she was just nineteen years old.
She dropped her head to look over her shoulder at the Doctor. And sure enough there he was grinning away like it was his birthday.
Rose rubbed her forehead in frustration.
God she was going to get such a bollocking for this. Probably get more than a few sanctions too.
"Fine. But you stay with myself and the Doctor at all times. And take these." She handed Donna a spare comms unit quickly running her through its workings before handing her breathing unit, gloves and goggles too.
"What do I need these for?" Donna asked in relation to the safety equipment.
"Standard protocol, I'm already breaking enough as it is. You at least have to wear the safety equipment."
"Did you miss the part where I've been living here for three weeks without these?"
Rose shrugged, fixing her own gloves.
"Protocol 58: when dealing with species of unknown origin safety gear (as detailed in subsection 12) must be worn at all times, no exceptions. So Miss Noble you can either wear them or join the others in the courtyard."
"Said I was coming din't I?" Donna told her adamantly, donning the safety gear. "I'm Donna by the way. And you two are?"
"I'm the Doctor, this is Rose. Nice to meet you, Donna." The Doctor grinned at her.
Donna stared at him for a moment before turning to Rose.
"Does he always smile like that?"
Rose looked over her shoulder at the Doctor and sure enough, he was still grinning away as he rocked back and forth on his heels.
"Ignore him, he's a bit of an adrenaline junkie."
"Oi!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"And why's he dressed like that? Shouldn't he be in tactical gear like everyone else?"
Rose sighed. She wasn't wrong but they'd long since given up trying to get the Doctor to part with his suits and trainers for field missions. Thankfully, he left his long coat behind today because honestly, it was a safety hazard, that thing could get caught on all numbers of things. No matter how good he looked in it.
"Article 17 subsection 3: In relation to the Doctor's wardrobe it is best to leave it unmentioned as attempting to persuade him otherwise will put the mission behind by at least an hour and is a waste of an operative's time and energy." The Doctor recited with a grin.
"You have a specific protocol for him?" Donna asked with a jerk of her thumb in his direction.
Rose laughed, "Oh honey there's a whole pamphlet dedicated to him."
"We have a whole pamphlet." The Doctor leaned forward to correct.
"Yes, okay we." Rose rolled her eyes.
Donna's gaze flickered between the two of them.
"So you two are the troublemakers, huh?"
"Nope." They said in unison, popping the p.
"Bloody hell. Let's get this over with."
It had turned out that the flats had been infested by Janroe. A species of insectoid beings that could phase through matter, including the walls. They'd kidnapped the tenants to eat. The lair having been found in the basement, the bodies of the kidnapped little more than remains.
The smell had been overwhelming when they'd pushed open the door, the lift shaft having been jammed from the bottom so they wouldn't be disturbed, the agents plus Donna had had to take the stairs. One agent had taken off his breathalyzer to vomit but that had just made the stench worse.
Rose and the Doctor had attempted to reason with the creatures, offering them help in getting home but they'd refused. All but laughed in their faces, the sound high pitched and screeching. They'd glared up at the nine-foot something creatures, unintimidated by their long millipedal bodies, six legs or mandibles.
They'd taken people from their beds and eaten them. And now they'd refused their help. They wouldn't be given a second chance to take it.
It hadn't taken long to stun the nest of Janroe, every single agent having been ready for the command as soon as the creatures had laughed and they'd seen the duo's faces shift to cold fury.
They'd been taken into custody, the authorities alerted of their indiscretions on a low level planet.
Donna had looked shaken by the ordeal by the end of it.
"Will they be okay? The creatures."
Rose frowned at the question. That hadn't been what she was expecting, but despite her confusion, she'd answered anyway.
"The authorities have been alerted they'll be taken into custody from there they'll stand trial."
"But they'll live, yes?" Donna checked.
"Yes." The Doctor answered, unsurprised by Donna's questions.
"They killed people." Rose pointed out.
Donna laughed uneasily, running a shaky hand through her hair.
"To eat. Not for pleasure. It's not like I'm vegetarian, I can't exactly blame them for that. But they shouldn't die for that."
Rose stared at her for a moment then she turned to the Doctor who was already looking at her with an expected grin.
If Donna was anything like her counterpart - which it would seem like she was - she could see why the Doctor had taken her. She was good, and the Doctor only took the best. She would have been exactly what he needed to remind him that there was still good in the universe.
"What do you do, Donna?"
"Secretarial temp. Why?"
"How would you feel about something more permanent?"
"What with you lot?"
"You'll likely have your memories of today retconned if you walk out of this building. And I think that'd be a shame. You did better today than some of the agents that have trained for this. But it's not for everyone, especially not the fieldwork. It's dangerous and exhausting, so I'd understand if you said no."
Donna pursed her lips in consideration.
"You lot got a benefits scheme?"
Rose laughed, "Yes. Yes, we do."
"I'd like to see a contract before I agree to anything. And an attorney."
Rose smiled.
"I'll see what I can do. Though I better go warn the boss." Rose sighed, turning away from them to go find Pete.
She still doesn't know what the Doctor had said to Donna after she'd left but Donna had called them back less than two days later to accept the job but not without her own list of concerns. But that was how Torchwood had ended up with a new secretary. She'd taken field training during her second year at Torchwood and she was good at it, though she wasn't a fan of the running. But they were glad to have her.
And now she would be joining her and the Doctor on their move to Cardiff.
They'd been surprised to hear about it. Pete had told them that when Donna found out about their move - they also still weren't entirely sure how she'd managed that - she'd pitched a fit. Telling him that she wasn't going to be staying if they were leaving, she was only here after all because they'd advocated to get her the job rather than having her memories erased.
So when Pete had suggested she go with them she'd stopped shouting long enough to tell him she'd think about it. Apparently, the prospect of less filing had appealed to Donna. With Torchwood Three being a smaller branch there was much less paperwork to go along with than its sister branch in London.
So really they hadn't done anything.
Donna was still living in the block of flats they'd first met in - basement now sans corpses and alien debris - but had been looking for somewhere to live with her husband Lee. The idea of cheaper housing had also appealed to them.
"We're just very convincing." The Doctor answered Jake.
"You bloody must be. Can't see why else anybody would want to move to Cardiff." Jake grumbled getting up from the spare chair.
"Oi, don't knock it." Rose shot back, as he stretched.
"Yeah, yeah I'm sure Cardiff's great." His back popped suddenly. "God, I'm getting old. Don't know how you two can sit like that for so long. I better go get on with my own paperwork. Or maybe I should find Pete."
"Don't tell him we told you anything." Rose snapped at him.
She was still in trouble for not having finished her report already; she didn't want to deal with any more grief from Pete especially as they weren't supposed to have known about Scotland.
Jake raised his hands in surrender.
"Fine, fine." He backed away from her desk slightly, walking backwards to the door. "Can I keep this then?" He asked, lifting up the stress ball he'd been tossing about earlier.
Rose looked up to see what he was talking about.
She shrugged, "Sure."
"Thanks, you guys are the best."
"We are pretty good." The Doctor echoed Jake's statement.
Rose chuckled.
"I'm telling Donna that, you know what she thinks of your ego."
The Doctor groaned beside her, which just made her laugh more.
It'd been two months since they'd made the transition to Cardiff. They'd bought a spacious home in the countryside that put a sizable dent in the bank accounts Jake had been complaining about months prior. They were still working on renovations, a mighty task as they were doing it all single-handedly. Couldn't have regular old contractors come in to fit things for your alien workshop after all.
Rose was sure she still had paint and wallpaper paste permanently trapped under her nails. But Jake had been right, it was nice to have a place that was for them. Rather than just a convenient place to stay.
They'd fretted over everything for months before their move though. Did they want somewhere in the city or the countryside? A flat or a house? Big or small? Carpets or hardwood? Did they want a garden? And if they did what sort?
It hadn't been easy. They hadn't really known what they'd wanted and there'd been a pros and cons list for every decision. Their estate agent probably hated them. Though the commission she got should have been enough to smooth over any ill-feeling.
Of course, they were still waiting on the rest of their team to make the move. Donna and Ianto had already joined them. Lisa was still working on proving herself as a field agent before she joined them.
She'd long since gotten over her grievances towards the Doctor after their little incident. She'd found it rather amusing in the end that he'd destroyed the west wing to make a point.
So for the time being their team consisted of Owen Harper, Suzie Costello, Toshiko Sato, Gwen Cooper-Williams, Ianto Jones and Donna McAvoy-Noble. Soon to include Lisa Hallett, Sally Sparrow, Erina Lockwood and Penny Carter.
And Jake had gotten the position of leadership at Torchwood Two as they'd assumed, his team consisting of Martha Jones-Milligan, Tom Jones-Milligan, Amelia Pond, Rory Williams, Clara Oswald and Malcolm Taylor. As well as the agents already stationed there Sebastian Creole, Jonathan Myers, Alonso Frame, Dorothy McShane and Georgia Metcliffe.
It had been an adjustment for all of them.
Their baby TARDIS seemed to be enjoying the move the most. They'd moved her into one of the storage areas in the lower levels so as to not get in the way as she grew. And she was certainly making the most of the space and the rift energy.
It wouldn't be long until she was ready to go on their first trip the Doctor reckoned. But for the time being their focus was on their new positions at Torchwood. They were in the midst of a huge overhaul. A lot of admin had gotten neglected in the absence of a leader, the four of them struggling to just keep things running by themselves.
Especially as Gwen's pregnancy progressed. She was seven months gone at this point, it wouldn't be long until she'd have to leave for maternity leave. And Rose was not looking forward to that. The Welsh native was stubborn and dedicated to her work, forcing her out wasn't going to be easy. But they were planning on tag-teaming her with the help of her husband Rhys.
But there was still plenty to do before that point.
"Suzie! Have you seen where the documentation went for those Eye-5 lenses?"
"Sorry boss, it's right here. Tosh wanted to go over some of the specifications."
Rose sighed, taking the paperwork from Suzie. It was becoming an ongoing problem, the misplaced or absent paperwork. Sometimes it was just in the wrong place but most of the time it just hadn't been done.
"Sorry!" Tosh called up from the pit where she was working at her computer set up.
"It's fine, just let me know next time or we're never gonna get this lot sorted before next month's inspection."
"What's the point? They never give a toss about what we get up to down here as long as we keep the rift under semi-control."
"Yes, thank you, Owen. And where exactly is your paperwork from your last autopsy, hmm? They may not have cared before but we're going to need their support if we want the others to finish their training and join us. Unless you lot want to go back to a skeleton team of four just as Gwen leaves for her maternity leave."
"I'm not leaving," Gwen shouted back around a mouthful of chocolate donut slathered in peanut butter.
"Yes, you are!" The hub called back in chorus.
"I'll get the paperwork done. I'll even clean up my lab." Owen conceded.
"Thank you, that wasn't so hard was it?" Rose sniped back sarcastically coming to rest against the railing to look down on the rest of the hub.
God, they really need to sort out the lighting and dirt situation in this place, it was like working in a cave.
"I think the power's going to your head, Tyler." Owen shot back.
"Better the power than a gun."
"Ohh what did Owen do this time?" Her husband asked intrigued as he stepped into the hub with Ianto and their food.
"Please tell me you remembered the cutlery this time?" Rose pleaded.
To be quite honest, she was exhausted. Whipping Torchwood Three into shape after so long without a proper system was more work than she realised. She hoped Jake was having better luck. She would find out on Saturday, they had a video call scheduled exactly for the purpose of bemoaning their new positions.
They were thankful of course, but that didn't mean it wasn't a lot of work.
"Of course. Your husband is a little scatterbrained so I grabbed them." Ianto informed her.
"Scatterbrained is one word for it." Rose agreed as she descended the stairs to the main level for the food.
"I'm not scatterbrained, I would have remembered them eventually." The Doctor shot back petulantly.
"Emphasis on the eventually," Rose responded leaning up to press a kiss against his cheek before taking one of the bags off of him and moving over to the settees in the corner to begin dishing out the orders.
The Doctor considered pouting for another moment longer only to be distracted by the sight of Tosh at her computer bank.
"Tosh! What did you think of that rift data I sent you?" He asked as exuberantly as always.
"It seems as if having the TARDIS on site is making the rift act less erratically. Any spikes in rift energy we do get, are much smaller now with the TARDIS siphoning most of it. Weevil attacks are down too, though whether that's correlation or causation I'm not sure yet."
"It's brilliant, isn't it?" The Doctor grinned.
"Well, at least some good will come of you two moving in." Owen teased as he made his way up from his lab.
"Watch it you, I'm still in charge of your pay slips." Rose shot back around a mouthful of Chinese.
"You wouldn't."
"Wouldn't I?"
"It's illegal."
"Only if you can remember it."
They continued to stare at each other for a moment longer, each daring the other to drop the challenge, eventually, Owen broke eye contact raising his hands in surrender.
"Fine, I'll behave."
Rose smirked, "Time will only tell."
"I'd like to file for workplace harassment," Owen called.
Gwen snorted from beside Rose.
"You do that, and we're all following suit against you."
Ianto laughed as he came over with the rest of the food and drinks.
"Thanks, Yan," Rose said as he took his seat.
"Why am I not appreciated like that? I'm the one that has to cut up corpses." Owen bemoaned.
"You caught up on your last three reports yet?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow.
Owen sighed, "You know I haven't."
"There's your answer then."
Owen huffed.
"Better luck next time, Harper," Susie said with faux sympathy as she joined them.
"I can't be the only one behind on paperwork." Owen pointed out.
"Nope. I need two more from Tosh but she keeps taking them back to re-edit, I need one from Susie and Gwen each. And the Doctor is missing five incident reports."
"Five!?" Gwen choked.
"Why do I have five?" The Doctor asked perplexed, from where he was sitting on a beanbag on the floor, long limbs sprawled out before him. He looked rather comical.
"One from the fire in Owen's lab, one from the electrical fire in the lower levels, one for the hole in the ceiling in the morgue which I still don't understand how that happened, one for the blackout you caused last week and one from when you broke the ceiling lights in the holding area." Rose counted off on her fingers.
The rest of the team stared incredulously between the two of them. It probably wasn't a great sign of leadership that the leading cause of incidents was her husband but the Doctor worked best at a certain level of chaos. And really all she could do was damage control. It was part of why they'd been sent to Cardiff after all.
"The fire in Owen's lab was a joint effort." The Doctor argued.
"Owen was in Pemberton at the time. I want them by next week."
"But Rooose." He groaned.
"Next week. It's already been a week since the blackout, I want it done."
"Ohhh." The team chorused.
"That goes for the rest of you too. Donna's been helping with the filing but that's no help if there's no paperwork to file."
A chorus of groans filled the air at that.
"I told you she'd gone mad with power, I warned you, but you didn't listen," Owen said with the shake of his head in faux pain.
Donna kicked his leg under the table.
"I've seen your paperwork, I wouldn't start if I was you," Donna told him.
Owen started bickering with Donna, the rest of the team giving their input every now and again as they watched the night's entertainment unfurl in front of them.
Rose leant back against the settee with a smile. It'd be hard work but it would be worth it. She had a good team to get her through it and her husband - if he ever did his paperwork - she even had her TARDIS just down the corridor. Yeah, it'd all work out.
"And, I think, that's the last one," Andrea told her as she flicked through the sheets of signed documents. "Now you're certain you want your husband cremated?"
"I think I was pretty specific on the matter."
"Of course, of course. Standard protocol, I have to check." She began putting the documents back into her bag. "Have you considered coming back to London? Might be nice to get away from Cardiff once he's gone. Can't imagine wanting to stay in the house my husband died in, no matter how nice." Andrea said, looking about herself with a look of disgust at the notion.
Oh, she knew where she was going once her husband was gone. He'd made her promise him. And this promise she would keep. In fact, everything was ready to go, the TARDIS was just waiting for her to pull the lever. But she wouldn't, not until it was time.
"No. London has just as many painful memories."
Andrea nodded in understanding.
"Of course your family. It must be difficult to avoid at this point. Even your team is long gone."
Their faces flashed through her mind. Her mum, her dad, her little brother Tony and every single team member she'd had over the years both in London and in Cardiff. Jake wasn't running Torchwood Two anymore, she'd been to his funeral after all.
She'd been to so many funerals. Just as the Doctor had warned her she would. She was just glad she got the chance to say goodbye. No matter how many goodbyes she had to make.
"Thank you for the reminder," Rose said evenly, no matter how painful the reminder was.
Andrea at least had the decency to look embarrassed.
"My apologies. Well, I don't think there's anything else so I'll leave you to tend to your husband." Andrea stood swiftly.
Rose stood from her chair too to lead her to the front door. She would make sure the woman was gone before she returned to her husband. She asked too many questions and said too much, it wasn't paranoia if it wasn't unfounded, she argued with herself.
"Thank you, for your help Miss Wilkinson." Rose shook her hand before gesturing to the front door.
She waited until the car had driven out of sight before heading up the stairs to her husband. She pushed open the door quietly, silently making her way over to him. She toed off her slippers and slipped into the bed beside him. Cuddling up next to him as she had so many times before over the course of their long marriage.
It had been far too long since she'd last seen him, what if he had gone while she was busy? It was a constant fear of hers these days but the dozen monitors stationed around the bed told her he was fine.
"Is everything ready?" He asked, voice croaky with age, eyes still shut.
Rose pressed a kiss to his forehead trying not to think about what all the preparations were for. It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair. She pressed another kiss to his forehead, hugging him tighter when she felt the tears welling in her eyes.
"Yes, everything's in place." She whispered as she pressed her cheek to the top of his head.
"It won't be long now."
She squeezed her eyes shut as the tears threatened to fall. Yes, that was what she feared.
A/N: Ohhh we getting somewhere. Heads up I have no idea how long chapters are going to be, this one got a little bit away from me (its the flashback within the flashback's fault) but I can't promise they'll always be this long. I'm gonna aim to do three flashbacks a chapter if I can think of three to do of the same theme. I imagine this'll be a shorter story, but idk I have no plan thus far. So what do you think about Rose heading the Cardiff division? Let me know any thoughts in the comments :)
Tumblr: xawkward-ariesx
Comments:
Dreamcatcher56: Very excited for this new story...always enjoy a Bad Wolf/extended life Rose story...the flashbacks definitely give you a great perspective of their past...thanks for sharing.
I'm glad you're liking it so far! I love a good bad wolf story, can't seem to get away from it. I wanted to do something angstier and with the flashbacks I feel it's almost bitter sweet...
