The rush of familiarity that hit Rose Tyler as she stepped out of her bedroom door was staggering. The light gold hallway was exactly as she remembered it down to the coral lining that ran along the wall. The humming she had heard faintly in her room was intensified and droned pleasantly in her ears. With only a moment's hesitation she inhaled through her nose luxuriating in smell that of pure time.
This is insane; I can't believe they can copy my memories like this. Thought Rose as she wandered down the dark hallway. The Tardis was exactly as she remembered it and the realization scared her. The heaviness of homesickness was quickly settling itself over her heart as she walked the familiar corridor and reminded her that this was all an illusion and she would never see the real Tardis again.
Pushing the depressing thought away Rose considered how she could escape her memories. Most likely the people holding her were planning on using the Doctors image to make her give them whatever they wanted. While Rose prided herself on being a strong woman, she did have limits. So avoiding all typical Doctor areas was the first on her to do list.
The dimmed lighting in the hallway told her that the Tardis was in her night shift and the Doctor was most likely in the console room or library if her captors were going to mimic his habits. With this in mind Rose headed towards the kitchen. A cup of tea would help to clear her head so she could figure a way out of this mess. And besides, they were probably monitoring her progress and she didn't want to give them any reason to think she knew what was going on.
Rose reached the kitchen easily and smiled as she took in the familiar space. The dark wooden table was positioned in the center of the room with four chairs on each side of it. Rose grinned remembering the many hours she had spent with the Doctor long into the night talking about anything and everything over tea and biscuits.
Rose opened the cupboard over the kitchen sink and searched the contents with a small sigh. Her favorite mug was missing. The Doctor had given her the cup as a birthday gift a few months before they had been separated and adored it. The mug was brilliant silver with embellishment along the edges that would change colors depending on her mood. It wasn't in the cupboard with the rest of the mugs, causing Rose to grin at her kidnappers slip up. Obviously not everything would be right in this dream world, and Rose needed to focus on the differences if she wanted to make it out of here.
Grabbing a bright green cup instead, Rose quickly set the kettle to boil and leaned against the counter. Being in the Tardis again, even if it wasn't real, was amazing and Rose wanted to treasure the feeling. She had missed this place so much while living in Pete's world, and it was hard to not want to stay here forever-real or not real.
Rose felt the tears start to prick her eyes and she glanced around the kitchen knowing that she would never set foot in the real thing again. She was interrupted however when steps in the hallway alerted her of an incoming presence and before she could react a loud American accent filled the previous silence.
"Rosie, what are you doing up?"
Rose could only stare in complete shock. She was not prepared for this; she was expecting the Doctor to come bounding in talking a mile a minute, his brown hair wild. Instead she got Jack Harkness clothed in only his plaid boxers.
Seeing the man she considered closer than family and hadn't seen in three years struck something inside of Rose. She knew from what she had been told in training that the machine would change the looks of her captures into people she loved, well Rose was going to show however was using the face of Jack how much she liked the idea.
Shoving all previous plans of feigning cluelessness aside Rose's Torchwood training took over and she swept her legs under the Jack impersonator making him fall flat on his back.
"Rose! Wha-?" He didn't get a chance to finish as Rose grabbed his hands and twisted causing the ex time agent to flip onto his stomach. Rose sat daintily on top of his back before yanking his arms further behind him.
"Listen, Rose if you wanted me to yourself all you had to do was ask. No need for attacking me in the kitchen. Though you need to tell me where you learned those moves 'cause I don't think I've ever seen you do that before." The man's cheeky teasing was exactly as she remembered, enough so to put Rose over the edge.
She pushed into the pressure point in his shoulder blade causing Jack to cry out in pain.
Rose leaned in close to the imposter's ear. "I don't know who you are or why you want me, but using my friends to get information is a very bad idea."
Jack sensing that Rose was not in her right mind quickly flipped her off himself, taking care to make sure he didn't hurt her.
"Rose, it's me, Jack, Remember. Now let me get the Doctor and we can sort this all out." His voice was slow and soothing, with his hands peacefully outstretched in front of his body.
Rose ignoring this threw a punch to his side that left Jack staggering backwards. When she swung for a second attack, he was prepared and caught her arm mid swing, using her momentum to turn her body so her back was against his chest with both her arms pinned to her abdomen.
"Rose, sweetie. You have to calm down. I told the Doctor he shouldn't have let you eat those purple fish on Katriok 5. But no, you had to have a go. I mean we both know how infatuated you two are with each other but that doesn't mean you can-"Rose swung her elbow backward connecting with his stomach. The cry of pain that echoed in the small kitchen made Rose wince.
He's not the real Jack. He's a fake. There using his image to get to you.
Chanting this mantra in her head, Rose turned towards the kitchen table and grabbed the first item she saw and swung it around to point at the imposter. The large fork glinted in her hands and the blonde rolled her eyes. Not the best weapon considering she was two steps from the knife drawer, but it would have to do. Quickly Rose turned to face her winded opponent before straddling his stomach. Jack made a move to flip but she jabbed the fork right into the skin of his neck causing the man to freeze.
"Okay Rosie, you win. Now let me go."
"Don't. Call. Me. That." Rose ground out. Jack was the only one who ever used the nickname and knowing that the organization was copying his habits angered her. The man's eyes widened at her outburst and he wisely shut his mouth.
"Now, we are going to get some things straight. You and I both know that you're not Jack Harkness, so you can cut the act." The only response from this was a blank stare.
"I know what going on so just tell me what you want!" Rose was growing more and more panicked as the man bellow seemed to only get more and more concerned. How was she supposed to find her way out here? She couldn't fight Jack forever, she was to emotionally connected to the situation, which she supposed was exactly the point.
The stress of the situation caused her to push the fork against Jacks neck harder then she meant. The added pressure caused the skin to break slightly and draw blood. The dark red liquid seeped slowly down Jack's neck leaving a red stain in its wake. The Jack imposter's brown eyes were large as they looked up into hers. The sight caused Rose to falter in her actions. Jack or no Jack, this was the body of one of her best friends who she loved dearly and seeing him hurt was painful for her. Rose opened her mouth to say something akin to an apology when she felt strong arms lifting her up off the body beneath her. The hands that gripped her around the waist were hard and calloused, but extremely gentle as they set her down on her feet.
"Now what's going on in here?" The deep northern accent seemed to rubble throughout her body and Rose felt paralyzed with her back towards the owner.
She heard the rustling of clothing and assumed that they were helping Jacks imposter up off the ground.
"Doc, I don't think you sh-" this had no effect on the man as Jack was silenced and Rose felt a familiar hand on her shoulder.
"Rose, what's wrong?" his voiced was laced with concern, most likely coming from the fact that she hadn't moved an inch since he set her down.
Rose slowly turned her body until she was facing the two men. Her face was unreadable as she took in the tall broad shoulders covered in a green jumper and leather jacket. His face was stoic and blank to the outside observer, but Rose could see the faint traces of concern etched in the lines around his eyes and the tip of his lips. His brown crop of hair was damp indicating that he had just gotten out of the shower before investigating the noise Jack and she were undoubtedly making.
After a moment of simple starting at the man Rose started to laugh.
…
The brown haired woman had been sitting with her team for the past three days. The odd group was an assortment of Doctors, Computer Techs, and Alien identifiers. Jane Brown had told UNIT the mysterious devise that caused Rose Tyler's apparent disintegration was a piece of alien tech she had found in the hallway and set in the Medical room to register it later. Unregistered Alien technology was misplaced everyday and it wasn't the slightest bit unusual. Her action in the story followed protocol so she was not in the blame for the incident but was expected to help with finding out what had happened to the poor girl.
Jane was throwing herself into the job at a rate none of her coworkers had ever seen from her. The reason for this was not limited to the fact that she was curious if her devise had indeed done its purpose. But because Jane had become quickly attached the young woman without ever really knowing her. She felt a small sense of motherly protection for the girl and wanted her to be safe, as irrational as it was. It also angered her that the head of UNIT didn't seem to care that Miss Tyler was probably lost to this world. In fact they seemed to hope for it. The whole point of the operation was to get Rose Tyler out of the way after finding out if she was a threat. The incident saved time and money that would have been used in her interrogation, holding cell, and memory alteration.
The machine in front of Jane beeped once before seemingly random numbers and letters started to appear across the machines screen.
"What exactly happened?"
The voice came from the senior agent in charge of monitoring their progress. He had been asking the same question since they all arrived in the small computer room 72 hours ago.
With an annoyed look over her shoulder Jane Brown glanced quickly over the data rapidly appearing on the computer before answering, "She's stuck."
Her voice was calm and professional, the exact opposite of what she was really feeling.
Rose Tyler. The young blonde woman she saw so much of herself in was gone. Her body had been disintegrated by the neuron beam to allow her essence to travel amongst shadows of her memories. Even if she could bring the girls "soul" back, it would have nowhere to go.
Jane felt her heart sinking as she look over the data once more. She had just damned Rose Tyler to a continuous repeat of her own time line. Forever forced to live in a place where she knows exactly what was going to happen, and being able to do nothing to stop it. Until eventual she would herself entirely to her past timeline, becoming nothing but misplaced atoms.
"Stuck? I need specifics Brown."
"Dead." Jane choked out before harnessing in her emotions. "She's dead, killed on impact by the beam."
The man nodded fiddling with the end of his tie. "I'll alert the boss."
…..
The meeting was a congregation of twelve people all wearing business suits in various shades of the color black. At the head of the conference table was a man looking to be in his late fifties, with salt and pepper hair that was receding slightly. When he stood to address the whole table the room was immediately silent, his presence demanding a reverent respect.
"We are here to discuss the unfortunate death of Rose Tyler, ideas?" His voice was soft and calm as he questioned his audience.
A young Asian woman rose tentatively from her seat glancing at the notes gripped tightly in her hands. "When we first apprehended Rose Tyler we sent an email to her parents from Miss Tyler's personal account. The correspondence indicated that Tyler had left for a private vacation Norway."
"Why Norway?" The head of the table asked curiously.
"Our informant in the Tyler mansion says that the Tyler's often mention Norway in conversation, and it wouldn't be unusual for her to revisit the location."
"Understood, now what are we going to do about her death?"
The young woman cleared her throat before continuing. "Our informant says Miss Tyler suffered from severe depression and lack of self preservation when she first arrived at the household. She has apparently been approving but now lives in a separate house from her parents. It would be highly plausible for her to have sunk deeper into the depression while living alone. We think suicide would be the best route for the case."
The man nodded, giving his approval for her continuation.
"We have secured a corpse from our cadaver sight that is a match with Rose Tyler's weight and body type. We have a confirmed DNA sample which can be administered into the prototype for project C3. We would apply a simple poison to the corpse, something the Tyler could have easily gotten from Torchwood, and stage a suicide note." The woman finished and nervously folded her notes into crumpled squares, refusing to make eye contact with the head of the table.
The man in question seemed used to this and took his time considering the pros and cons of the plan propositioned. After a moment he nodded his acceptance. "Start immediately. This project is the number one priority, is that understood?" There was a general nod throughout the small crowd.
"Excellent. You may all leave."
….
Rose's laughter echoed in the small kitchen, and caused both Jack and the Doctor to look at one another in concern. The laughter was not happy, more of a humorless expression of sound.
"I told you Doctor, you shouldn't have let her try that fish." Jack muttered to the man on his left.
"Jack, we don't even know what's wrong. She could simple be sleep deprived." The Doctor shot Jack a glare.
"Right, do most sleep deprived people attack their friends in the middle of the night?" He gestured dramatically to the cut on his neck.
With a briefly concerned glance at Jack's cut the Doctor slowly approached the young woman who was at this point doubled over on the tile.
"Rose, I need you to tell me what wrong." He made to grab the girls hand but she turned to face them before he could.
"Is that the best you can do?" the question was gasped out between her hysteric laughter and caught the Doctor off guard.
"Er, what do you mean?"
Rose's laughter quieted but was replaced by a huge grin.
She turned her head upward and gestured toward the vicinity of the ceiling. "He's not even the right one!"
"Rose who are you talking to?"
Rose just giggled and looked up at him with interest.
The Doctor, deeply concerned for the sanity of his companion reached forward and gripped both of her shoulders, forcing the girl to look at him.
Rose's grin fell slightly as she found her motivation slowly slipping away as soon as he touched her. The knit jumper paired with the dark leather jacket was achingly familiar, as was the slightly cool calloused hands that absently stroked circles on her shoulders. His brow was furrowed slightly in concern and his icy blue eyes searching as he slightly begged her to tell him what was wrong so he could fix it.
She had assumed that the Doctor who would interrogate her would be the one that had disappeared on that beach in Norway. Whoever was behind this was obviously quite smart as Rose suddenly realized how much she missed this version of the man standing in front of her.
Seeing the apparent distress in her eyes, the Doctor pulled her forward and engulfed the blonde in his strong arms. Rose felt peace finally encompass her body as she smiled slightly into the worn leather and took in his distinct scent.
Suddenly she isn't Rose Tyler, the hard woman who became the defender of the earth. She is Rose Tyler, dead end shop girl getting chased by shop window dummies when a man grabs her hand and says "run". She's young and flirty and naïve and wants to bring boys onto the Tardis and show them the stars the same way he did for her. She's daring and excited, the whole universe brimming with worlds to explore. But most of all she's yearning to be good enough for her impressive alien companion who she hopelessly fancies.
This isn't real
The whispering voice comes from the back of her head and Rose can't help the tears that leak out of her eyes. Can the universe ever just give her a break?
…
Jackie Tyler was having a terrible week.
Rose had left the house sometime during the night to go running four days previously and had never come back. Apparently she had been given some sort of divine revelation that prompted her rather abrupt vacation to Norway which she was still suspicious about. Tony idolized Rose and the Rose was very close to her brother. So it didn't make much sense for Rose to up and leave the night before his birthday. Even at two, Tony had thrown a tantrum at his sister's lack of appearance at the party and had been in a continuous foul mood since then.
Another questionable detail was Norway. Why would Rose go there? She knew Rose was miserable here, but she was starting to improve drastically to which Jackie was very proud. She hoped Norway wouldn't set her daughters progress back.
The loud crash followed by the sharp cry of her young son ended her musings as she went to see what the trouble was.
Anthony Tyler was lying in a crumpled heap at the base of his highchair. The macaroni and cheese he had been eating was sticking all over the boy and kitchen floor.
Jackie sighed as she went to comfort her screaming son. Turns out Tony had inherited his father's intuitive brain and his sister's curiosity. This resulted in his frequent escapes from his crib and highchair.
It was while holding the screaming child that the doorbell rang.
Jackie wiped macaroni from Tony's squirming face as she listened to the butler answer the door. It was still strange after more than two years of living here, having a whole house of maids and butlers. She wiped the last of the pasta up before swinging the crying child onto her hip.
"Mrs. Tyler there is a police officer in the lounge, he wishes to speak with you."
Jackie looked curiously at the butler, before heading off in the direction of the lounge.
"I'm so sorry but my husband isn't here at the moment, I'm guessing this has something to do with Torchwood?" She smiled kindly at the officer while readjusting a now content Tony to her other hip.
"No ma'am, I'm actually here to talk about your daughter, you might want to take a seat."