Really sorry about the delay. I would have gotten this up yesterday, but my brother decided to take the computer hostage, as it were. However that gave me time to do a drawing of David Tennant, so it wasn't all bad. Anyway, here's the next chapter.
Rose had been enjoying her tea for a while, when suddenly Pete appeared.
"Hi Rose," he said. "Sorry to interrupt…"
"No, it's fine," said Rose. "Dad, this is Alathea and her grandson James."
"How do you do," said Pete, smiling. "Um, do you mind if I have a word with Rose in private?"
"Of course not," replied Alathea. Pete took Rose's arm and dragged her away.
"What's this about, Dad?" asked Rose. Pete bit his lip.
"Listen Rose," he said. "I've got something to tell you. I didn't know if I should or not, but I was talking to my friend Friedrich Nietzsche and he said I should tell you."
"Come on, out with it," said Rose. Pete took a deep breath.
"Okay," he said. "You know how when you and the Doctor met Queen Victoria and the werewolf, the house you were staying in was called Torchwood?"
"Oh yeah, I thought the name sounded familiar," said Rose. "What about it?"
"W-well," said Pete nervously. "After you left, Queen Victoria said that she wanted to create an institute to investigate alien matters on Earth and fight them. She named it …"
"Torchwood," realised Rose. "Oh my g… but that means … she's the reason I'm here! She's the reason I was separated from the Doctor!"
"Well, in a manner of speaking, yes, but-" said Pete.
"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Rose. "We saved her life, and this is how she repays us?! How could she do that?!" Rose looked at her father, tears forming in her eyes. Pete went to comfort her, but before he could she closed her eyes.
I want to see Queen Victoria, she thought. And with that she vanished.
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Rose found herself standing outside a large wooden door. She went to knock, but before she did so she cried out "Nathaniel!", and at once her angel appeared.
"This had better be important Rose, I'm in the middle of Deal Or No Deal," he said.
"Sorry," said Rose. "Um, you know how being in Heaven makes it impossible for you to get angry? Well, I'd like that power removed."
"Uh, I don't think that's such a good idea," he said.
"You don't understand," said Rose. "Behind this door is the reason I cried myself to sleep for months on end. The reason I felt dead inside. The reason I'm not with him at the moment. And I need to know what it truly feels like to be facing it."
"I'm sorry, but I can't…" began Nathaniel, but just then a gust of wind started blowing. Rose closed her eyes as it blew away at her soul, giving her the chance to feel everything she used to.
"Thanks," she said.
"It wasn't me," said Nathaniel. "I don't have that power. I think you've just received a gift from upstairs. But be careful. You may find yourself feeling things that are completely overwhelming. Make sure that as soon as you've done what you came here to do, you let Heaven's defences come back. It's for the best." Rose nodded, turned to the door and knocked, and the door was answered by the woman she'd met months beforehand.
"Hello Queen Victoria," Rose said. "You might not remember me …"
"Dame Rose," said Queen Victoria. "Wow, look at you. Um, what can I do for you?"
"I need to come in," said Rose. Queen Victoria nodded and led Rose in.
"Who is it?" called Prince Albert from down the hallway.
"The girl I met at Torchwood House," said Queen Victoria as her husband came into view.
"Oh, hello," Prince Albert said. "Okay, I'll leave you to it then. I'm just going to have a round of golf." He vanished into the air, leaving Rose and Queen Victoria alone.
"Um, would you like a cup of tea?" asked Queen Victoria.
"No," said Rose bluntly. She then closed her eyes and wished for a bowl of chips, which she received. She sat down, picked up a chip and munched on it. Meanwhile, Queen Victoria looked around awkwardly.
"So …" she said, "… this is certainly a surprise. I didn't expect to see you again. And seeing you now … you look just the same as I remember you."
"Well, it hasn't been that long for me," said Rose.
"Oh dear," said Queen Victoria, sighing. "It's such a shame to die young. Though with you, I guess it isn't really a surprise. As much as I hate to say I told you so … I just knew that life you lived wouldn't last very long."
"Yeah," said Rose. "And do you know why my life didn't last as long as I'd like?" Queen Victoria shook her head. "Torchwood. The organisation that you set up."
"My dear, Torchwood's intention was never to kill," said Queen Victoria. "It was simply to fight, to defend Great Britain against alien life."
"Oh, they've been doing more than that," said Rose. "Haven't you been watching what's been happening on Earth?"
"Well, since being reunited with my Albert and everything, I guess none of that seemed important anymore," replied Queen Victoria. "Don't you have anyone special up here?"
"The most important person in my life is still down there," said Rose. "Living the fantastic life that, for a time, I lived too. But thanks to your Torchwood, I'll never be with him again." Rose closed her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks. "I'm going to show you something now. I'm going to show you exactly what I went through."
"Um, okay, if you really want to," said Queen Victoria. "So do you want to do the transfer of information?"
"No," answered Rose. "I want you to go through this at the same, painful speed I went through it. Have you got a TV around here?" Queen Victoria pointed to the corner of the room, where a small TV sat.. Rose looked at it.
"Show everything that happened from when I arrived at the Powell Estate to the last time I saw the Doctor!" she exclaimed. Queen Victoria turned around as the TV switched on. It showed the TARDIS materialising in the playground.
"What is this?" she asked.
"Just watch," said Rose.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
While Queen Victoria was watching the events unfold, Rose had wished for a portable TV to appear so she could watch the Doctor. He'd just met a woman named Martha Jones. Rose didn't see anything wrong with her, but she was flirting with the Doctor a little more than Rose would have liked. She turned to Queen Victoria, whose heart was breaking as Rose confessed her love to the Doctor. She watched and cried as the Doctor went to reply, but ran out of time. Rose, witnessing the event for a second time, felt the same way she had before, and it made her hatred of the queen even greater.
"You poor child," said Queen Victoria. "I had no idea…"
"Of course you had no idea!" cried Rose. "You've just been sitting up here in your own perfect little world, while meanwhile millions of people have suffered because of you! Normally after the Doctor saves someone's life that person is grateful, but not you!"
"But Rose, I couldn't just sit back and let the Doctor wreak havoc wherever he went," said Queen Victoria. "I had to defend my country."
"But the Doctor doesn't wreak havoc! He saves people from it!" retaliated Rose. "If there was no Doctor, the planet Earth we know wouldn't exist! It'd either be overrun by ghost-like aliens, blown up into pieces powering alien vessels, full of gas-mask zombies …"
"Okay, okay, I get it," said Queen Victoria. "Maybe I was too quick with my decision. But I have to tell you, when I formed Torchwood it was for the greater good. It was so Sir Robert's death wouldn't have been in vain."
"The Doctor's witnessed millions of deaths, but you don't see him setting up organisations for each one, do you?" said Rose. "We tried to make you understand about the werewolf, but you just wouldn't accept it because you weren't comfortable with it. If you just go through life seeing what you want to see and hearing what you want to hear, you'll never be happy. That's why I travelled with the Doctor. It opened my eyes to the reality of the universe. It took me out of my comfort zone, into situations I never would have dreamed of. And I could have died, many times. But I was happy. Happy because I was doing something with my life. Happy because I was making a difference. And happy … because I was with him." Rose put her head in her hands and wiped the tears from her face. Queen Victoria stood behind her.
"You're right," she said quietly. "I was, what can I say, a hypocrite. I refused to listen to the Doctor about the werewolf, but then I set up Torchwood to find out about matters like that. I didn't realise how important what you were doing for me was. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" Rose looked up at the old woman, and saw remorse in her eyes. Deep down, she knew it wasn't really Queen Victoria's fault that all this had happened, and yet she was still willing to admit her mistake. Rose smiled.
"Sure," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to watching the Doctor."
"Of course," said Queen Victoria. "Will you pop round again sometime?"
"Maybe," said Rose, before vanishing.
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I hope you enjoyed that.