They went to Alec's caravan after calling in at reception and asking if they had to register for each other's caravans and the woman there saying she'd not been asked that before and being told as far as the staff were concerned they were covered, making Rose smile and nudging Alec for being paranoid last night but this was the second time in a few hours he'd admitted to someone he and Rose were now an item even if he wasn't ready to admit it to himself.
Rose wanted to go put her new purchases away and get a few more things for the morning, Alec saying she may as well leave them in his wardrobe and then deciding maybe she would take it over anyway, without the invitation and resigned himself to maybe using the wardrobes in the spare bedroom. Rose had gone back to her caravan anyway to get a dress to change into to go out later if Alec wanted to and made a quick call to her mother.
"So he's talking to you again is he?" Jackie asked her when she said they had been out for the day and it was now just after four. "So have you found out what's wrong with him then?"
"Yeah, he's really sick Mum, he needs a pacemaker, he collapsed and I found him on the floor of his caravan, he needs surgery but he may have to wait and it may be too late, he won't let me pay for him to get it done sooner."
"Then don't give up Rose, if that's what he needs, why won't he accept any help?"
"I think he's still punishing himself for a case that got away from him, a girl is still missing and the one that died, the killer walked free. He still blames himself."
"Well you'll just have to work on him then, won't you? Make him see it's not worth it if you're willing to help him, he'll come round and see sense, surely?"
"I hope so Mum, before it's too late but I think I talked him into telling his daughter he's ill, I'm gonna take him there after college on Tuesday, if he doesn't change his mind."
"Then make sure he doesn't. Rose, I never made sense of having money to spend and I know you took to it less than I did, maybe that's what you're meant to do with it, put it to some good use."
"I know, I'm gonna try and make him change his mind without him walking away from me. Is Pete around?"
"Yeah, I'll put him on and I want to meet this Alec Hardy, ok?"
"Yeah, I know."
Pete came on the line. "If this is about you being disruptive in college Rose, I don't want to know."
"Who says I've been disruptive?"
"No-one but I know what you're like Rose so have you been behaving yourself? It was Jake who said you'd rebel. Anyway, your mother may have mentioned about a certain detective you've taken a liking to."
"Yeah, well I think I may more than just like him, I've offered to pay for him to have pacemaker surgery, if I can talk him into it but there's one other thing, can you talk to the chief constable, that when Alec's had his surgery, he'll get his old job back in Broadchurch without having to go back to the training college? Did mum tell you he was my tutor?"
"She mentioned it and you be careful, they have rules about that sort of thing," he laughed.
"Yeah, we already know that and we're about to break them I think, well I am anyway so if I get warned, I might need some help if you want me to finish the courses."
"Just call me, I'll get things smoothed over, just don't tell anyone why you're really there, well except for Alec Hardy since you already asked me if you can tell anyone, I presume now it's him?"
"Yeah, I want to tell him, I really like him but I don't want to get him fired."
"Don't worry, he won't be, just let me know if he's about to."
Alec was wondering what was taking her so long, he didn't want to spy on her by looking out of the rear window to see if he could see her moving around in her bedroom so he made a drink and one for Rose and waited for her coming back. Had his life been so empty all this time he was craving her company? Hell, couldn't he even go an hour without wondering what she was doing? She would surely want to go out tonight, whether to play bingo or not and he'd liked sitting with her the other night and cursed himself for getting in such a state last night she didn't want to go out and leave him on his own, what was happening to him?
He smiled as Rose tapped on the door and let herself in, wearing a red jersey figure-hugging dress and a black jacket, a far cry from Thursday night when she had worn jeans and a t-shirt, she was meaning to go out tonight that was for sure. He got up and put his arms around her.
"All sorted then?"
She had an overnight bag which she put on the ledge by the door and put her own arms around him.
"Yeah, do you want to go out early and grab something to eat first?"
Just after six, they walked across the bridge to the pub and Alec studied the menu, putting his rimless glasses on and making Rose smile, he looked so sexy in them she thought, watching him pull a face as he couldn't eat half the items on the menu then seeing something reasonably plain and opting for it so Rose felt obligated not to show him up and ordered the same. He noticed.
"You don't have to order the same as I do Rose, don't feel sorry for me."
"I'm not, I don't like fancy food, I don't know why it's the 'in' thing to do when you go out, I wish they'd just put normal dishes on the menu instead of that cuisine. I told you, I had a very simple upbringing."
She just wished she could say 'not around here though' but Alec had said something earlier, something about her being from a parallel world when she'd mentioned she hadn't realised he was the investigating officer from Sandbrook. Maybe he'd be open to her casually talking about it. While they waited for their orders to arrive, Rose thought she would test the waters and Alec was hoping he'd be able to swallow his pride and accept her help but how should it put it to her?
He didn't need to worry about it, Rose was determined she wasn't about to give up. They went back to the caravan park's club, Rose going off to get her tickets to play bingo, hoping she might get Alec to stop being so stuffy and play along but he was having nothing of it, Rose even volunteering to show him how to play, which got her a frown.
"I do know how to play Rose, I just choose not to, it's not dignified to call out 'house' when you getting the winning number."
Rose smiled at him, taking his hand. "Aw, don't be so stuffy Alec, you might not win. If I win again, I'll gather up all the kids and buy them a slush drink, I only play for the fun of it anyway."
"Maybe you could keep the winnings, if you're intent on paying for my surgery."
Rose looked at him. "You're gonna let me? Seriously? When did you decide that?"
"Earlier on while you were buying out that department store, I like your new shoes Rose."
"Mmm, so did I went I bought them though I'm not so keen now, you may have to carry me back to your caravan. I hate breaking in new shoes, I just never learn my lesson. So, you came to your senses then?"
"On two conditions."
"Go on, I might have known you wouldn't do it without a fuss."
"One, we give the hospital a reasonable time to fit me in without paying then if it's too long, then ok, I'll let you pay."
"What's the other condition then? I go away and leave you alone afterwards and let you go back to teaching without being disrupted?"
"No, why did you think that? Are you going to go away and stop bringing chaos to my classes?"
Rose smiled. "What do you think? I spoke to my stepfather again, he said don't worry, you can't get thrown out as long as I take the blame, which I will and I'll try and behave in your classes, I promise. So tell me what the other condition is then."
"You tell me why you are really there because I'll be honest Rose, you got me, I have no idea what you are really doing there, you do not seem to be taking it seriously, you don't wear a uniform and you only take four classes so go on, what's this special assignment you're on and don't say for Vitex, I doubt they need someone trained in police work."
"I'll tell you when we get back, I honestly can't tell you here, it's classified but I promise, as soon as we get back, you'll know why I'm really there and I don't work at Vitex but something you said earlier, about me not knowing about Sandbrook, you didn't realise how close to the truth you were."
Alec looked at her, was she even being serious? "Really? You expect me to believe what I said as a joke is true?"
"Tell me Alec, did you read comic books when you were a boy?"
"Yes and it sounds like you read the same ones. You'll be telling me next you've seen little green men from Mars."
"Not actually from Mars but close enough. Take it or leave it, you wanted to know, didn't you?"
"I suppose I asked for that, I want details, very precise details and don't leave anything out either. Think of it as a practical test in writing reports."
"I'm not in the report writing class Alec, I can write reports in my sleep, trust me."
"I hope not, there are better things to do in bed Rose, sleeping for one."
"Aw, I'm disappointed now, I thought you were going to say something good then."
"Maybe when I get well again but until then, sleeping is about my limit. You do know they are getting ready to play bingo?"
He nodded in the general direction of the stage and Rose half turned, picking up the book of tickets and offering to tear them in half, giving him three.
He shook his head. "No thanks, I'll go wait in the bar, I would not like to distract you though why you play is beyond me."
"It's a training exercise," she grinned, picking up her pen.
Alec raised his eyebrows again, something Rose thought was very endearing but wished he'd stop because that was what the Doctor used to do, frequently and she was trying her best to stop comparing Alec Hardy with her best friend. Rose had thought Alec had taken the last conversation extremely well, considering so this might be easier than she thought.
"Training exercise? Seriously Rose?"
"Yeah, hand eye co-ordination, paying attention, finding numbers in quick succession and beating your fellow players plus not forgetting it can be very competitive. Then there's anticipation as you're one number away from calling, being careful not to miss your chance before they draw the next number."
Alec shook his head and got up, kissing her cheek and having several people, mostly men, staring at him and wondering why he was sitting there talking to the blonde, stroking her hand and then getting up and leaving her on her own and it wasn't them.
"Whatever you say darlin', come and find me in the bar when you've finished clearing them out of slush drinks."
Rose smiled at him and took his hand. "Don't worry, I will unless you want to come back in here and we'll go dance when they put some music on?"
"Maybe not, I have to take it easy, remember?"
"Yeah, sorry, I'll come and find you."
"Ok. Have fun and don't wipe them out, give someone else a chance eh?"
Rose dropped her pen. He had called her darlin', things were definitely looking up.
Needless to say Rose won again, Alec could probably hear her over across the foyer in the bar so collecting her money, she asked the host to shout out any kids who wanted a free slush drink to go to the bar, Rose standing there counting how many there were and the slightly harassed girl behind the bar hoping there was enough in the machines to go round. Alec thought she must have won considering she was taking her time. What had he got himself in to? She would constantly keep him on his toes, she was spontaneous, full of mischief and far too young for him, he reminded himself, what was he even thinking of, telling two people she was his girlfriend?
Now he was faced with calling the hospital tomorrow and hoping he could get a date for his surgery without having to pass the phone to Rose and her telling them to send the bill to her or probably her accountants, then he had to call Tess and arrange a meeting for Tuesday when Daisy got out of school and if that wasn't daunting enough, have Rose go with him to the hospital as well as Tess, they would both want to be there and that would be fun, he thought he may as well invite Miller at the same time.
That was a thought though, should he tell his old DS he was finally going to stop being a pain and get himself sorted? Would she even want to know or would she prefer to read his obituary? No, stop thinking like that, he told himself, Rose wouldn't let that happen and if he didn't make it, well it wouldn't be that he'd given up like he was on the verge of doing until he had met the disruptive Rose Tyler and fallen for her in a big way because like it or not, he had, why else would he be admitting she was his girlfriend? Just let Tess say anything, that was all, he'd show her she wasn't the only one who could find somebody else.
He saw Rose coming through the doors and waved to her and got up to greet her.
"Wiped them out did you?" he asked as he kissed her cheek and she took his arm as they sat down together
"Yeah, what do you think? I'll probably get banned from playing but at least there are about a dozen happy kids in there with large slush drinks and the bar staff are happy. Are you going to get me a drink Alec?"
"Spent up did you darlin'?" he asked, raising his left eyebrow and Rose really wishing he wouldn't, how was she supposed to ignore he looked like the Doctor when he did that?
"Really? I may have to go to the cash machine though at some point but you get charged to use the one out there, cheek."
Alec smiled, the Vitex heiress seemed to object to paying to get her money out, maybe old habits really did die hard and she'd not fully accepted who she was after all. He was looking forward to finding out just exactly what she'd been hiding when they got back to his caravan since it seemed she now preferred his double bed to the single one she had been occupying and he just hoped she had been joking about Mars.
Once back in the caravan, Rose having brought over her jar of hot chocolate and Alec forgoing the marshmallows she wanted to put in his, he decided it was time to get serious.
"So come on Rose, tell me what you are doing at the college, there is no point in delaying telling me now, you've given half of it away. I know Vitex would not send someone to learn police methods. So, is it a secret government agency, such as Torchwood?"
"You got me, yeah, I'm a Torchwood agent Alec, does it make any difference to you now you know?"
"No, should it? I do know about them Rose, I just did not expect you to belong to it somehow, how did you get involved with them?"
"Short or long version?"
"I want details, not the official version."
"My stepfather is the director, he just doesn't make it known to the public, not many people know, except high up officials."
"Such as the chief constable eh? So what has that got to do with other worlds? Were you trying to see if I would run away?"
"Honestly? Yeah, it's not a deal breaker when you're about to take up with someone and you suddenly ask them if they believe in parallel universes."
"So that means you have first hand knowledge of parallel worlds does it?"
"Yeah, done the whole tour."
"Really? So are you trying to tell me you come from one?"
"Yeah, does that cause a problem?"
"No, should it? Come on Rose, those Cybermen had to go somewhere and all those strange reports that keep cropping up and get swept under the carpet, does Torchwood charge in and take over?"
"Yeah, a team usually goes in to access the situation, that's why I was sent to the training college, to learn more about police procedures, to make it less daunting to any members of the public when we ask questions. Pete figured if we treated them the same as the police, we'd get better results."
"So does that mean you could be sent anywhere?"
"Within reason but I can in turn pass what I've learned on to other agents, that's why I don't need to know everything. Take fingerprinting, we can learn a lot from that, to eliminate human contamination of a scene and interrogation, to take a different approach to how we do it now, if we come across someone we suspect is part alien or hiding something."
"You've come across part aliens?" he asked, doing the eyebrow thing again that was driving poor Rose crazy.
"Yeah and real live aliens though not that many, one was sort of my boyfriend."
"Seriously? So did you lock him up then?"
Rose went quiet and Alec moved nearer.
"Sorry, did I hit a raw nerve there? Did he get taken away?"
"No, he's not here, he's not on this world."
"He's not? You mean you got separated? How did you even get here Rose and who else is from there?"
"There are three of us Alec and thanks to the Cybermen, we're trapped here, there's no way back, not ever and my friend is back there, he stayed to seal off the worlds so they couldn't come back and the gap they made got closed before we could get back, we don't belong here."
"Well it sounds to me like you are not the only ones, if others are here, apart from you and whoever came with you, did they get trapped here as well?"
"Maybe, most we've come across are brought here by what we call 'The rift', it's a rift in time and space, don't ask me to explain it, we have experts back in London to do that, things sort of get brought here, not just beings but don't worry, no Cybermen have washed up here yet and if they do, we're ready to contain them this time."
"Then why can't your friend get back or can't you control it?"
"No-one can control it Alec, it can happen at any time, it doesn't run to a timetable. It can take things as well."
"Missing persons?"
"Yeah, we've had reports people have vanished in a flash, the police think the reports are from cranks, I'm sure you've had a few?"
"Possibly, now I come to think of it I suppose. So let me get this right, if something or someone gets taken by this 'Rift', can it get back?"
"Yes and no, sometimes people come back but they're changed, sometimes beyond recognition and we try to help them but so far, there have only been a handful of people who've come back after a few years but there are far more who never did. You can't control it Alec, we've tried, not in London but at the most powerful spot, Cardiff, there's a Torchwood base there, that's where people are returned to."
"So they are locked up then?"
"No. They are looked after in a special unit until they die or go mad and try to end their own lives, we have a specialist team there to take care of them, we find it's best not to let their relatives know, it's soul destroying Alec, trust me. It's best to give them hope their loved ones will come back."
"Maybe but they have the right to know."
"You're one to talk about people having the right to know Alec. You weren't going to tell your ex wife and daughter you needed life-saving surgery so don't lecture me on Torchwood practices that were brought in before I even came to live on this world."
Rose shrugged him away but he held on to her.
"I'm not giving you a lecture Rose, maybe you are right, would anyone want to know if their relatives came back beyond all recognition?"
"I'm glad you see it that way so are we good about this then?"
"Yes, for now but I have a feeling you are still holding something back though, care to tell me?"
"Maybe, how long have you got?" she asked, reaching for a kiss.