DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Doctor Who. Still don't make any money from this. But if he doesn't stop leaving TARDIS prints in my flower bed, we're gonna have words…
SUMMARY: Something goes horribly, horribly wrong in the Parallel Universe and the Doctor's not there to save the day.
A/N: Thanks so much again to Dreamcatcher49 and LilienRose for reviewing. 'Cause ya just rock 'n stuff!
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Late that night, Jackie Tyler sat in the waiting room of the hospital terrified her daughter would die. Her makeup was streaked down her face, bags lined under her eyes, and exhaustion dripped from every pore.
Pete was still at Torchwood repairing the damage and talking with that Shadow Architect lady. Always knew my life would never be normal again, soon as I saw that Doctor, all big ears and leather. Jackie made her way to the window overlooking London, fingering he necklace and allowing her thoughts to dRift.
Never wanted her to run off with him, but I couldn't have stopped her no matter how hard I tried. Jackie smiled softly. He loved her, too. I saw it, heard it the day the ship crashed into Big Ben. He would've died for her. Jackie huffed a laugh. Guess he did though, in the end. Died so he could bring her back home. Though god knows she was more at home in that box of his.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the surgeon walked in and removed his surgical cap.
"Mrs. Tyler?"
"Doctor, how's my daughter? How's my Rose? Is she alright? Please tell me she'll be okay!" Jackie pleaded with the doctor and he caught her hands in his.
"Mrs. Tyler, Rose has been very badly hurt. The back of her skull was fractured when she hit the wall." Jackie gasped but the doctor continued. "Added to that, she has several broken ribs, a seriously bruised her pelvic bone, as well as fractured her right arm and wrist. I'm amazed she was able to defend herself, let alone live through that."
Jackie had pressed a hand to her mouth at her gasp and steadily paled until she was shaking when the doctor finished. He lead her to a chair, holding her hand the whole time. "When can I see her?"
The doctor shook hs head. "She'll be high-risk for the next 48 hours, so no visitation until then. After that, if the swelling in her brain goes down enough and she's stable enough to move, we'll move her to a room so you can see her."
Jackie made to argue but the doctor stopped her. "Mrs. Tyler. Jackie. Rose will need extensive physical therapy after this. She may not be able to walk or feed herself for a while, and she may have some memory loss. You need to be prepared for that. And this all depends on whether she wakes up in the next 48 hours."
Jackie had begun sobbing quietly during this but nodded. "Pete. I need to call Pete. I need my husband."
As if by magic, he walked through the waiting room doors just then.
"Pete!" Jackie threw herself at Pete, then collapsed in his arms. Pete looked terrified at the doctor, expecting the worst but the doctor just held up a hand.
"She made it through surgery. Now, we wait."
Pete nodded and spent the rest of the evening consoling his wife, worrying about his daughter, and trying to fix this whole terrible mess. And to top everything, they still hadn't managed to find John.
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In Rose's original Universe, the team of Torchwood Three in Cardiff now consisted of Captain Jack Harkness , Mickey Smith and his wife, Martha, and Gwen and Rhys Williams. Occassionally, Rex Matheson joined in the chaos but he'd been working with UNIT for the last year, helping to coordinate between UNIT and Torchwood.
The whole team had gathered in the newly-rebuilt Hub by mid-morning since Rift activity has been close to zero for months. They were all going a bit stir-crazy. Even Mickey had volunteered to go "Weevil hunting" but had turned up nothing for a week straight.
Jack is prepared to send everyone home for the day, interrupting Mickey getting whipped by Gwen at Mass Effect, Rhys' napping on the couch, and Martha rearranging the Infirmary for the third time this month.
But, in the fashion of the Universe laughing at Jack Harkness, these plans were dashed expertly and immediately when the Rift monitor exploded in alarms.
Rhys jerked awake and fell off the couch to the floor.
Martha jumped and dropped a tray of again-but-no-longer sterile tools. (Jack can hear her cursing over the sirens.)
Mickey and Gwen dropped their controllers and ran to the computer banks.
Jack stood as lord over his domain, sharp-eyed and attentive, waiting for answers.
Mickey straightened from his position over the keyboard to look at Jack, confused, "Nothing here."
Jack dropped his arms where they'd been crossed over his chest, "What?", cocked an eyebrow, and hurried down the steps from his loft office.
"Nothing there, Jack," Gwen confirmed.
"I heard that, but what the hell caused the alarms to…" Jack stopped, froze, his eyes suddenly glazed. He slowly cocked his head to the side as if listening to something far, far away. A melody, a song, a sound that strummed the deepest recesses of his mind and ricocheted around his heart.
He didn't hear his team calling his name as he turned his head, then body, and slowly took a few dazed steps.
A bright flash of light and a massive amount of heat slammed into Jack, throwing him into Mickey and Gwen. Luckily, they were directly behind him and were therefore protected from the brunt of the heat wave.
A loud thump and the light and heat vanished.
All are blind for a few moments.
Jack groaned and levered himself off his friends and, feeling burned and blistered skin healing as he moved, looked for the source of the explosion. Lights danced in his vision for a moment before registering the obvious. Something… someone... crumpled on the floor, bleeding profusely, and unmoving.
No one moved for a moment before Jack and Mickey burst into action, Mickey yelling for Martha to grab her kit.
When Jack turned the man over, he and Mickey both jerked back in shock. There's no way. NO WAY! Nerves shot and hand shaking, Jack reached to check for a pulse - Oh god no. Please please please don't do this old man. - A faint pulse, very slow, very weak.
"One heart," Jack murmured and looked to Mickey crouched next to his. "One heart, Mick."
A loud clatter of shoes slapping the floor heralded Martha's arrival. "Oh god! Doctor?" Her own heart stuttered at the sight of her friend laying there so still. She dropped her kit and started working.
"No," said Jack. He took a steadying breath. "No, I think it's the clone."
Martha's gaze jerked from Jack to Mickey, then back to the her boss. "Well, whoever he is, he's not gonna last much longer. Help me get him to downstairs."
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