Running From Torchwood

Rose staggered as she landed. She'd jumped without an idea of where she was going and instinctively had ended up at Torchwood. This place had consumed much of her life, as well as her husband's. Her entire family had been consumed. She really didn't want to be here. She took a deep breath before making her way further into the Lion's Den.

It took Rose getting to the old Technology Department before she finally figured out what felt so wrong about the place. When she'd worked here, someone was always in the building. It was much busier during the day time, for sure, but at night there was at least a skeleton crew. There was no way she should have made it this far without getting caught.

That realization didn't stop her, however. She needed gear and clothes. It didn't take Rose long to find a couple of blasters she favored. Both had a stun setting, which she set her main weapon to. Her secondary she kept on lethal. If she had to reach for that secondary weapon, she mused that she would probably need it. Her first choice, however, would always be to hide.

She raided the locker room next. She dressed in black fatigues. She even managed to find a shoulder holster that would fit her smaller frame. She'd neglected her body badly after Joshua's death and though she never died, you could tell. Her body had withdrawn into itself. She looked like skin pulled taunt over a skeleton. And while her soul still felt the absence of her Bond-mate, she knew she couldn't let herself wither away. Her mourning period was over.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

The first thing Rose did, after kitting herself, was to get some food. Not just a hot meal in her belly, although that was essential, but also some things she could take with her. Conjuring things from thin air was within her abilities, but it also left her drained. Not something she could really afford. Not if she were running. So a hot meal, a long bath, and a night's sleep.

By the morning, even with the small amount she had treated her body, she could tell that it had helped. Ever small bit. She was at a loss as to what she needed to do next but then it dawned on her. There was no way her father could have known exactly where to jump to catch her when she was falling towards the Void. So Torchwood Tower was her next stop.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

It took far longer than she'd like to convince Pete that he needed to make one last jump. And when he did, Rose could feel that part of the Time Line cement. She still couldn't get back. That way was closed to her forever. Besides, she felt she still had unfinished business. She left her family to live their lives as she remembered, wiping her family's recollection of this version of her before going. It would do no one any good to remember the hollow, soldierized person she had become. They would figure it out in time anyway.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

The next place Rose found herself was a planet she'd never visited before, in either Universe. A least at first glance. The streets were muddy and she would have thought it a bit technologically stunted. Upon entering what appeared to be a pub, she could tell it was just on the exterior. The inside was much more advanced than even her own time. Expanding her senses, she found herself to be in the year 5000, on Earth. Aliens of all shapes and forms were inside of the pub. Quite a number of years further past her time but she felt herself relax. Torchwood shouldn't reach her here.

Oh how wrong she was.