The Doctor blinked and shielded his eyes with his hand as he stepped out of the dark alleyway he’d been sent to from the 51st century. From his best estimate, he was in London. From the pollutants in the air and the technology he could see, it was sometime within the first decade of the 21st century. Once his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he looked around more thoroughly. He was nowhere near the Powell Estate. Instead, he was somewhere in central London. A large crowd was beginning to form in front of a nearby office building. Must be a grand opening or something. Maybe Rose was there. Making certain that his psychic paper was ready in case he needed it; the Doctor joined the crowd and slowly pushed his way through to the front of it. There was a statue covered with cloth standing in front of a slightly-raised platform with a lectern on it. Surrounding the courtyard were curved black-stone walls with writing etched into them. The Doctor wondered at that. The walls reminded him of the Vietnam Memorial.
The crowd around him was fairly quiet for a gathering of this size, he thought. Many of them were dressed up but in dark colors. Okay, maybe not a grand opening, he thought to himself. As he scanned the crowd, he started to feel a strange itch at the base of his skull. He shook his head to clear it. Though he wanted to push through the cordon to see what was going on, he took a good glance at the armed security and decided against it. He recognized the Secret Service from the United States, Her Majesty’s Royal Guards, and the security entourages that often accompanied various heads of state from around the world. Clearly this was some kind of major occasion and he did not want to start a riot just so he could satisfy his curiosity. Besides, maybe Rose had gotten elected Prime Minister or something. That would be amusing.
The dignitaries soon arrived and made their way onto the stage. The Doctor rocked back on his heels and slipped his hands in his trouser pockets, waiting and wondering why he’d been dropped here and where Rose Tyler was. The sooner he found her, the sooner he could begin begging her forgiveness. The itch at the back of his neck graduated to a buzz that set his teeth on edge. Ignoring it still, he trained his gaze on the platform where the newly-elected Prime Minister, Harold Saxon, was opening the…whatever it was. The Doctor squinted at Saxon. Something felt…off about the man.
“We are gathered here on the one year anniversary of a day which will go down in our collective history as a turning point for the entire human race,” Saxon was saying. “It was a day that saw the needless loss of many lives. It was a day of horrors. A day of fighting. And, a day when humanity’s childhood ended. No longer are we ignorant children fumbling in the dark. Through our own actions, we brought this terrible tragedy to pass. But, one of our own rose up and saved us from the full consequences of our arrogant folly.
“We gather here today in her name and in her honor. To pay our respects to the woman who, using nothing save her brilliant mind, defended our world from invasion. A woman who was so very young but who was willing to walk where angels feared to tread. Today, the nations of the civilized world gather here to pay homage to her and to announce that she is, and always will be, the Defender of the Earth. A woman who paid the ultimate price that we might live on: Rose Marion Tyler.
“But even she, brilliant as she was, did not fight alone. Nor was she alone in paying the price so that the rest of us might keep our lives and our freedom. We honor all who fell with her one year ago during the Battle of Canary Wharf. The Battle of Torchwood. We honor all who gave their lives to stop the Daleks and the Cybermen who we, in our infinite folly, had granted access to our world.”
The Doctor’s hearts were pounding in his chest. They couldn’t be talking about Rose. She couldn’t be dead. He wouldn’t believe it. It had to be some other woman. They couldn’t be talking about his brave and brilliant Rose. They just couldn’t be. He felt his respiratory bypass kick in when he forgot to breathe. Memorial videos played, showing photos of those who had fallen. The Doctor saw Mickey’s photo and Jackie’s before the end. The last photo in the montage was Rose.
He didn’t hear the rest of the speeches. He could only stare straight ahead. Rose had been here. Rose and Jackie – the closest thing he’d had to a family in centuries. And Mickey the Idiot had been here as well. And now all three of them were gone. Jackie Tyler would never slap him again. Mickey would never glare at him again. And Rose…Rose would never hug him again. She’d never hold his hand again. She’d never brighten a room just by walking into it. She’d never smile that tongue-touched smile he loved so much. She was gone.
“I should have been here,” he growled to himself in Gallifreyan. “I should have been with her. She might still be alive if I hadn’t run off.”
He wanted to run now. Run fast, run far. But his feet were rooted to the ground. He watched as they unveiled the statue – a statue of Rose dressed in a knee-length robe holding a shield with one hand while the other stretched back behind her as if to point to humanity. She stared straight ahead, bold defiance etched in her face. The inscription at the base of the statue read “Rose Marion Tyler, Defender of the Earth.”
When the speeches were over and the cordon was removed so that the crowds could go to the walls and find the names of their loved ones, the Doctor stayed rooted to his spot. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the statue. He couldn’t help but remember another statue of Rose dressed as Fortuna. He’d sculpted it himself after she’d saved his life in ancient Rome.
Hours passed while he stood staring. Occasionally another mourner would ask him if he was all right. The Doctor didn’t hear them. All he could do was think that his pink and yellow girl was gone. He had lost her. He would never get her back now. Eventually, the crowd dispersed. The sun began to set. The dignitaries had long since departed. Finally, the Doctor could move. He walked over to the wall, scanning it. When he got to Rose and Jackie, he leaned his forehead against the wall and ran his fingers over their names.
The buzzing in the back of his head grew worse. It became insistent. Growling angrily, the Doctor spun to see what it was. And then he gaped.
“Doctor,” Captain Jack Harkness said coldly. He hadn’t aged a day since the Game Station. Of course, he wouldn’t. Not after what Rose had done. The Doctor saw a hint of doubt in Jack’s eyes. He closed his mouth with an audible ‘click’ before nodding.
“Captain,” he said tonelessly.
“You abandoned me.”
“I…I was busy.”
“I could come to terms with that,” Jack said slowly as he approached the Doctor. “I could eventually forgive you for leaving me stranded on Satellite Five. But leaving her to lose her mother and Mickey in battle…I’ll never forgive you for abandoning Rose,” he whispered harshly.
Before the Doctor could reply to say he’d never forgive himself either, the Captain’s fist slammed into his face and he hit the ground, out cold.
~*~*~*~
Consciousness slowly re-asserted itself. The Doctor groaned. Where was he now? When was he? And why did his head hurt so much? He opened his eyes and then squeezed them shut against the harsh, impersonal light. Waiting a few more seconds, he cautiously re-opened them and took in his surroundings. He was lying on a bed. In a cell. Or a dormitory. He couldn’t figure out which. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His shoes, suit jacket, tie, and long coat had been removed. He saw that his clothing had been hung up on coat hooks across the room. He also saw that Jack Harkness was in the room, sitting in the only chair, his icy blue eyes staring daggers at the Time Lord.
“Captain,” the Doctor said carefully.
“Doctor,” Jack returned. “Good to see you.”
“And you,” the Doctor continued in his controlled and careful tone. “Same as ever. Although, have you had work done?”
“You can talk!” Jack snorted. It had been only his Doctor Detector reacting so strongly that let him know that this pinstriped pretty-boy was the Doctor.
“Oh, the face,” the Doctor said. “Regeneration.” He sighed and rubbed his jaw. “How long was I out?”
“Two days.”
“You have one hell of a right hook.”
“You were exhausted.”
“Yeah. It’s been a difficult few days.”
“What happened?”
“I got trapped in eighteenth century France.”
“Trapped how? And why weren’t you with Rose? Why did she have to fight that battle alone?”
“I was trapped by Madame du Pompadour,” the Doctor sighed, slumping with his elbows on his knees. “I initially went there to keep her from being killed by these clockwork droids who wanted her brain to power their ship. Her life was a fixed point. If she’d been killed early, the whole universe would have gone up with her.”
“Why didn’t Rose go with you?”
“I left her and Mickey on that ship. I didn’t exactly plan to get trapped. I had a few contingencies up my sleeve. Only, they never played out. By the time I was able to get back to the ship, the TARDIS, Rose, and Mickey were gone. I got in touch with the Time Agency and got sent back to that…service.”
“I see.”
“Jack, you can’t possibly hate me any more than I hate myself right now,” the Doctor sighed. “I should have been here. I should have been with her. She might still be alive. She, and Jackie, and even Mickey the Idiot.”
“Mickey’s no idiot,” Jack said softly. “And…I’m not convinced that Rose was killed in that battle.”
“What do you mean?” the Doctor asked, his hearts starting to flutter with hope. “If she survived, why would she let everyone think she died?”
“I’m sure she has her reasons if my theory is correct. Come with me. You need to see the full battle. Maybe then you can tell me what’s going on.”
~*~*~*~
“Oh, but that’s brilliant!” the Doctor was saying as he watched the surveillance footage from Canary Wharf. Luckily, sound had been captured as well. “But where did she learn all that?” he wondered. “Half of what she’s saying wouldn’t be taught outside of the Academy. And even that much would have been close to completing your courses.”
“Rose was never dumb,” Jack said loyally.
“I never said she was. She was always brilliant and brave and clever. But this, Jack,” he gestured, “this is way advanced. It’s the kind of thing that I would know.”
“Any chance she is one of your kind? A female Time Lord?”
“None whatsoever. First of all, I’d have picked up on that right away. I’ve listened to her heartbeat – she only has the one. And, even if she did have a Chameleon Arch and used it to make herself human, some essence of her true imprint would remain with her. That and she’d have a fob watch she would be absolutely obsessed with keeping near her even if she didn’t know what it was for. Rose is human. A brilliant human but still just a human. Wait, what the hell is going on there?” he asked as Pete Tyler and the alternate Torchwood team flashed into the room. “How the hell is he there? He died. I watched it happen! Wait wait wait! Where did they go?”
Jack rewound the video a bit. “They keep talking about parallel worlds,” he offered.
“Parallel worlds…it is possible that they exist,” the Doctor sighed. “It wouldn’t be possible for travel between them, though. Not with the Time Lords dead.”
“Yeah, she says something like that later on. But, apparently, there was this breach or rift that allowed travel between them. That’s where he’s from,” Jack pointed at Pete when he flashed back onto the screen. “And we have footage from another camera in a different part of the building where Rose is talking to Mickey. It is pretty obvious he’s been living in a parallel world for a while based on what he says. He actually asks Rose to come back with him even if he’s not interested in being with her. And, she seems to know where he’s been. Even mentions starting up a trans-dimensional dating service.”
The Doctor thought on it for a long time. “It could be possible. Theoretically. Back when the Time Lords were all still alive, travel between parallels was possible. But, with Gallifrey gone and me on my own, it’s not. Or it shouldn’t be.”
They sat quietly as they watched the rest of the video. Jackie reappeared and told her daughter off. Then the two women set the levers in position and clung to the clamps while the Void tried to pull them in. Jackie’s lever began to descend and she tried to pull it back into position and hang on. She went flying and the cameras winked out.
“No no no no no no no! Not Jackie! Rose must be devastated!” the Doctor shouted, tears springing to his eyes. For all their differences, he and Jackie both loved Rose.
“That’s new,” Jack muttered when the video cut back from static, showing a very distant shot of Rose.
“We managed to rebuild and clean it up from the systems in a different building,” Ianto explained from across the room. “The audio was not captured, though.” They could all see that Rose was sobbing against the wall. They couldn’t tell if she were mourning her mother or if somehow Jackie had been spared dying in Hell. “But this is the proof you wanted, Jack,” Ianto continued. “Rose Tyler survived. She stays there for several hours before getting up and leaving the room. From the timestamps on the TARDIS dematerializing, I’d say she got in that box and went off on her own.”
“Wait, what?” the Doctor hissed. “There’s no way that a human could pilot a TARDIS. No, I don’t care how brilliant Rose is – and she’s probably the most brilliant human I’ve ever met – she couldn’t pilot a TARDIS. Piloting a TARDIS isn’t just pushing buttons and turning knobs. It requires a telepathic connection to the ship as well as the hardiness to withstand the violence that comes from interacting with the Time Vortex. There’s a reason Gallifreyans evolved to have two hearts and a respiratory bypass – those are necessary to handle the onslaught that comes from guiding a ship through time and space.”
“Well, she obviously piloted it back to Earth,” Jack pointed out.
“Possibly. More likely is that she triggered Emergency Program One which would have returned the TARDIS to its previous departure point,” the Doctor said. “I really don’t want to think of the consequences that could have come from Rose trying to pilot the TARDIS again.”
“Again?”
The Doctor winced. “Yes, she brought it back to the Game Station.”
“How? And why did you leave me there?” Jack demanded angrily. “I ran into the room just as the TARDIS vanished. I had to use my Vortex Manipulator to get back and I wound up in 1869! I had to live through the entire 20th century! What did you do to me, Doctor? Why is it I can’t die? God knows there are several times I should have but I always come back!”
“Rose came back for me,” the Doctor said softly. “I’d sent her home – sent her to safety. But she opened the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the Time Vortex. Scared the hell out of me. ‘I looked into the TARDIS,’ she said, ‘and the TARDIS looked into me.’ She came back to the Game Station and turned the Daleks into dust. She could see all of time and space – all that was, all that is, all that ever could be. She could see every atom in existence and she reached out to the atoms that made the Daleks and divided them with a wave her hand. She became Bad Wolf and scattered those words through time and space – a message to lead herself back there.”
“And what about me?” Jack pressed, wanting answers even though he was completely floored by what Rose had done. “Why can’t I die?”
“She brought you back, Jack. But she couldn’t control it. She brought you back forever.”
“Could she change me back?”
“No. I took the power out of her. It was killing her. No one’s ever meant to have that power. If a Time Lord did what she did, he’d become a god. A vengeful god. But she was human. Everything she did was…so human,” the Doctor said with soft awe. “It’s gone now, Jack. The only way she could change you back would be to open the TARDIS again…and I won’t let that happen.”
“So, then, how is she piloting the TARDIS?”
“I honestly don’t know. It shouldn’t be possible. But then again, I’m coming to see that ‘impossible’ and ‘Rose Tyler’ don’t belong in the same sentence. She’s my pink and yellow girl…no, my pink and yellow goddess. She’s an impossible thing all on her own. No rules, no laws seem to apply to her. For all I know, she could be piloting the TARDIS just by pouring tea into the console while dancing a jig.”
“We do have some later footage of a person we believe to be Rose,” Ianto said, cutting into the conversation. “Shall I queue it up?”
“Please do,” the Doctor said as Jack nodded.
“Send the records from Royal Hope over as well,” Jack added.
The two men fell silent again as they watched the footage of Vairë Carter speaking with Donna Noble. The Doctor’s breath whistled through his teeth. “That’s Rose! But she’s…older…but unaged.”
“Do you think she’s become like me?” Jack asked.
“No. Looking at you, Jack,” the Doctor sighed, “is painful. Because you’re wrong. You’re a fixed point in time and space. You’re a fact. That’s never supposed to happen. But her…” he trailed off, stroking the image of Vairë on the monitor, “she almost reminds me of home. Of Gallifrey.”
“Then maybe you’ll be able to make heads or tails of this,” Jack muttered, trying but failing to hide his bitterness at being called ‘wrong.’ The medical records from Royal Hope, the records of Vairë A. Carter, began to flash across the monitor. “All we can tell is that she’s not human.”
The Doctor sat silent as he went over the information. “Do you have any records on Rose?” he asked after a while.
“We do,” Jack nodded. “I went to her flat the day after Canary Wharf. Stole a hairbrush and brought it back so we could get a DNA sequence on her. I had hoped to program my Vortex Manipulator to find her genetic signal. But, the damned thing wouldn’t work. Burnt out when I landed back in the 1800s. Think you could fix it?”
“I could try,” the Doctor said cautiously. “Let me see these records you’re on about.” The Doctor fell silent as he began reading. Vairë had survived two events that would have killed a normal human. She’d been nearly bled to death – her blood had been depleted by over 60% — and she had been exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. He pursed his lips, wondering at that. A normal human would have been close to death after losing 40% of their blood. At 50%, their cardiac system would have been shutting down. Losing 60% and surviving was virtually unheard of. And then to regain consciousness and be able to move in a low-oxygen heavy-carbon dioxide environment and then survive a radiation burst measuring in at 8 Gy…that wasn’t human either. He could have survived that but he was a Time Lord. He was considerably sturdier than any human. He’d played with Roentgen blocks as a toddler. Time Lords could channel lesser amounts of radiation and direct it out of their bodies, preventing the nastier side effects that humans and other races might experience. “Do we have any kind of genetic information on this woman?” he asked.
“Yes,” Jack sighed. “But they’re inconclusive. Vairë’s not human. Her DNA…is extremely different. I can’t make heads or tails of it. She’s got extra chromosomes and three helixes instead of two.”
“Hm. The only species I can think of that has a triple helix is my own. Though…this Vairë…she looks like Rose. She sounds like Rose,” the Doctor sighed, “I suspect that she is Rose even if the DNA is different. But why the different name? Why let everyone think she’s dead? And why Vairë? Where does that come from?”
Jack shrugged. Gwen and Owen didn’t know either. Ianto hadn’t been able to find a translation of it. But Tosh, brilliant little Tosh, piped up. “It’s from Tolkien,” she said. “Vairë was one of the Valier. One of the Queens of Valinor.”
“Was Rose into Tolkien?” Jack asked the Doctor.
“I dunno. She wasn’t a big reader until after she met me. She could have been. She never really said. Seems kind of unlike her to pick a queen’s name for her own, though. What was Vairë known for?” he asked, directing his last question at the Asian woman. “Could give us a clue as to what Rose is up to.”
“Hm,” Tosh sighed, “well, she’s probably the least well-known of the Vala. She was married to Mandos, I think. I’ve not read Tolkien in ages. She’s not mentioned in The Lord of the Ring or The Hobbit and those are the only books of his I’ve read.”
“Could just be a name she liked and latched on to,” Jack offered. “It could be something else entirely.”
“Yeah, it could be,” the Doctor sighed. “Still, keep an eye out for this Vairë Carter.”