30A/N Welcome to my first proper bit of Doctor Who fanfiction. To clarify, this will be a Doctor x Rose story, but the story is Rose's so it will take some time for the Doctor to appear. Happy Reading and let me know what you think!
The Lady in Gold
Rose Tyler had had enough.
This was the last straw, and she was completely and utterly done.
Rain poured miserably over London, but Rose couldn't even be bothered to seek shelter as she walked through the streets, soaked to the bone.
It was hardly the first time that she'd had a fight with her mother. But Rose had reached her limit.
Rose loved her mother, but their relationship had really gone downhill in the past two years. Since her mum had started bringing around Nick, actually.
Nick was almost fifty, balding, and his breath stank. His gaze also made Rose feel uncomfortable, but no matter what Rose said, her mother would not believe it.
Rose had taken to spending time away from the flat where Nick had become an almost permanent fixture, which had led to Jackie accusing her of getting airs and graces and cavorting with god-knows-who.
The last straw had been Rose's terrible marks on her last exams. Rose never claimed to be a particularly good student, but she always managed to do well at school. These past exams, however, she had barely managed to scrape by.
Jackie had screamed herself hoarse, and Rose had returned the favour without backing down. Then Nick had become involved, and when Rose told him he wasn't her father, Jackie had asked her to get out.
"Gladly!" Rose had shouted before walking out.
Which brought her back to now. Alone, tired and on the verge of tears, out in the cold rain without an umbrella or hope of shelter.
"You could always come with me."
Rose stopped in her path, as she remembered those words. Those words had been why she'd done so poorly on her exams. Not the only reason; but a big part of it.
The thought of Jimmy brought a smile to her face, despite her depressing mood.
Jimmy Stone had been the only good thing in her life these past few months. He was everything Rose could ever want in a boy, and she regretted her decision to not take him up on his offer to this day.
Shareen had been the one to drag Rose out one evening to watch Jimmy and his band at a local pub. No Hot Ashes was nothing spectacular as a band, but their frontman was dazzling and the most handsome bloke Rose had ever laid eyes on. Jimmy's voice reminded her of mulled wine and roaring fireplaces, and Rose had fallen in love at first glance.
By some bizarre cosmic miracle, Jimmy had also taken an interest in Rose and she couldn't have been more thrilled.
Jimmy was nineteen, had a career and a life he could be proud of, could have any woman he wanted (and there were plenty of them who wanted him), but he'd singled out Rose who had been barely sixteen then.
That had been four months ago now, and anytime the band was in London, Rose would go and see him. Jimmy made her feel like the only girl in the world and when she was with him, she could forget about her life, and her exams, and her mum and Nick. The last time she had stayed over with him, Jimmy had asked her to come with him.
"We're going on to Amsterdam," he had told her. "You could come with me, babe."
Rose had been tempted. The thought of the open road and an adventure where each day would be different than the one before was something she never dreamed she would be able to have. But responsibilities had held her back.
Despite how much Rose complained, she did well at school. Her teachers couldn't care less about a chav off the Estate and if nothing else, their indifference made her want to try harder to make something of herself. If Rose had been in a more rational state of mind, she would have known she would hate to leave school.
Apart from school, Rose also had responsibilities to her family. Her nan had died only a month prior, and her mum was still recovering. Her dad had passed before Rose could even remember, so there was no one else Jackie had left. Leaving her alone to go off gallivanting with Jimmy would have been cruel.
Not that it mattered anymore. Her mum had Nick. Rose had proven all her teachers right by barely passing her exams.
Rose Tyler was neither wanted nor needed in any manner. There was no point in her being in London anymore.
Rose wiped her tears hastily, not that it made a difference since she was completely soaked, hair, clothes and all. She knew Jimmy's bedsit was a short walk away. He was still away but she knew where the spare key was, so she could stay there. He would be back in a week and then she would ask him to take her away so she would never have to see her mother or her teachers ever again.
With a plan in mind, Rose turned around to walk towards Jimmy's flat but stopped dead in her tracks. It took a moment of her blinking rainwater out of her eyes to realise she was not hallucinating.
The street was deserted, except for a solitary woman, standing out starkly against the grey of the streets on a rainy London evening.
The woman was dressed in a resplendent gold gown, the silk fabric clinging to her form like molten gold poured over a picture perfect figure. She had long blonde hair (natural too, judging by the state of her roots), laying in gorgeous waves all the way down to her waist. She was holding a clear umbrella, keeping her protected from the rain but it was a bit unnerving that the rain and wind didn't disturb her perfect hair or her delicate gown too much.
Rose suddenly felt a bit too scuffy in her soaked clothes and muddy trainers. She didn't even want to think about her hair which was no doubt in tangled clumps, probably making her look like a drowned rat.
"Lovely evening, isn't it?"
Rose stared at the woman like she'd grown a second head. It was a miserable evening, by anyone's standards, let alone someone who looked like she had walked right out of a book about fairy godmothers.
The woman stepped towards Rose, the silk gown rippling around her as she walked, and Rose was frozen to the spot. It was as if she wasn't quite there, her unearthly presence instilling a deep sense of fear within Rose's very being.
"I don't mean to frighten you," said the woman, stopping a few feet in front of Rose. Her voice was delicate, with a posh accent.
"I'm not frightened," said Rose, automatically.
The woman chuckled and took another step closer. Rose could see her face clearly now, and it was a surprisingly unremarkable face. She was pretty, with pale skin, sparkling blue eyes, and delicate features. It was not a face that would stand out in a crowd, but Rose knew the woman would never lack for attention.
"I'm Aurelia, you can call me Lia for short," she said. "What's your name?"
"R-Rose," she answered.
"It's a nice name," said Lia, and held out her umbrella to her.
Rose stared at her, noting the rain hit Lia's form but she remained perfectly dry.
"What are you?" asked Rose, not moving to take the umbrella.
Lia smiled and held out the umbrella to her insistently. "I mean you no harm, Rose Tyler," she said.
Rose took a step back. "I never told you-"
"Never told me your last name," finished Lia, with a nod. "Please take the umbrella. You're soaked."
Rose looked at Lia and figured she could outrun her if needed. If nothing else, Lia would at least trip over that gown. With a slow deliberate gesture, she took the umbrella and held it over herself. It made little difference since she was already soaked but it was nice not to get rained on.
"Who are you?" asked Rose.
"A friend, I suppose," said Lia.
Rose clutched the umbrella tightly. "Are you one of Jimmy's fans?" asked Rose, even though she knew she would remember someone like Lia.
"No," chuckled Lia. "I do not hold any affection for, or have an interest in Jimmy Stone."
"Then how do you know me?" asked Rose.
"I don't know you," said Lia, with a sardonic smile. "Not really, I should say." When Rose just gave her a puzzled look, Lia's smile became almost mischievous. "I am someone who likes the idea of meddling in things that are absolutely none of my business."
"What does that even mean?" asked Rose.
"I know you're thinking of running away with Jimmy Stone," said Lia, her smile turning pitying. "Drop out of school, leave your mother behind. Am I wrong?"
Rose narrowed her eyes at Lia. "You don't know what I'm thinking," she said. "You don't know who I am!" Rose knew she was yelling, but she did not care. "I don't know how you know my name, but you don't know anything about me!" Rose threw the umbrella at Lia's feet and turned to walk away.
"Bad Wolf," said Lia, and Rose stopped in her path.
"What?" asked Rose, as she turned around.
"I said, bad wolf," said Lia.
"You're actually insane," said Rose, knowing she had to get away from the woman.
"My sanity is neither here nor there," said Lia, picking up the umbrella and stepping toward her. "What I'm curious about is why me saying those words made you stop."
Rose rolled her eyes at her. Lia was sounding more and more like an actual nutter. "Because they're nonsense," said Rose. "What's next? The three little pigs?"
Lia chuckled and shook her head. "Maybe, but honestly, I have always found the bad wolf more fascinating," she said, like there was a joke Rose was missing.
"I don't care," said Rose, turning to leave again.
"How about a bet then?" called Lia, and Rose stopped once again. "Or a challenge, I suppose."
"I said, I didn't care," said Rose, but had to admit Lia had her intrigued by her words.
"You're a bad liar," said Lia. "Trust me, takes one to know one." She held out the umbrella to Rose again.
Rose rolled her eyes again but decided to play along and took the umbrella again. "What kind of a challenge?" asked Rose.
"Are you sure you want to know?" asked Lia.
"You're the nutter who brought it up," said Rose, exasperated.
"Yes, I was," nodded Lia. "As you have no doubt realised, I am not exactly...what you may call 'normal'." Rose opened her mouth and Lia held up a hand. "Before you call me a nutter again, I mean the fact that we have been standing in pouring rain and I don't have a single drop of water on me."
"Are you a ghost?" asked Rose, feeling stupid even as she asked it.
Lia shook her head, but didn't laugh like Rose half-expected. "No, but I am not supposed to be here. So I suppose I am a ghost of sorts, though I assure you, I am very much alive."
"I don't understand," said Rose, feeling very tired all of a sudden. "Why did you come here? Who are you, really?"
Lia sighed and smiled a little at Rose. "I came here, because I have a sense for these things," she said. "The moment a butterfly flaps its wings, you may call it."
"A sense? What's that supposed to mean?" asked Rose. "Are you psychic or something?"
"There's no such thing as psychics," said Lia, as if she had said it a hundred times before. "But I do have a sixth sense of sorts, that is far more reliable."
"And that sixth sense told you to come find me?" asked Rose, sceptically. "Do you really expect me to believe you?"
"You don't have to believe me," said Lia, seriously. "But I want you to hear me out and let me tell you that you have a choice, before you make a decision."
"A choice about what?" asked Rose.
"About your life," said Lia, without missing a beat.
Rose laughed bitterly. "I don't have a bloody choice. My marks are shit, my mum just threw me out, and I am going nowhere and I have no one but Jimmy." She rounded on Lia furiously. "The only choice I have is to go crawling to Jimmy and ask him to take me away."
"There is always a choice, Rose," said Lia, her demeanour entirely serious without any hint of mischief she'd displayed before. It was difficult to say for certain but Rose thought her eyes were looking rather golden instead of blue. "And if there isn't one, you fight like hell and carve out a choice." She walked up to Rose, until they were standing almost toe-to-toe, and Rose couldn't help but notice they were the same height. "I am not here to tell you to make a decision. I am simply here to offer a choice. It is always up to you to decide what you will choose. I cannot influence your will, only present you with the options."
"And what are these options? Go crawling back to my mum? To that school where they think I'm nothing but a chav who'd sooner get knocked up than do her A-levels?" demanded Rose, angrily.
"That is one of the options, yes," said Lia, unflinchingly. "The other is do what you were planning to do. Go to Jimmy Stone, run away with him. See where that takes you."
Rose narrowed her eyes and looked at Lia. "Are you saying there is a third option?"
"There are infinite options," said Lia. "Each one of them leads to a different possibility, a new potential future."
"Oh, come off it," said Rose, rolling her eyes.
"Fine, don't believe me," shrugged Lia. "But I do have a more solid plan as well."
Rose blinked at her curiously. "Let's hear it then," she said, trying to seem indifferent.
Lia smiled. "I am not the only person that has a sixth sense. For that matter, a sixth sense is barely scratching the surface of the world that exists beyond the normal, mundane world you see every day," she said. "There is more to this world, to this universe, Rose Tyler, than you can ever imagine."
"Are you...misquoting Hamlet at me?" asked Rose.
"Yes, a little," chuckled Lia. "But I mean it. There is much more you can learn, a lot you can unearth, even just here in London."
"So what?" asked Rose. "You want me to join the X-Men?"
Lia laughed. "While that would be amusing, that is not what I meant," she said. "There are other people, you know. People who investigate these things, to try and look into the worlds and universes beyond what most people want to see. I am not saying you're one of them or if you should even become like them." Her demeanour was serious again, and Rose was a little terrified at how much more imposing she became when she stopped smiling.
"Then what are you saying?" asked Rose.
"I'm saying you should see more of the world before you make a life-altering choice," said Lia, and then reached into the sleeve of her gown and pulled out a card. "For you."
Rose looked down at the offered card and slowly took it. It was a moss green card with embossed gold writing on it. "River Song," she read. "Luna Detective Agency."
"She is an expert of sorts and she investigates the unexplained, or rather the yet-to-be-explained," explained Lia. "I have heard she is looking for a part-time employee at her agency and I think it is a worthwhile option for you to consider."
"To investigate psychics?" asked Rose, but she was curious just the same.
"Sure," said Lia. "But there is-"
"-no such thing as a psychic," finished Rose. "Apparently," she muttered, looking down at the card.
"Is that scepticism I hear?" asked Lia.
Rose shot her a look, but didn't argue the point. "What am I supposed to do? Walk in the door of some fancy agency and tell me a nutter in gold told me they're hiring?"
"Why not?" said Lia. "If nothing else, you'll make a lasting first impression."
Rose shook her head and looked down at the card. "Seriously, what do I-?" Rose stopped mid-sentence as she looked up and realised that Lia had vanished. Rose looked all around her, down any alleyways she could see but there was no sign of Lia.
"Maybe I've lost it," Rose muttered to herself, wondering if she had imagined the whole thing.
The only tangible evidence of the bizarre encounter were the umbrella and card left in Rose's hands.
Luna Detective Agency was surprisingly not that far away from Rose's school. It wasn't exactly a nice part of town, but was gradually being gentrified if the old ladies gossiping on the Estate were to be believed.
It took Rose a whole month to work up the courage to go to the address on the card that Lia had given her.
After her strange meeting with Lia, Rose had returned home in a bit of a daze. To her absolute surprise, her mum had been frantic with worry, tears streaming down her face. Rose hadn't been sure how to react, and had let her mother usher her inside the flat and then straight into a hot bath. When Rose emerged out of the bathroom, there was a hot cup of tea and a ham and cheese sarnie waiting for her.
Jackie had hovered around Rose while she ate and then ushered her straight to bed. Rose had gone along, mostly because she had expected Jackie to throw her out again. The next morning, Jackie acted as if nothing had happened, and after a few moments of bewilderment, Rose had gone along with it.
There was an uneasy truce between her and her mum as far as Rose was concerned. Apart from her uncharacteristically fussy behaviour from that night, Jackie had gone back to normal. Neither one of them had acknowledged the fight, or discussed any of it. Rose did notice that Nick came around less and less, though as far as she knew, her mum was still going out with him.
Rose's teachers were still a nightmare, but Rose had been so preoccupied since her encounter with Lia, that she wasn't really paying attention to them. Shareen had tried to get her to come see Jimmy and his band since they were back in London, but Rose refused to go. She wasn't quite sure why, but it felt like taking the easy way out.
Rose wanted to see all her options before her, and she knew ignoring the encounter with Lia and the third option she had presented would be cowardly.
So, almost a month after meeting Lia, Rose took the bus after school on a Friday to Luna Detective Agency.
It was an unremarkable shopfront, and Rose would have missed it if she hadn't been looking for it specifically. The shop window was a bit dusty and Rose couldn't really see anything besides a few cluttered bookshelves when she tried to peer in.
There was a single, solitary glass door and it opened easily when Rose pushed it open. A bell tinkled above her head, and Rose slowly stepped in.
The shop smelled of old books and Earl Grey. There were several bookshelves, some filled with books while others had little glass terrariums with plants, and bell jars with odd artefacts under them. A solitary desk sat in the middle of the shop, with papers and books strewn all over the top. In one corner were two squashy leather sofas facing one another, with a coffee table in the middle. The shop otherwise appeared to be empty. As Rose stepped through, the door automatically swung shut behind her.
"I'll be with you in a moment."
Rose jumped at the voice, and realised there was a door beyond the desk that she hadn't noticed before. The voice had been posh, feminine, but with an air of authority that immediately made Rose stand up straighter.
The door swung open, and Rose watched as an older woman with a mass of curly dark blonde hair stepped out. She was wearing dark brown leggings and a knit white v-neck jumper, and carrying a stack of books. The woman stopped in her path when she saw Rose, eyes going wide.
"Hello," said Rose, awkwardly.
The woman blinked a few times, and then slowly set the books down on the desk before looking at Rose again. "Hi," she said.
Rose shifted uncomfortably, because the woman looked like she was about to cry. "Are you okay?" asked Rose.
The woman blinked and then abruptly her face cleared and she gave a wide, beaming smile. "Yes, sorry, my mind was universes away," she chuckled. "How can I help you?"
"Right," nodded Rose, still a bit uncertain. "Are you River Song?"
"I am," she said.
"My name is Rose," said Rose, holding out her hand. "Rose Tyler."
River looked at her hand and then up at her, before grasping it in a firm handshake. "Hello, Rose Tyler," she said. "I'm River Song, proprietress of this fine establishment. What can I do for you, Rose Tyler?" she asked, as she released her hand and went over to the chair behind the desk.
"Uh-I," Rose paused, wondering how to do this without sounding like an idiot. "I just want to know what it is you do here."
River's eyebrows raised slightly before she smiled. "It's as it says on the door. I run a detective agency," she said.
"Like a PI?" asked Rose.
"No, not quite," said River, sitting down in her chair, and pointing at the chair across from her. "Take a seat and I'll try and explain."
Rose hesitated briefly, but took a seat. River rested her elbows on the desk and steepled her fingers, peering at Rose over the top of them.
"I'll start from the beginning, shall I? I'm an archaeologist by profession, originally," said River. "The more I studied, the more expeditions I went on, I began to realise that some things don't add up."
"Like what?" asked Rose, curious despite her reservations.
"Artefacts that cannot be explained by the place and time where they were found," said River. "Mysterious phenomena that have seemingly no rational explanation."
"Like the paranormal?" asked Rose, wrinkling her nose. "Ghosts and magic?"
"Oh, heavens no," said River, at once. "I mean science, but science that we are yet to discover." Rose must have been looking at her with doubt, because she chuckled. "You think I'm insane."
"No," said Rose, quickly.
River laughed a little and sat back in her chair. "What brought you to me, Rose?" she asked. "People who walk through these doors have often seen, heard or found something that has no rational explanation," she said. "Hold on, not rational. Let's say, the not-yet-explained."
Rose knew she had her there, not to mention she had almost repeated Lia's words back to her. She reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out the card and set it down on the desk. "Lia gave me this," she said.
River looked at the card and then up at Rose. "The name doesn't ring a bell, I'm afraid," she said.
Rose looked for any sign of deceit but River looked genuinely confused. "She said her name was Aurelia but she goes by Lia."
River shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rose, but I have never heard of her," she said. "Did she say why she was giving my card to you?"
Rose fidgeted awkwardly. "She said you were looking for a part-timer," she said, glancing away.
There was a brief pause, and Rose chanced a quick look at River who slowly nodded.
"Yes," said River. "I have been interviewing a few candidates but I haven't had any luck thus far. Did you want to apply?"
"What is the job exactly?" asked Rose.
River opened the top right hand drawer and pulled out a piece of paper which she handed to Rose. Rose took it and quickly read the contents.
LUNA DETECTIVE AGENCY
Office Junior: Part-Time
Looking for a part-time office junior to assist the proprietress. No experience needed. Flexible hours and attractive compensation.
Duties include greeting clients, answering phones and taking client enquiries, tata entry and light office cleaning duties.
Call River Song on xxxxxxxxxx
Rose looked back at River. "What's the pay?" asked Rose.
River laughed. "£4 an hour," she said. "Judging by your uniform, you're still in school so that's more than what you'd get paid usually."
She was right, and £4 an hour really was an attractive prospect. The job didn't sound too difficult, but Rose still had her doubts. It must have shown on her face, because River looked amused.
"Tell you what," said River. "How about you do a trial run? You can see what I do and decide if you want to stick around." She indicated the shop with a wave of the hand. "You have open access to anything in here and you can learn about things which have perplexed even the best scholars of this time." River leaned forward and met Rose's gaze squarely. "You may even find out something about the woman who sent you here and why she might have sent you here."
Rose searched River's eyes for the catch, but River just looked at her expectantly. Rose took a brief moment to think, and then ever so slowly, she nodded.
River leaned back and smiled widely at her. "Wonderful," she said. "Let's see, tomorrow is a Saturday, so it's the perfect day to get started. The shop opens at 9, so be here at least half an hour before. Do you have any questions?"
Rose knew she had a thousand questions, but she just shook her head. River stood up, and Rose followed her as she saw her out.
"See you tomorrow, Rose Tyler," said River. "And I look forward to working with you."
Rose smiled a little in response. While she was still unsure of her own decision, she couldn't say she was completely unhappy with her choice. "Me too," said Rose, and was surprised to realise she meant it. "I'll see you tomorrow, River."