I LIKE IMPOSSIBLE
Chapter 1: Alien Tech

In less than an hour, Rose was standing outside a private holding room at Canary Wharf, fidgeting with her blouse buttons. She'd gone to a lot of trouble to track him down, but, now that he was here, she was nervous. What if he was nothing like she remembered? What if he didn't like her? What if, oh crap, what if she'd been getting her hopes up about this possibility for five years and it all came to nothing?

Jake must have sensed her unease. He pinched her lightly on the arm. "Hey, you! Snap out of it! Pull yourself together. What's the worst thing that can happen? Eh?"

Rose's brows furrowed. "He'll look at me like I've dribbled all over myself, have a great laugh at my expense, and then leave, I guess."

"Well, not so bad then." Jake smiled broadly and winked. "I do that nearly every day."

Rose rolled her eyes at him but appreciated his attempts to calm her down all the same. "Ok," she said straightening her skirt and squaring her shoulders, "I can do this. I'm a professional, yea?" And with a deep breath she opened the door.

Inside the holding room, a man was pacing. He was tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired, and had movie-star features. And, a grin, Rose remembered that could make a woman wilt. But he certainly wasn't grinning when she entered; he was fuming. When, she walked in he leaned back on his heels and gave her a quick cursory once over. "I hope you're in charge here, Cupcake, cause if I don't talk with the boss soon, I'll be finding my own way out." His American accent resounded off the plain white walls, bravado radiating off him in waves.

Rose smiled brightly. Not the most appropriate response in her situation, maybe, but she couldn't help it. He was so very familiar. The man, apparently, certainly wasn't expecting her reaction either, and he cocked his head, puzzled. "I'm sorry that you've been kept waiting so long," Rose began, "Captain Jack Harkness." She pronounced his name clearly and slowly, carefully watching his response.

Jack raised his eyebrows menacingly. "How in the hell do you know my name?"

Ok then, thought Rose glumly, maybe I shouldn't have gone with quite so direct an approach. However, on the outside she looked unfazed, thanks to years of negotiating with aliens. "Perhaps, you'd like to have a seat?" Rose asked, pulling out a chair at the small table and having a seat herself.

"No, I don't think so," Jack said eying the door and the room's video camera. "What's going on?"

"Please, Jack. Don't be foolish. " She implored him keeping steady eye contact. "It's not as though you're trapped. You haven't been disarmed-- I'm certain that you have your sonic blaster from Villengard stored safely away on your person somewhere as well as your..." she paused, a mischeivous gleam lighting her face, though she maintained eye contact, "Your back-up. And, we both know that you could always use your emergency teleporter to return to your ship at any time."

Jack, looking quite perplexed, pulled out a chair and sat down opposite her at the table. "Ok, Dollface, you've got my full attention. I don't know who you are, but you'd better be ready to start giving me some answers pretty quick."

"Fair enough," she replied, her confidence rising now that he'd had a seat. "My name's Rose Tyler, and I'm afraid that you've been brought here under false pretenses." She raised her eyebrows into a slightly guilty expression. "You see, I let it be known to several key contacts that I had an extrapolator that I wanted to sell."

"And, I'm to take it from your guilty expression that you don't."

Rose shook her head and poked her tongue through her teeth. "I'd hoped that you would eventually come here. I knew that you'd want the extrapolator, and, believe me, you weren't the only one. We had so many inquiries initially, it was ridiculous..." Here, she trailed off and smiled shyly. "Obviously, it's worked," her smiled faded because she couldn't read his features, was he still angry or anxious, or, oh for goodness sake, how was he supposed to react? She'd been in the room less than ten minutes with this man, and her facade was all but gone. "And now you're here and you're looking at me like I've got three heads." She concluded lamely.

Jack noticed her discomfort, and responded, "Hardly," while flashing her his heart-stopping grin. "Why were you trying to find me?" He asked, holding her eyes with his own. Then, he hesitated, thinking, his face becoming almost hopeful, "Have we met before?"

Quickly understanding what he was asking her, she answered, "No. Not through the Time Agency or those missing years, if that's what you mean."

"Then how?" He leaned back and looked her up and down again, a slight gleam entering his eye, "Cause I think I'd remember. "His suddenly flirtatious tone, made her blush slightly and smile again in that endearing way, and Jack certainly noticed. Boy, did he notice.

Rose rolled her eyes at his cockiness. "Because Jack Harkness, we once danced to Glenn Miller together during the London Blitz. Me with a Union Jack on my chest, and you trying to sell off a Chula ambulance as a warship."

"No, I don't think so," Jack said smiling, "Like I said, I'd remember."

Rose continued, "Because I traveled with you through time and space, and I know, I know that you are bigger on the inside than you are on the out."

Jack's face was a mess of confusion.

"Because I knew you, a different you, but so much the same... Because I know Jack Harkness from a parallel universe."

TO BE CONTINUED...