8Hello! My name is Laura and this is my first fanfic! Its about rose stuck in the parallel universe and getting a job at Torchwood. This is a one shot, but quite a long one. (Oh and i don't live in England, and I have a german keyboard, which means the speechmarks will be a little different. Forgive me :DDD )
Hope you like it!
By the way, this is an edited version, so there should be less mistakes.
Oh and I don't own Doctor Who, blah blah blah. There, disclaimer is finished.
Rose Tyler at Torchwood
People would stare at her as she passed by, her black high heels rapping on the plain, white floors, her hair swinging this way and that. She was a mystery to many people at Torchwood. Pete Tyler's long lost daughter, come home at last.
People didn't like her at first. She came in with no qualifications, no university results, no GCSEs even, nothing. And yet she immediately got a job as one of the field agents, investigating alien activity. And the high paycheck that went with it. Most people supposed that it was because she was Pete and Jackie Tyler's daughter. Rolling in money, and with her dad managing Torchwood, they all supposed she would be a spoiled brat who could get anything when she asked for it.
She didn't smile either. She simply walked past peopl e in the hall, her dark eyes staring straight ahead, her head held high, her walk quick and buisness like. When she talked, it was in a monotone like voice, never betraying any emotion. She never got excited when alien activity was detected, she just nodded and turned her head. People thought she was being arrogant, but only because they didn't see the anguish appearing in her eyes and writing itself over her entire face. Her shoulders would slump just a bit, but by then the other employees at Torchwood would have walked away, annoyed and not thinking very friendly thoughts.
She was a mystery to them all. It turned into a game and then into an obsession, to try and find out things about her. People speculated about her past. She had apparently been lost at birth and spent most of her life living with another family, but a few months ago she had begun to live at the Tyler Mansion again. She had grown up in England, and spoke with a classical london accent, but other than that, nothing else was known about her. Not even her age had been mentioned. To the other employees she still looked like a child, barely out of her teens, and yet her posture, the way she held herself, said differently. She didn't walk with the carfree stroll most people her age would walk with, but instead her back was always straight, rather strict. No one ever saw her shoulders slump. Maybe because they didn't notice.
The way she dressed too, was strange. Unlike the other agents,secretaries and numerous other people working at Torchwood, she never wore buisness suits, but always appeared casually dressed in tight fitting jackets and jeans and pink or purple coloured shirts. Had she been friendlier, people would have liked her fashion sense, but, because she was not, people chose to critisise it. She always wore heavy, dark makeup, makeup which could have made her beautiful, but only seemed to accent the dark mood around her. Her lips were full, but she never used lipstick, and her hair was died blonde. Her eyes, covered with eyeliner and mascara, were sparkling and gorgeous, but no one ever looked in them long enough, preffering to look at the floor instead. People thought her to be arrogant, stupid, because she never conversed with anyone. She would spend hours in her own, large office,by herself, or talking with her father. According to everyone, she never worked, she simply got the money for it.
Some were jealous of her. Some wished they could cast life and all its worries aside and just exist, but not feel anything, like her. Then they thought better of it. Others were spiteful, because they had worked very very hard to get into Torchwood, and it took up all of their time. Some had been at Torchwood for years and years and were still filing paperwork, and realising that getting promoted to field-agents was probably never going to happen. They had no social lives, all of their time was invested solely into their work, and then Rose Tyler had simply sauntered in, getting the best job with the biggest paycheck, the title commander, and all the other priveleges. And she could come and go as she pleased, not sticking to any specific working schedule. Like she owned the place. Which in a sense, she did.
She had no friends at Torchwood and that seemed to suit her just fine. It only made people dislike her more. The only two people she really confided in were Mickey and Jake. She would smile at Jake, talk to him when he was off duty, eat with him in the cafeteria. And Mickey. Any free time she had at Torchwood was spent with Mickey, laughing with him,talking with him. When she was with him, her face showed genuine emotion.
After a while people got used to her, learned to ignore her. They thought she was wasting her time and that Torchwood could have better agents. And then one day earth was about to be invaded by a species called the Sycorax.
Torchwood was in chaos, it was a public holiday and no one recognized the species. They were having an code red emergency meeting , together with the country's president as well as UNIT. Pete Tyler sat at the head of the table, talking quickly into his mobile.
„ No, we don't recognize them at all. And I know this is your day off, but could you please please get in here. And bring Mickey as well- you never know. Yes...exactly.
...
No, we can't identify the language either. And seeing you got the extended knowledge and everything...yeah.
...Thanks so much. Yes, really appreciate it. Yes we're in the conference room.
What? Hmm yes, UNIT and the goverment are here too. Big threat and all that. Yes. Okay. Thank you very much Rose. Bye." With that he turned the phone off and adressed the room.
„Ladies and Gentlemen, once again I am sorry at summoning you here at such an early hour. Our translation team have made no progress with the language so far, but an expert will be joining us soon, and she might be able to identify the aliens and perhaps even the language."
"Who are you reffering to Mr Tyler?"
„My daughter, sir. I am sure she can help us figure this one out."
Several of the Torchwood employees groaned inwardly. Fat lot of good that will do, they all thought. As if Pete Tyler's spoilt daughter could help the situation in any way. Mutterings broke out again and and Zarim Mayran turned to his college. „ I really doubt Ms. Tyler can help us with this case. I wonder why he is summoning her in? It seems like too much work for the heiress". He said. Lisa Jacks nodded. „I suppose she needs to be here, given her job title. But she coulnd't possibly help us".
„Well, lets find out" Zarim said, as Rose and Mickey entered the room. Rose was dressed like she usually was, in her jeans and jacket but this time she carried a large, watch like device on her wrist. There was not much change from her ususal demeanour as she sat down next to her father and said morning. Mickey sat right next to her, also dressed in jeans and a simple black jumper. „Good morning" he greeted, a little to cheerfully for the situation. Some people nodded and smiled at him, others looked away, not bothering with greetings when the current crisis was going on.
„Well come on then" Rose said suddenly. „No good sitting around here doing nothing! Is anyone going to show me a picture? I can't identify them otherwise!"
Many people stared at hearing her speak like this, the fact that she had even formed a proper sentence stunned them. Wordlessly one of the employees handed her a picture. Rose took one look at it, taking in the lizard like face, the swords and red helmet and armour. Her whole face changed. First she seemed shocked, as if someone had punched her in the stomach, then she smiled slightly and then suddenly a huge, heartbreaking look came over her face and she looked as if she was going to cry. And then suddenly she composed herself, and her face was once again blank, her smooth mask in place. But not completely. It had slipped just a tiny bit and Rose suspected she would have a very hard time keeping it together. The reminder of last christmas, with the newly regenerated Doctor, defending the earth and fighting off the sycorax made her smile at first until the fact that she was seperated from the Doctor forever hit her again. She bit her lip.
For the other Torchwood employees, the expressions crossing her face were completely new. First the shock and then that tiny sad smile and then that utterly heart breaking look. They suddenly began to wonder if there was more to this Rose Tyler than they had previously thought. They watched her bite her lip and pass the picture to Mickey, who also looked surprised. Rose whispered a few words to Mickey, who reached for her hand, in a comforting way and squeezed it. She nodded briefly to Pete and then stood up, letting Mickey's hand fall. „ These species are called the Sycorax" she began. „They originated on an asteroid in the JX82 system and are proficient with weapons like swords and whips. Their whips release an electrical discharge which kills off human flesh...nasty aliens. Why do they always have to pick festive days to invade? Always the worst time..."
„Rose" Pete reminded her gently.
„Sorry" she said. „ Rambling. Anyway, they seem to have lodged their spaceship over London" she and Mickey grinned at eachother, as if sharing some hidden joke. „ I don't know what they want, but they aren't exactly known for their friendliness. Okay...lets see. Mickey, I need you to look up the shadow proclamation for me please, and see if it exists and what it looks like in this universe. I need to see if I can use the same laws". She took a tiny chip out of her pocket and gave it to Mickey, who nodded and excused himself from the meeting. „Have they sent any messages through?" Rose asked, sitting back down. I am going to need to hear them." Pete nodded.
„ Alan?" he asked the head of the translation department. Alan coughed and stood up rather nervously. He adressed the room, but watched Rose Tyler out of the corner of his eye. Her attention was focused entirely on him. „They have sent through one shorter message, lasting approximately 30 seconds, in a strange guttal language , which we were unable to identify or translate." Rose nodded at this, seemingly unsurprised. „Are there any other status reports?" Pete asked, adressing the whole room. The UNIT chief spoke up. „We have developed a weapon, a laser ray if you like, that could blast the spaceship to smithereens whithin minutes. Perhaps that would be an option?" Pete Tyler opened his mouth to respond, but Rose beat him to it. „Absoulutely not" she told the chief determindley. Thats not an option. I need to hear the message and speak to them first in any case. That way we can decide what they want". The chief looked almost angry for being, well..told off by such a young woman, but decided it was best to sit down. He was starting to grow uneasy under her patronising gaze. Rose smiled in grim satisfaction. Exactly what the doctor would do, she thought to herself as she left the room with Alan and Pete. Her walk was once again buisnesslike, but the emotions on her face seemed to make her more human. As she left the room, quiet whispers broke out, some citing their astonishment that Rose knew these creatures and some expressing their shock at the emotions she had just shown. But like it or not, Rose Tyler was still a mystery.
Rose frowned as she listened to the leader of the Sycorax speak. She almost wanted to laugh. It was Guinivere One all over again. This universe had apparently sent up something similar, also with blood, also type A positive. And of course the sycorax spaceship had swallowed the thing up. Typical. She sighed and turned to the people watching her. She had expected only the most important people to be in the room with her, but instead all of Torchwood seemed to be looking at her. She knew that they had been trying to find out as much as possible about her and that they hadn't found out anything that hadn`t been in the press so far. In a way she liked the fact that no one knew anything about her here, at least they left her alone. But that was changing, Rose noted, watching the faces who were looking at her through the glass doors. She was now the centre of attention. She bit her lip and looked up at Pete. She knew exactly what the sycorax were saying, which no longer came as a surprise to her. The TARDIS translation circuit had vanished, of course, but ever since she had been speperated from the TARDIS her brain picked things up more easily and she was able to understand most of the aliens she had encountered with the Doctor. Like the Sycorax. „You understand?" Pete asked her quietly and she nodded. I've met them before, with the umm, with the Doctor." A expression of pain flickered across her face and was gone as suddenly as it had appeared. „Back in the other universe. They also swallowed up the spaceship. They want earth for themselves, and they don`t really negotiate much. I need to get up into that spaceship".
„Maybe." Pete said, worried. Rose wasn't suicidal, but she was still very depressed and unhappy, and pete knew that Rose didn't mind dying. She had promised her mum that she wouldn't top herself, of course, but if she died saving the world..."lets talk to the them first." Rose silently agreed and turned to face the room. Whisper had broken out again, but this time they were all repeating what she had said to Pete. Another universe? They didn't have a clue what Rose was talking about but they once again saw the pain on her face. And their opinion of her started to change. They slowly began to realise that maybe she was not at all snobby and arrogant and spoilt, but that she kept a hard protective shell around her, because of all that pain she was carrying around. Pain for what, they did not know. The mutterings immeadiately subsided when she cleared her throat and started speaking up, expaining the sycorax's message and about Guinivere One. People were astounded by the wealth of knowledge she seemed to carry around, and even more astounded when she asked to speak to the sycorax in return. Wordlessly, technicians began preparing a large screen for transmission while Rose and Pete talke quietly. „I am sorry" Zarim heard his boss say to Rose. „I really didn't want to cause you all this pain with the Doctor". He put an arm around her.
She nodded. „Its alright. I am glad to help. If anything, he would have wanted me to be saving the world, having a fantastic life...well I am not feeling fantastic but at least I am saving the world." She sighed and a small smile tugged at her lips. „Again" she voiced. Pete laughed.
„Yes, again. How many other times in your universe?"
„well only few...I'd say ten, maybe. Always with the Doctor though.". She broke off. Pete was about to say something but then Mickey rushed into the room, calling out to Rose and pushing through the dense crowd. Zarim stared, astounded by what he had just heard and quickly moved closer, to listen to what Mickey had to say. „The shadow Proclamation definitely exists, its run by these two aliens...the vampire like ones and the rhinos". Rose smiled at Mickey's characterisation of the Judoon. „Yeah, and I dunno if they have the same laws, you might wanna read through it quickly." Rose nodded again and skimmed the page. It never took her long to read things now. Her brain picked things up much quicker. „Same laws" she confirmed just as Alan spoke up. „Sir, Ms, we've got them. It should start transmitting in ten seconds." Rose smile and walked over to stand infront of the screen. She smiled wryly as she saw the sycorax. „well hello there, you lot!" she greeted with false cheerfulness, deciding that she could at least act like the Doctor would. „ So whats this plan you've got?". The sycorax leader responded, but only Rose understood, smiling and nodding pleasantly at them. „Yes I see." She said pleasantly. „But i am afraid thats not really possible. You see, we are prepared here, and you can't really take over the earth. Especially not when i am still here. Rose tyler by the way." The leader once again responded, and though no one unerstood him, they heard the anger in his voice and it was clear...this alien was making a threat. But Rose didn't seem at all alarmed. „naaaaaaahhh" she told the leader. We aren't going to give you that many human slaves. No way. And you say you have a weapon? Lets see it then!"
Several of the Torchwood staff yelled at this. Why would Rose want them to show their weapon? It was utter madness. Rose put a hand up to silence the yells. She turned to the goverment. „When you sent up Guinivere one, you sen out identification in, didn't you? She asked the head of the science department. He looked taken aback at her question but replied. „Well, some grain, food, water and umm, blood. Yes blood".
„what type blood?"
„A positive".
Rose nodded at what she already knew. She looked over at mickey and the two of the burst out laughing. „Right" she said, composing herself. Who is A positive in this room?" About a quarter of the people raised their hands, including Pete. „Oh dear" Rose said. Well, nobody panic okay. You`re going to be fine. Its just like hypnosis"
„What is?" someone asked urgently.
„Their weapon. „ She checked to make sure the transmission screen was off. „Its called blood control. It will look dangerous, but it isn't. Now. I really need to get up on that spaceship."
It was all so anti dramatic at the end, thought Rose. The Vortex manipulator she had on her wrist had teleported her up, and several other Torchwood members, including Zarim, who had been teleported up by the sycorax. Rose had yelled at the leader once she lost patience, damaged their blood control plan and finally challenged the leader to a swordfight. He had cut her, but she had healed almost instantly, much to the amazment of her co-workers. And then she had beat him, making him swear that he would never ever try to invade or damage the earth again. Then she had teleported everyone back down and declared the mission to be over. And with that, she had left. She didn't stay behind to listen to the praises, the thanks, and the amazment and questions of her co-workers. She didn't want to. She had simply walked out of the building. Puzzlement about Rose tyler once again came back full force, but no one thougt her to be snobby and spoilt again. She had after all, nearly sacrificed herself for the good of the earth.
People looked at her with new respect when she walked through the halls, her black high heels rapping on the plain, white floors, her hair swinging this way and that. She was still a mystery at Torchwood, but slowly becoming less so. She made friends, and talked to people who weren't Mickey and Jake and she would smile. People grew to love Rose Tyler, love her personality and her beatiful, big, sad eyes. No one ever heard exactly what had happened to her, but all of Torchwood now knew about the Doctor, them man who she had helped save the universe with. The man she could laugh with. The man she loved.
Rose Tyler, Pete Tyler's amazing daughter, come to save the earth.
Phew, I am happy to finish that! I had a lot of fun writing this fic and hopefully you will like it too. I want to apologise to everyone who read and reviewed this in its early stage, because then I had to delete the story, because I messed up the chapters. Anyway, thanks for reading.
Laura xxxxx