A Moment with DS Donovan

This is the story of how Rose Tyler and Sally Donovan first met.

It is referenced in "An Evening with Scotland Yard" (Part 9 of the "Sherlock's Rose" series).

It was the morning after their first Scotland Yard case together. Sherlock and Rose were at the Baker Street flat having coffee together on the sofa when he asked her to tell him about how she met DS Donovan. He was quite interested in why they called each other "Sal" and "Rhodes" instead of their given names. She grinned, made herself comfortable by propping her feet up in his lap, and settled in to tell her story...

"After she came to this universe and found herself married to a millionaire, my mum did something very unexpected. Instead of lounging around enjoying her newfound wealth, she donned a business suit and went to work with her husband at Vitex. She was determined to make something of herself in this new life, since she was practically just languishing away, undereducated and underemployed, on the Estate back on the other side. She turned out to be a fast study and, after she had proved herself, Pete was happy to leave the company in her hands while he focused on Torchwood with me. Mum loved her new position so much that even after Tony was born, she just took him with her and he played happily on a blanket in her office while she worked.

Anyway, Cecelia Donovan, Sal's mother, is Mum's personal secretary over at Vitex - so they work together. I say work, but I am convinced that they just sit around and gossip all day. At least that is all I ever see when I visit. To be fair, though, I really don't go over there that often. I try to stay away from Vitex as much as possible because Mum is always on my case about my preference for working with Pete over at Torchwood. She would love for me to give it all up and come work for her in a safe little corner office. I always tell her to save it for Tony because he is growing up at Vitex and loves it there. She knows that I plan to take over for Pete when he retires – simply because I can't bear the thought of anyone else being in charge of Torchwood. However, she holds on to the irrational hope that I will change my mind one day, and so she continues to harp on it.

At any rate, apparently one of Mum and Cecelia's favorite topics of discussion at work was the fact that both of their daughters remain stubbornly single. For some reason, about two years ago, they decided that we really must not be interested in men at all. Therefore, they assumed that we were probably closet lesbians – so closeted, in fact, that we didn't even realize it ourselves." Here Rose paused as Sherlock snorted back a laugh. She laughed, too, and leaned forward to kiss him. "Yes, you and I both know that the idea is absolutely ridiculous. However, apparently the more that they talked about it, the more that they convinced each other that it was the truth. Then, one of them came up with the brilliant idea that they should set Sal and me up – with each other! They were quite sneaky about it, as well, because they knew that we would refuse if we knew the truth. Therefore, I was told that my date would be DS Sal Donovan of Scotland Yard and she was told that I was Agent Rhodes Tyler of the Torchwood Institute. Our mums just assumed that once we got over the initial shock of being there with another girl and actually started talking, then we would hit it off, realize that we were made for each other, and end up having hot passionate girl-on-girl sex before the night was over." Rose had to pause here when she realized that Sherlock's eyes had glazed over a little bit at that description. In fact, she had to smack him on the back of the head to get him to refocus. Not like other men, my arse! she thought to herself sarcastically as she continued.

"Anyway, I usually have nothing to do with dates set up by my mother. She has tried it before with invariably disastrous results. Therefore, at first, I completely refused on principle. However, she promised that she would not harass me about Vitex for an entire month if I would just go on this one date for her! Now, I know a good deal when I hear one, so I bargained with her and actually got the price up to three Vitex-free months before I agreed. To be honest, spending a couple of hours with a young detective from Scotland Yard didn't sound like that big of a deal, though. Hopefully, we would even have something in common, due to our similar lines of work. Also, I had been looking for a contact within the Yard for some time. At the very least, I hoped that this date could help with that. At any rate, it had to be better than the last date she had arranged for me - with one of the Vitex accountants!" Here she stopped her narrative for a moment and shuddered at the memory before continuing.

"Our date was scheduled for the next night, so neither one of us had any time to research the other and uncover our mothers' diabolical plan. Cecelia made the dinner reservations for us, so all we had to do was meet at the restaurant. I was a few minutes late, so I just asked for DS Donovan when I arrived. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised to be shown to a table where another woman was already sitting. I immediately guessed what had happened, but I didn't want to appear rude – just in case the she was okay with the idea of dating a woman. However, judging by the shocked look on her face, I could tell that she had been steamrolled by our meddling mothers, as well."

The Blind Date - Two years earlier:

"Sal?" Rose asked uncertainly as she reached the table, unsure if that was even the young woman's name.

"It's Sally, actually. I'm guessing that your name really isn't Rhodes either, is it?"

"Rose," she replied, shaking her head and plopping into her seat. "I'm going to kill my mother!"

"You know, it probably isn't a good idea to announce your murder plans to a member of Scotland Yard," she answered with a wry smile that Rose immediately liked. "Unless you allow me to help, that is! I'm pretty sure that we can get away with it – especially since I know all of the tricks by now!"

With that they shared a laugh, a bottle of wine, and a fine meal. They also had a great time planning many embarrassing punishments for their mothers, which became increasingly elaborate and bloodthirsty as they made their way through the first bottle and then ordered another one. In the end, they basically poured each other into a cab and spent the night together at Sally's flat. However, instead of the passionate sex that their mothers were apparently expecting, there was mainly just a lot of drunken snoring. After they woke up, Rose shared her favorite alien-inspired hangover solution with Sally and their friendship was firmly sealed!

Afterwards, they decided – after much deliberation - to let their mothers live. The women had given birth to them, after all. Instead they made plans to meet for dinner again later on in the week and then separated to go and visit their respective parents. Both mothers were ecstatic when they found out that Rose and Sally had spent the night together. However, that happiness turned into bitter disappointment when they were gleefully told the entire truth. However, after Rose blackmailed her mother by threatening to tell Pete about her old boyfriends on the other side, Jackie finally agreed to leave Rose's love life, or lack thereof, alone. Sally reminded Cecelia of her knowledge of several hidden credit cards that her dad didn't know about and Cecelia agreed to lay off of matchmaking, as well. However, both Rose and Sally were pleased that they did gain a girlfriend out of the ordeal, just not the kind that their mothers were expecting. Eventually, as they got to know and trust each other, Rose gained a Scotland Yard contact for Torchwood, as well.

When she had finished her story, Sherlock smirked. "Not that there is anything wrong with it, but I'm very glad that you realized that you weren't a lesbian and didn't need a girlfriend," he told her in a serious tone, but with a twinkle in his eye – which he kept even after Rose hit him with one of the sofa pillows, "especially since I find that I quite enjoy being your boyfriend!"

Rose gave him a sweet smile. "I'm so glad to hear you say that – especially since Mum wants for my boyfriend to come over for dinner on Sunday! She was thrilled when I started seeing someone seriously, and now she thinks that it is about time that my family meets him!" She then grinned broadly at the look of horror that crossed his face at the very idea.