Old Belongings

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"Jackie, if I were you, I would pay very close attention to what I'm saying right now. Because you may never hear me say it again," the Doctor said sternly. "You make theBSET cup of tea in the universe. And I mean that literally!"

Jackie's mouth popped open into a perfect 'O' of shock, then a grin lit up her face. Rose and Mickey giggled. "Umm, thank you," she said. "Oh, Rose? Would you come and look at something for me?"

"Sure Mum," Rose smiled, rolled her eyes and jumped up to follow her mother.

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It had been a week here since Canary Warf. And in that time a lot had happened. Mickey and Jake had gotten a flat. Pete had talked with Torchwood and twisted their arm. He now had his old identification and his death certificate had been erased from all records. For all legal purposes, he had never died.

And on top of that, he was now the new boss of Torchwood. The old Director had been killed in the mini war. And since he had experience as a Torchwood Director, he managed to get himself in charge. Mickey and Jake worked there too. And Pete had also started up Vitex here. It was just small at the moment. But he had no doubt that in a few moths, it would be taking off.

Oh, and he had already proposed to Jackie.

"It's a little strange, but I would defiantly like her as a daughter," Pete told Mickey and the Doctor as the two women chatted away somewhere else in the house. "I mean, thinking of the other Pete, he was lucky. It - it's not that me and Jackie didn't want kids," he said timidly. "We always used to say that we never had kids because she didn't want to ruin her figure. But the truth is that we just couldn't. She used to get so upset about it that we just started to shrug it off. We thought of adopting, but Jackie didn't want that… It's good to know that here, she got what she wanted."

"They nearly didn't," Mickey said automatically, without thinking.

"Eh?" the Doctor said in confusion.

"Oh… Uh, Gran used to say that they had the same problem. Jackie and Pete never told anyone, but my Gran knew. She used to live just next door before she had to move so she could look after me. She could hear Jackie crying through the walls. But then they went and saw some doctors. And they ended up with Rose. Absolute miracle, they said."

"Not one universe can get it right, can they?" he sighed, echoing what had been said on the parallel universe. "You sure you're going to be alright?" he asked Pete.

"Doctor," he said. "I may be back to square one - well, almost - but I have my Jackie back. I have two great jobs. And a new daughter. If anything I'm beyond okay. And this Jackie - if I must say - is happier than my old Jackie. And what about you?"

"Me?" the Doctor said in surprise. "Me, Rose, the TARDIS, all of time and space, and the smile she gets when she sees it all - Life couldn't get any better." At this Mickey looked at him in amusement. "What?"

"Nothing?"

"What?"

"Nothing!"

"Mickey," he warned.

"Well, it's just so obvious how much you-" he cut himself short when Rose practically skipped back in the room, a box in her hands. Jackie followed behind her.

"What's that?" he asked, momentarily distracted.

"Some of Dad's old stuff. Him and Mum don't want to keep it, thought I'd like to take a look through it."

"More junk for your room?" he teased.

"Oi! It's not junk! And I doubt you don't have little nick knacks lying about in your room."

"Hold on," Jackie stopped them. "How do you know what her room looks like?" He tried to avoid the death glare she was shooting him. God, that woman could change moods in a millisecond!

"I woke her up when she was having a nightmare, once," he shrugged.

"You give her nightmares?" she cried.

"No, Mum," Rose told her calmly. "The adventures are fine. It, um… it was the same dream as usual."

"Oh," Jackie said quietly.

"Oh?" Pete questioned. Beside him Mickey began to laugh.

"Rose has an irrational fear of plain white walls," he informed Pete.

"It's not irrational!" she cried.

"You should have seen how fast you legged it from Canary Warf!" Mickey continued to laugh. Rose cocked her head in thought a second, reflecting back on that moment. The tightness in her chest and the need to get out of there. She imagined what it looked like from everyone else's point of view… and suddenly cracked up laughing too.

?...DW…?

The Doctor smiled at Rose from across the console. They had both enjoyed the visit to her mothers. Jeez, the woman was slowly turning him domestic… well, slightly domestic-ish, and he didn't even give a damn!

She was now sitting cross legged on the floor. The box of her father's old belongings in front of her and two piles either side.

"Right," she said standing up. "This pile," she pointed to the smaller one, "is going to my room. And this one," she pointed to the other pile, "can just be donated or chucked out or something."

The Doctor nodded, then noticed that she'd missed something. "What about that?" he indicated to the pocket watch, still lying unsorted. Rose looked down at it and blinked, before picking it up. She smiled back up at the Doctor… and said nothing. "So, what are you going to do with it?"

"Do with what?" she asked in confusion.

"The watch."

"What watch?"

"The watch in your hands!" he cried incredulously. She looked down at the watch in her hands and blinked in surprise, like she didn't know it had been there.

"How long have I been holding this?" she asked looking back up at him.

"You only just picked it up," he said cautiously. She stared at him blankly.

"Just picked what up?"

"Rose," he walked up to her and looked into her eyes, worry evident on his face. "Could you please give me what it in your hands?" he saw confusion in her eyes.

"There's nothing in my - oh," she gasped, blinking in surprise again. She was looking back at the watch in her hand. "But I - I don't even feel it," she whispered fearfully. She dropped it in his outstretched hand as if it were poison.

The Doctor nodded, taking note of this, and took it from her. He picked up a trophy from beside him and held it in front of her to see, then he hid it behind his back.

"Okay, Rose, what do I have behind my back?" he asked. She looked at him incredulously.

"My Dad's old bowling trophy," she said. The look she was giving him was the usual amused and confused look where he knew she was ever so slightly concerned about his sanity.

"Right," he said and put it back down. He then took the watch and held it blatantly before her eyes. There was no way she could miss it. And indeed, she did look at it, but she seemed rather distracted. He knew she could see it, but her eyes kept wandering and drifting away from it. "Keep looking at this, keep your eye on it," he told her. "Tell me what it is."

"A pocket watch," she said slowly, her tone saying 'isn't it obvious?'

He then hid it behind his back. "Okay then, what do I have behind my back now?"

Rose's eyes lit up with fond annoyance, and she put on a show of thinking. "I don't know, is it… a banana?" He knew her well enough to know that she wasn't acting, her reaction was genuine. She didn't know. A frown creased his face and drew his brows together. Rose saw this and mistook his look of worry for something to do with her not being able to guess correct. "Well, how am I supposed to guess what crazy thing you're hiding? It could be anything in the universe!" she protested.

"This is the strongest perception filter I've ever seen," he murmured taking the watch back out and looking at it. It seemed as if he were really just seeing it now. And indeed he had almost been ignoring it for something so important. A common reaction to the perception filter. But now he knew about it, and he could see it clear as anything. And what he saw made his face drain of all colour. He froze completely and his mind ceased to work for 8.972457 seconds.

"Okay Doctor, what the hell is going on? Are you trying to confuse me…?" suddenly she seemed to notice the state he was in. "Doctor? Are you alright?" Rose asked in concern. He looked so pale and freaked out.

The Doctor didn't reply. He was too busy staring in shock at the fob watch in his hands. It had indents on the back as if it were meant to clip into some sort of machine. And on the front… on the front were the rounded patterns and writings of Gallifrey. It was the identity link to a Chameleon Arch.

"Where did you get this?" was his strained reply.

She looked at it a moment and blinked yet again. "I've never seen it before in my life," she told him, her brow creasing in worry. She had never seen him like this before. The Doctor just stared at her in fear and disbelief. Then he was dancing around the console in a panicked frenzy.

"Erm, Doctor… Where are we going?" she asked, concerned as to the way he was acting.

"Your mothers," he told her. "I need to ask her something." Sensing his urgency, the TARDIS landed him at the Powell Estate in seconds. "Okay, I need to rush ahead. Rose could you grab a book from the library for me? Please, it's important. The TARDIS will show you which one."

"Okay…" Rose stretched the word out. There was no doubt she was questioning his sanity at the moment. Quite frankly, he was too. Shrugging, Rose turned and headed for the library.

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Before she had time to realise it was a trick, he had dashed outside and locked it with the sonic-screwdriver. He ran up to the door of Jackie's flat and pounded on the frame.

"Alright, alright, hold your horses!" he heard her say from the other side of the door. She opened it and faced the pale, panicked Time Lord. "Doctor!" she said in surprise. She peered around him, looking for her daughter. "Where's Rose?"

"In the TARDIS. I need to speak with you," he pushed his way in, dragging her with him. Jackie looked fearful and concerned when he stopped them forcefully in the middle of the lounge. Pete didn't even look up from the photo album he was poring over. His brow was creased in concern. The Doctor pulled out the watch. "Where did you get this from?" he demanded.

"That's Pete's old pocket watch. He bought it the day Rose was born," she said in bewilderment.

"Speaking of which," the Pete not in question interrupted. "You seem to have missed a few months here… wrong dates too." He continued to flick between the pages of the album. "This photo's marked just before she was born and you're not even showing… Not to mention the wine in your hand!"

"Let me see!" he cried sitting down next to him. His fear and panic were making him harsh and rash. But he didn't care how he was acting. If what he suspected was true, everything would change. If what he was suspecting was true, this would be the best and worst day of his life.

He looked down at one of the photos on the page. Pete and Jackie were curled up on a couch, wines in their hands. They appeared to be at a party. It was dated the day before Rose was born. Pete was right, she wasn't even showing.

The next page over showed the date of Rose's birth... There was nothing, well, nothing of Rose at least. Surely they would have had pictures of their daughter the day she was born. But pictures with her in them didn't crop up for another two weeks. Jackie was grinning and holding a baby Rose. Sure, Rose was absolutely tiny, but she looked to be about two or three weeks old at least.

"No, that should be right," Jackie told them. "The old Pete was meticulous with dates. It's probably just a picture in the wrong spot." The two men flicked through the album, but there wasn't a baby bump in sight.

"Jackie," the Doctor said, walking up to her. "Please, this is very, very important, it's about Rose. I need to take a look at some of your memories."

"You what?"

"Look, I'm telepathic, okay?" he said in frustration. "Something is very wrong here and I need to look back at your memories to the day Rose was born."

"Ha! Be my guest, child birth is a bitch," she laughed. "Wait, are you going to be in my mind?"

"Yes, but trust me, I wouldn't do this if it were avoidable."

Finally, after a few death glares and a long calculated look, Jackie nodded. Hesitantly he placed his hands on her temples. He didn't want to go into her mind. Who knew what ghastly things went on in there! But most of all, he didn't want to know the answer to what he might find. It could very well just break him.

He ignored most of the memories; going further back until he came to the day Rose was born. He watched through the memories of Jackie giving birth and she and Pete gushing over their new little girl. He could feel their happiness and relief. And now they could finally tell people. They hadn't wanted to tell anyone until she had been born, just in case she had lost the baby. But the memories felt somehow… false.

He sifted deeper and suppressed a groan as he realised that they were fake memories that had been put into her head. Then, after going deeper and further forward two weeks, he found the real one.

Jackie was upset. She and Pete had been discussing adoption. After all, there was no other option left. The hospital had said they'd send someone around to talk to them, but she wasn't sure if she did want to adopt. Then there came a knock at the door. Slowly she dragged herself up and answered it.

The Doctor gasped out loud when Jackie opened the door to reveal Drall… But that wasn't possible. Drall had been the Lord President when he was at the Academy. What the hell was he doing here, dressed as a human? In his arms was a tiny bundle that he assumed was a baby.

"Hello," Drall smiled at them. "I'm Mister Xeno Drall. The hospital said you were looking to adopt."

"We'renotlookingforanything atthemoment," Jackiesniffedrudely.Shemadetoclosethedoor,buthestuckhisfootintheway.

"Oh, but please!" he cried. Jackie opened the door back up in exasperation and before she could protest, Drall and two others stepped in. "Look, this is urgent. We need someone to look after this little girl," he told them holding the bundle up. "Her parents were killed just this morning, she has no other relatives or anyone to look after her. We need someone to look after her for at least a few days. It would be better than sending her to child services." Jackie looked at him doubtfully. "Think of it as a trial run. Take care of her for a few days, if you like her, then adoption is always a possibility."

"Who do you think you are, coming in here and demanding that we look after a strange baby?" Jackie cried. Normally she may have gushed over the poor little dear, but she had been through a horrible, emotional day.

Growling in frustration, Drall handed the baby to one of the men and grabbed Jackie's head in his hands. It was clear he had already reached the end of his patience. She let out a cry as he forced images into her mind and removed the true ones.

"What the hell are you doing?" Pete shouted angrily. "Leave her alone!" As he jumped up to help his wife, he was grabbed by the other man.

Drall let Jackie slide to the floor in a dream like state and moved on to Pete. He forced the same kind of images in and removed the others. When Pete fell to the floor beside his wife, Drall placed the fob watch in his hands, and the infant in Jackie's arms.

And then they left. When the door bang closed they were woken from their daze. And they smiled at each other.

They looked down at their daughter. Their miracle. Their beautiful little Rose.

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Jackie was pale and shaking by the time he removed himself from her mind. And so was he. Because his suspicions had just been confirmed, and he felt as if he were about to shatter. How was he going to tell Rose that she was really a Time Lady, that her whole life had more or less been a lie?

"Doctor! Why the hell did you lock me in the TARDIS?" Rose's voice broke them all out of their stupor. She charged through the house, obviously having broken out. They looked up at her in shock (Pete in confusion as he still didn't know what had transpired in Jackie's head). Then Rose froze as she stormed into the room and saw him and her mother looking like they were about to faint. "W-what's wrong?" she asked nervously.