Let's go AU, shall we?

Chapter Four

"Can't we just pretend that I'm a distant relation or something?" Rose asked, leaning against the mantelpiece in the living room. Although she should probably call it the drawing room, given the size and the interior, she thought. Expensive furniture and carefully selected paintings showed money and taste. She had dreaded entering the house after Canary Wharf, the memories of the Cybermen breaking windows and killing the guests of the alternate Jaqueline Tyler's birthday party still fresh, but Pete had changed most of the layout during the last years, apparently driven by the same memories.

They had returned from Bergen three days ago. Since then she had tried to come to terms with the fact that there was no easy way back, even if she had suspected it before she'd even gone to Norway. To say that it wasn't easy would probably be the understatement of the century. She would turn around and expect him to stand somewhere nearby, she would begin to ask him something, she would reach for a hand that wasn't there. She had allowed herself one night to break down, to shed the tears she hadn't cried in front of her family, and when she woke up she felt more or less ready to face her new life.

During the first few weeks since she had ended up in this universe, before they had gone to Norway, she had somehow managed to keep under the radar. Not even a couple of shopping trips with her mum had changed that. But soon the press would realise that she was news, as Pete had put it, and then hell would break loose. Pete was right, they needed a plan, but pretending that she was the long lost daughter of the alternate Jacqueline and Peter Tyler was just weird.

"I mean, I don't want any of this," she added. Her gesture indicated that she not only meant the Tyler Mansion. "With my Torchwood salary I can afford a small flat in London, well, if I find a flatmate. Sarah from accounting said she was looking for one. It would make everything much easier, you know that."

"Jackie is your mum, Rose, and we're not going to say otherwise," Pete said. "And the press will eventually figure out that Jackie and you are much closer than you should be for you being her second cousin once removed, or whatever you were thinking of."

"But the whole story doesn't even make sense, Pete. Why would anyone in their right mind believe that a doctor at the hospital kidnapped me and told you I was dead when there aren't even photos of Jackie being pregnant? And that you didn't have a look at the body because you were too grief-stricken to bear it?" she said. "Let alone the part where you find me by complete chance, because you needed a blood transfusion and I was the only person whose blood group fit. That's worse than EastEnders!"

Pete looked at her in confusion. "What's EastEnders?"

Rose grinned suddenly. "A soap. On the telly. Mum scared the living daylights out of the Doctor once when she threatened him with an EastEnders marathon. Next thing I knew we were halfway to the Andromeda galaxy."

Jackie giggled. "The look on his face..."

For the first time since she had been stranded in this universe, Rose laughed genuinely but sobered up quickly. "Still, I don't think anybody will believe this."

"Rose, I thought you of all people would have listened to the Doctor," Mickey threw in, mischief sparkling in his eyes. "I can tell you why this is going to work. Just like he said: Humans are thick!" He grinned broadly.

Rose grinned back. "If you put it that way... This probably a tiny bit more plausible than a mass hallucination of an alien space ship crashing into Big Ben."

"And with a really good software I could probably manipulate a couple of old photos so this universe's Jackie looks pregnant," Mickey added. "Do you know a good hacker who could insert them into the online archives of a couple of news agencies in the correct time frame, Pete?"

"I think I might know the right person. The computer she can't hack hasn't been built yet. She can also get your data into all necessary government computers, Rose. Unfortunately we'll have to change a few dates." He considered her appearance. "You look about twenty. Nobody is going to believe that you've been born in 1986. I'll tell her she should put 1989 instead."

Rose shook her head. "I still don't think that this 'lost daughter' story is a good idea. It'll only raise questions. What if someone discovers the truth?"

"How?"

"Pete, all of us are covered in Void stuff. The Doctor discovered that with 3D glasses, for god's sake! That's not exactly rocket science. What if people find out that Mum, Mickey and me are from a parallel universe? The Torchwood in my universe tried to harness the energy produced by the ghost shifts, and that nearly destroyed both worlds. What do you think will happen if someone does the same here?"

Truth be told, this wasn't the only reason why she didn't think this would be a good idea. She also didn't want to be reduced to being Peter Tyler's lost daughter, forced to impersonate a society princess. That just wasn't who she was, plain old Rose Tyler, shop girl. But most of all, it felt disloyal to the man who had died for one for her mistakes, the man who had been her dad for such a short amount of time.

"Rose, you've got no idea what this world is like. I promised him I would protect you, and that's what I'm going to do. You'll be much safer as my daughter than alone."

Rose opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Mickey cut in, "Listen to him, Rose. I know you don't like it, but it's better this way, believe me. Pete's right, this world is nothing like the one we grew up in. I never told you, but the day we crashed here, when I went to see my gran, it was like visiting a ghetto. People were being controlled when they entered or left the area. Things have improved since then, but it's nothing like back home."

She stared at him in shock. "But why..."

"It's mostly the larger cities," Pete said, disgust evident in his voice. "You wouldn't have noticed in smaller towns or villages, or even the part of London you went for shopping. Ten years ago there was a major economic crisis and there were riots. The government was already mostly owned by Lumic at the time. They panicked and set up a zone system, to protect the Great and the Good from the force of the masses. Once the zones were in place they stayed. There have been fewer curfews, but that's basically all that's changed."

His expression was stormy. Rose made a mental note to talk to him about what was going on here. He had worked with the Preachers to bring Lumic down, and she strongly suspected that he wouldn't like the current situation either. If she was going to work for Torchwood full-time she had to know exactly what she was getting herself into and find out if there was a chance for her to help.

"You don't know me, Rose, not like you hopefully will one day, but believe me, this whole charade is necessary. As you said, you're from a parallel universe, and this is my best chance to protect you. All of you." Pete looked at her intently.

"Rose, please," Jackie begged, willing her to give in.

She nodded slowly. Having to act in public as if Rose wasn't her daughter would only upset Jackie. She knew her mum only wanted the best for her, and although they disagreed on what that actually was, she never would hurt her like that. Besides, her mum's acting skills had never been extremely convincing. If she let something slip someday the results might be catastrophic, for all of them.

Pete smiled at Rose. "I'll have the PR department draw up a press announcement tomorrow."

~o~o~o~

Rose opened her eyes and remembered instantly. Today it was three months. Three months since her grip on the lever had slipped. Ninety-one days since her life had been turned upside down once more.

Of course her mum felt the need to point out the fact over breakfast. The Doctor could be annoyingly tactless on occasion, but her mum was even worse in that regard.

"Rose, don't you think you should finally get on with your life? It's been three months."

She knew exactly what Jackie was trying to tell her, and it hurt. The wound hadn't had a chance to heal yet, and she doubted it ever really would, not even when she saw him again. Even then there would always be the fear that she was going to lose him once more, one way or the other.

In a possibly very see-through (and in hind-sight completely useless) attempt to change the topic she said, "I am getting on with my life, Mum. I've got a job, and I'm trying to get my A-levels. Speaking of which, I have a study group this evening, so I won't be home for dinner."

After having lived on the TARDIS for so long, living with her mum and Pete in the mansion was less than optimal. She had meant it when she had told Pete that she would get herself a flat. She hadn't had much choice in the matter, though, because the paparazzi had been a real problem during the last couple of weeks. They'd even tried to interrupt one of her classes, but the school had put an end to that quickly.

Her only consolation was that the press hadn't yet caught on her working with Torchwood. Hopefully that wouldn't change when she finally got her A-levels and started doing field work. Dragging the press along on her missions would have her back in research faster than she could say Raxacoricofallapatorius. But first came her A-levels, and before that came said study group.

"You're going out? Did you meet someone nice?" Jackie asked, apparently having missed everything she had said, apart from 'won't be home for dinner'.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Mum, it's a study group. I'm going there to study for my exams, not to meet someone."

"But maybe you should. Go out and have some fun, Rose. You're just burying yourself in work. He wouldn't have wanted that."

The Doctor would want to break the neck of anyone who looked at her in a certain way, she thought wryly. Not that he would have actually done it, at least that's what she hoped, but still. He'd been thinking about throwing the Walking Innuendo (his exact words) out of an airlock for a mostly harmless comment about strawberries during breakfast the day after they had visited Cardiff, at a point when he had already considered Jack as a friend. And that had been long before they had become lovers.

She got up, put her mug in the sink and faced Jackie. "He wants me to have a fantastic life, and that's exactly what I'm trying to have," she told her. "Until we see each other again."

"Love, you know what he said. You told me yourself. He won't come," Jackie reasoned.

"He will come," she said with conviction. "If there is a way he will find it, even if it takes him years."

"Rose, darling, think about it. He's probably already found someone else to travel with. Don't tie yourself to a man who will forget about you soon, if he hasn't done that already."

She took a deep breath, desperately trying not to yell at Jackie. "Mum, I really hope that he has found someone to travel with. I asked him to, for crying out loud. And he never forgets about anyone he's ever travelled with, even if they haven't been..." She broke off before she could say more, but it was too late.

"Oh, I knew it!" Jackie burst out. "You kept going on and on about not being like that, but you were, weren't you? That dirty old..."

"Stop it, mum!" Rose interrupted her angrily. "You've got no idea what you're talking about. We weren't like that for a long time. But he loves me and I love him, and nothing is ever going to change that." She knew she was getting louder but she didn't care.

"He might have told you that he loved you, Rose, but that doesn't mean it's true. Most men would tell you anything to get into your knickers. Believe me, I know."

Rose simply couldn't stop herself any longer from leashing out. "Yeah, I clearly remember the string of men you paraded through your bedroom."

When she saw hurt on Jackie's face she regretted her words instantly. "I'm sorry, Mum. I really am," she apologised and took another deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. "Look, I know your relationship with Dad wasn't the perfect fairy tale you told me when I was little, but I know the Doctor loves me. Even if he hadn't finally told me on that bloody beach, I would have known anyway."

Almost from the moment she had met him there had been something in every gaze he gave her, in the way he held her hand, his hugs. All of them said that she was the centre of his universe, and she had only begun to understand why when he had told her about the War. Gradually he had let her into every dark corner of his soul, trusting her enough to burden her with the knowledge of what he had done. Afterwards he had offered to take her home, so certain that she wouldn't want to spend any more time in his presence. His hearts had been in his eyes then, and she had known.

"Rose, open your eyes. He probably just said the words because he knew that nothing would ever come of it. He's in another universe, for god's sake." Jackie was getting louder as well. For once Rose was thankful that they weren't back in their old flat for this particular discussion, because everyone in the entire house would have been able to hear them.

"He'd never just say the words if he didn't mean them. And so you just know, I'd give almost anything to get back to him," she practically yelled.

"I can see that," Jackie grated out. "Especially 'cos you've done it before. The estate wasn't good enough for you, so you ran off with an alien! You left your family, the people who loved you, and vanished for a whole year!"

Rose winced visibly. "And I'm still sorry for that. I didn't mean to be gone for so long. But that's beside the point. It wasn't that he could show me the universe. It never was. When he took my hand in the basement of Henrik's, I suddenly felt alive. I told you before, mum. The Doctor showed me how to live, how to make a difference. That's why I've fallen in love with him. He makes people better. He made me better."

She was unable to stop herself. The words just tumbled out, and she didn't even know what she was going to say next. What came out was probably the worst thing she could have said at this moment.

"You keep going on about how he won't come, that he doesn't love me, but you're wrong. Do you really wanna know what he told me on that beach, mum? Do you? He asked me to marry him. And I said yes."

A ringing silence followed her words. It didn't last long.

"He what?" Jackie screeched, in a tone that almost shredded her eardrums. Her mum's reaction was exactly what she had imagined. Now they would be getting to the part of the conversation she had been dreading since they had left the beach.

"Asked me to marry him," she repeated, more calmly this time.

"But he's an alien!" Trust her mum to point out the obvious.

"Yes, he is. But I love him, and that is all that matters."

"You're not marrying an alien, Rose Tyler! That's... That's just wrong!"

"I dunno if you've noticed, but I'm an adult, Mum. I can make my own decisions," she snapped.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that. Right now you're sounding as if you've been brainwashed!"

For a split-second Rose stared at her in shocked silence. "Mum! He never would... I can't even believe you said that!"

Jackie clasped her hands over her mouth and blinked a few times. "I'm sorry, love. I didn't mean it," she said ruefully.

Rose avoided her eyes and nodded, not trusting her voice. For some time they were silent.

"Love, I know what you said, but think about it. You could do so much better than him," Jackie pleaded eventually.

Rose smiled at her sadly. "You know, that's probably the only thing you and the Doctor will ever agree about – that I could do better than him. Mum, I don't even want you to be happy for me, but can't you try to accept that I love him?"

"Rose, do you think I would have helped you to pull the TARDIS open if I hadn't believed that you loved him? But I still think you're making a mistake."

"Mum, I already told you, he will come. I don't care if you think I'm giving up on something if I wait for him. I know I don't. So would you please do me a favour and let me live my life? Because if you can't do that, then I'd better move out," she told Jackie calmly.

With that she snatched her bag from the chair she had deposited it during breakfast and left the house.

~o~o~o~

It was one of those days. One of those days when everything seemed to go wrong. One of those days that had the chance to be absolutely fantastic. One of those days he would have loved to share with Rose, the shouting, the running, the danger, the laughter. Sharing it with Donna was not bad, not by far, but it was different. For instance, there was much more shouting involved, from his companion, that was, and the danger of being slapped was decidedly higher.

They had been aiming for ancient Rome, but when he exited the TARDIS he found himself in the middle of London, less than forty years after William the Conqueror had deserved his title. For a few seconds he stared at the spot where nine hundred years later he would be running across a bridge, hand in hand with Rose. Then he glared at his ship, but received only an innocent hum in response.

"Are you sure this is Rome? I mean, why can I understand everything?" Donna interrupted his thoughts.

"Every other time I would say that's because the TARDIS translates it, but in this case it's mostly 'cos we're in medieval London," he answered lightly, trying to shake off the memories for now.

"London? You took me to London? I can have London whenever I want to!" She sounded annoyed, although he couldn't fathom why.

"Medieval London, Donna," he gave back patiently.

"I can have that, too. Ever heard of medieval festivals?" she said stubbornly.

Medieval festivals, right. He rolled his eyes. "Donna, time travel and medieval festivals are two completely different things. Besides, you couldn't have Westminster Abbey in Norman style and the White Tower while it was still brand new." He grinned at her.

Donna shrugged. "Oh, in that case... Do you think they've got a market?"

"This is London, Donna. Of course they've got a market somewhere."

"Well, we could use some milk. I don't care if you're content with tea that can stand on its own, I want cream."

She had medieval London in front of her nose and she wanted to go shopping? He sighed inwardly. The things he did for companions.

Once they had reached the market Donna immediately began to browse the stalls, haggling with the vendors as if she'd been doing it all her life. She was brilliant; he had to give her that. She probably would be able to sell a fridge to a polar bear and convince him he'd made a good bargain.

One hour later he could finally see the end of the market. He estimated it would take them another quarter of an hour, but then his ordeal would be over. Unfortunately he hadn't taken into account the universe's perverse pleasure in torturing him.

It was the fifth before last stall that attracted his attention, and he stepped between Donna and another woman to take a closer look. There was a large assortment of jewellery on display, most of it completely worthless, but what had caught his eye was one piece in particular, a pendant that would have looked Gaelic to everyone who didn't know what the engraved symbol represented.

When he met the vendor's eyes they looked almost snake-like for a millisecond. He barely managed to hide his surprise. What was a Fegesdan doing in medieval London selling a pendant that shouldn't even exist anymore? He dug through his pockets for his sonic screwdriver to examine them.

Unfortunately he had completely forgotten why he never used that particular setting. There was stuff and it went ding, which alerted the woman who was standing next to him and gossiping with one of her friends. The conclusion she reached was only to be expected, given their surroundings.

"Witchcraft!"

He had barely time to hide the sonic in one of his inner pockets before four guards appeared and tried to arrest him. He shot Donna a glance to tell her to keep out of this, but she took it as her cue to attack one of the guards.

Things went downhill from there rather quickly.

~o~o~o~

Whatever had happened to the British judicial system in the last nine hundred years, it had certainly become a lot less efficient over time. It took the Sheriff of London less than three hours to charge them, put them on trial, sentence them and throw them into a cell in the White Tower.

It hadn't exactly helped his case when one of the guards had discovered a golden cup in one of his pockets. It was a ceremonial goblet from Araxius Seven and he'd completely forgotten that he'd ever had it, but unfortunately it looked suspiciously like a goblet the Westminster Abbey had lost a couple of years ago, relatively speaking.

On the plus side, being charged with theft from the church was slightly better than being charged with witchcraft, mostly because it was easier to prove. Which it meant they would skip torture and sentence them to death immediately. Fortunately they hadn't found any of the other pockets, because that would have been a real mess.

So he had ended up on the floor of a room that was completely empty, apart from a pile of straw in a corner that looked as if it had been there since William the Conqueror had finished the building. The look he received from Donna said that he deserved nothing less for landing them here. Then she turned to start banging at the door and insult the guards and their respective ancestors while he got up and leaned against the wall, still trying to figure out what a pendant that couldn't possibly exist and a Fegesdan were doing in medieval London.

"Well, don't you think you should do something?" Donna demanded when she had finally given up on banging against the door and play name-calling with the guards. She got surprisingly creative when it came to insults, although he could have told her that that particular strategy never worked. Neither did trying to seduce them, despite what Jack Harkness had told everybody who had been willing to listen.

He crossed his arms and grinned at her. "No need."

His demeanour seemed to annoy her, although he couldn't fathom why.

"No need? I dunno if you've noticed but they're going to execute us tomorrow, first place in the morning!"

"Oh, that," he said dismissively. "Do you've got any idea how often I've been sentenced to death in the last couple of years?" Make that centuries.

"You're telling me that this has happened to you before?"

"Yep."

"And you're telling me that there's no need to do something?"

"Yep." A broad smirk accompanied the affirmative.

"Do you think this is funny?"

"A bit."

Smack.

He rubbed his cheek. "That hurt!" And apparently he had found the only person in the entire universe whose slaps were worse than Jackie Tyler's.

"Good." She stood in front of him, arms crossed and said, "And now you're gonna explain to me how you're going to get us out of this mess!"