Edit as of 14/07/2014 – story edited to fix for plot.
Please remember, in this rendition the Doctor never got the radiation and therefore does not die, although he is still deeply troubled about the danger he causes to those around him. We could say he's depressed…
- Kio
Chapter One: Welcome to Earth
"Ground control to major Tom, your circuits dead, there's something wrong"
– David Bowie Space Oddity
The Sontaran fell listlessly towards the ground with a metallic 'thunk'. In his place stood a tall, brown haired man wearing a brown suit and a tan overcoat, his eyes sorrowful. He watched on with his hands in his pockets as the couple below observed him. It wasn't that he didn't like them that he was leaving, oh no, it was more than that. He could not risk putting them in any more danger than they already were – here he was, a changer of men – a killer – a bloody killer. Ok, well, maybe he was not a killer but he had turned them into killers; the once innocent and idiotic boy stood as a man; tall, proud, assertive and poised for battle, the woman next to him no longer a victim to providence but a proud warrior. He had done this.
The man turned and left, followed softly by the sound of his time machine leaving the twenty-first century.
"That was the Doctor" Grinned Mickey as he pulled his wife closer to him.
"He looked different, sad" She bit her lips, her eyebrows slopping down.
"Don't be like that Martha, he was probably upset that he had to come to our aid" with a wink he pulled the woman into his arm and pressed his lips against hers in a possessive embrace.
"Oi, get off me!" grinned Martha as she pushed softly against his armored chest.
The man smirked and let his wife free – she turned from him, prepping her gun and surveying their environment. Bringing up her wrist up for observation, she checked her scanner, fussing with the device before turning to her husband with a tight smile.
"S'all ok here; that was the last of them"
"Are you sure? You said that last time and look 'at him!" The man pointed his gun towards the fallen Sontaran and then gave his wife a pointed look. "We could have died". The woman snorted at him and scanned the environment again, a low hum emitting from the device as she raised her arm around, scanning the parameter.
"Nothing Mickey, I swear"
The man nodded and shrugged his gun.
"Alright, let's go then"
The pair did a final visual survey around the parameter before shouldering their guns, packs and ammunition and trekking back towards their vehicle. As they passed, and began preparation to dissolve the fallen Sontaran, they heard the familiar sound of the Tardis. But, the wahh wahh sound wailing through the area was different; It's frequency higher, and more urgent then minutes before.
Startled, the two quickly sprayed the Sontaran, effectively destroying his body and any traces of the alien. Worry sped them up and with tight grimaces and thundering hearts, the two made their way up the ramp and towards the booming sound.
A burst of wind threw them against the railing; clutching and pressing them against the cool metal. They hung for their lives, eyes closed and heads tucked towards their shoulders. But moments later, the freak wind died out, the clearing falling silent again. Mikey and Martha shared a look as they rubbed the debris from their eyes and, invigorated, ran towards the dissipating noise.
Rose Tyler, blond, holding a beaten brown bag stood on the walk way, her feet planted exactly where the Doctor had stood mere minutes ago. Her torn clothes clung to her body, the tattered remains of a pink sweater hanging limply from her body; her back facing the two approaching humans.
Slowly, she brought her hands up, dropping the old bag with a cloud of dust, before resting her palms and twisting her fingers around the metal railing in front of her. She looked out into the sky, her eyes focusing on the horizon, remaining motionless save her eyes; unmoving and rooted to the spot. She opened her mouth and yelled. Shrieked. Screamed. A mournful noise that carried – carried over the landscape, carrying a painful story, carrying a dreadful apprehension.
Mickey, having reached the stairs first, stood thunderstruck as he surveyed his ex; the woman, whom in the past, he would have laid down everything to be with. She stood screaming, tears falling like rain down her pale face and wide, dilated eyes.
"What's going on?" Martha took the last few steps before coming to stand next to her husband.
"What is she doing here?" she hissed, her mouth slack. Her body refusing to move at her command, staying still as she observed the girl they had left in another universe so long ago. Her screams had died down into pitiful mewling cries, her body shuddering.
"Mickey, what is she doing here – the universe-"
"I know!"
He approached the girl and turned her around revealing her tear blurred eyes and snot dripping nose. He curled his nose a little, eyeing the girl for any damage but she interrupted him as she threw herself into his arms. Bitter tears clung to his leather jacket as she wept into his shoulder; incoherent words flowing from her mouth; desperately clinging to him.
To his wife's great discomfort, Mickey held her, rocking them both from side to side, as the girl continued to shed silent tears.
"Where did she come fro- how!"
Martha's demanding plea went unanswered, Mickey unable to respond with any kind of suitable reason for how the girl might have managed to cross parallel universes.
"Let's take her back to our base".
The man nodded, a grim look on his face. He picked up Rose and nodded his head towards the lumpy bag hanging off the side of the rafter. Martha grabbed the musty suitcase and holding her gun out in front of her, in case any new intruders appeared, lead the way to the car.
"I can't do this anymore Rose, it's gotten out of hand"
T-shirt, jean trousers and short, clipped hair.
"What are you talking about?"
"This – us! I can't live in his shadow"
"What are you talking about Docto-"
"Stop calling me that!
"…"
"I am not the Doctor. I am Benjamin. I am just a regular human"
"But Doc-"
"I'm not him Rose.. I can't … I don't remember who he is"
"The Tardis"
"I'm so sorry Rose. I'm sorry it had to be this way"
She was lying on a sanitary bed. The various smell of antiseptics, bleach and the rusty, burning smell of an old heater nauseating her. She cradled her head; her mouth thick, her tongue slow and her eyes dry as sand. Needing to find something to drink, she lifted her legs off the side of the bed and surveyed her surroundings.
Yup, she thought, hospital room. She turned around, her eyes moving slowly and focusing slightly on the contents of the room; a small white bed, a narrow dresser, a small sink and a toilet.
She did not remember how she had gotten into this peculiar situation. The hairs on the back of her neck and upper back stood on end. She worried her lower lip with her teeth, dreadfully away of the lack of her mother's presence. Every time she had gotten hurt during an operation with Torchwood, her mother was always there.
"Mum?"
She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, biting her left index finger.
No one answered.
"Ben?"
Growing impatient with the lack of response, Rose opened the door to her room and stepped into a much cooler corridor; clearly not heated like the rest of her room. The hallway slithered down in two identical directions, doors dotting its walls every five or ten feet. The hall, much like her room, was bare of any indication save for a pink door mat 50 feet or so away.
Huffing, the girl made her way towards the doorway, intent on finding out what she was doing in a hospital with no one monitoring her.
She reached the door, and with more force than she intended, and threw it open onto the surprised faces of Marth and Mickey. Struck dumb, the girl ogled the pair, her arms falling limply towards her sides.
"Hey." Mickey.
"Hi" Rose.
They both observed each other from across the room, a small pad that contained a fully equipped kitchen and living room as far as she could see. A kettle rested on the counter, the smell of tea wafting through the flat.
Martha, her fingers nervously tapping against her white cup, jumped up between the pair, offering tea to the newcomer, but the two stood entranced, ignoring her efforts to stop their interaction.
"Hey…" Rose tried again, mouth dry.
Mickey surveyed her, his lips merging in a tight line.
"What are you doing here?"
Rose started back, her eyebrows shooting up into her brows.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" She growled, hands on her sides, "Seriously Mickey!" she approached him, frowning deeply, "What are you doing here! Alright, so I'm in a hospital, that does not mean you can fly through time and space to come see if I am ok! We had a deal; you stayed there and Jackie, Ben and I here!"
"Who the hell is Ben!"
Martha shivered hearing the possessive tone aimed not at her, but towards another. Her heart clenched and she bit her tongue harder then she intended.
"And why are we even having this conversation – no, I don't care who your little boyfriend is, we had a deal Rose Tyler! You had your Doctor, you were supposed to stay there!"
"What do you mean, 'I was supposed to stay there', you're the one here!"
"Rose, this is not the parallel universe"
Both the tall male and Rose turned towards the grim faced woman, her hands clenched and her jaw set.
"what?"
"She's right Rose! How did you get here? Time manipulation? Some vortex? A new Torchwood project?"
Rose stood agape, thoughts filtering through her mind to fast for her to comprehend their subject or meaning.
"What?"
"Rose, for heaven's sake! You're on Real Earth"
Thump.
Rose fell to the floor clutching her heart, trying to force herself to breath.
"What!" Mickey snarled angrily, "The Duplicate wasn't good enough for you" his voice betrayed him in the end; I wasn't good enough for you.
He was unable to stop the feeling of anger that swept through his veins – he had done everything for this girl, and she had shot him down. Then, he had done everything to make her happy, and she had destroyed it. Nothing he did was good enough for Rose Tyler, she just kept coming back and destroying his peace and happiness.
The man kept ranting, his anger begetting him as he envisioned all the possible repercussion of Rose forcing her way through parallel universes to come back.
"They're gone." The room filled with the sounds of breathing – no one stired.
"What did you say?"
Fighting through the haze of tears attempting to force their way down her pale face, and struggling to contain the anguished cries in her throat, Rose hiccupped, "I'm the last one, he said".
Martha shared a look with Mickey, walking slowly past her husband and bending down towards the girl, putting her arm slowly around her.
"What happened Rose" She whispered, her jealousy all but forgotten.
"All gone. They're all gone. Last one, they said, last child."
"How did you get here Rose", clearly still upset, Mickey's voice demanded answers.
"Lay off Mike – can't you see-"
"I don't care! What is she doing here!? This could destroy the Universe!"
"It isn't at the moment, yeah? So lay off!"
The two continued bickering, spiting at each other curses and demands. Rose muttered to herself and shook her head.
Her vision started to blur as the fighting couple began arguing loudly. Their voices began sounding distorted and tribal as she began to gasp for breath. Coughing, she struggled for air, her heart pressing against her ribs savagely. She fell to the ground, her arms clawing at her throat.
The fighting stopped.
Straps, syringes, soft slumbers, soft, soft sheet. Mind slipping, thoughts drifting, eyes wide, a broken smile, "I can't be the last". Play, repeat. Play, repeat. Your circuits dead, there's something wrong.