(no subject)
Title: Right Beside You 3/13
Author: Salimali
Rating: PG
Characters: TenII/Rose, Jackie, Pete, OC
Disclaimer: I don't own DW or any of its affiliated characters.
Spoilers: I assume you're all familiar with Journey's End by now.
Summary: TenII hasn't settled very well into Pete's world. Rose has to set him free before he destroys them both. Can there ever be a Happily Ever After for these two?
Author Notes: PLEASE NOTE, this is NOT part of the Meant to Be series. This is another take on Rose/TenII's life in Pete's world.
Thank you to the brilliant wishiknewwho and nipplemuggins who have been awesome beta's.
Chapter 1 ( Chapter 2 )
Jackie watched as Rose paced around the room, resisting the urge to call Torchwood and have them track the Doctor’s phone. He was late. It had been eight days since Rose had last seen the Doctor and he’d agreed to text her every week in exchange for her letting him go. Jackie felt guilty, as it had been her idea for Rose to give him some space. Rose looked again at her mobile phone, checking its coverage range, making sure she could receive a signal as she walked around the room to the window.
“Doctor, where are you?” Rose pleaded with the phone. Menacingly it kept quiet. Jackie made her decision. She was going to talk some sense into the infuriating alien.
Jackie Tyler was a force to be reckoned with: she’d had Presidents and husbands alike quaking in their boots. She was furious and a furious Jackie Tyler was not a pleasant one at all. Storming up to Rose’s flat, Jackie stole herself to give a piece of her mind to the man inside. Jackie had had enough of this nonsense. She’d encouraged her child to give him time to get used to this life and even last week she had actively encouraged Rose to let the Doctor go. In return, he had to keep in touch, so Rose wouldn’t worry anymore than necessary. But he had failed to keep his promise and now he was going to get his just desserts.
Opening the door with her key, Jackie wrinkled her nose in disgust at the smell that hit her. It smelt so stale, so unlived in that Jackie began to worry.
“Doctor?” Jackie called, searching the room frantically, hoping against hope that he hadn’t done anything stupid. “Doctor?”
Jackie rushed from room to room eventually finding herself in the bedroom. There was no evidence that the Doctor had been there for a while and yet, when she opened the wardrobe door, she found it full of clothes.
Jackie left the flat quickly and hurried out to find Pete.
Storming into Pete’s office, Jackie demanded that he see her without delay. Urgent Torchwood business was the reason she gave Pete’s snooty secretary as she breezed past her into the room. Pete looked up from his desk and ended his phone call with due haste.
“Jackie?” He asked reaching for his jacket. “What’s wrong? It’s not Tony is it?”
Jackie shook her head and motioned for him to sit back down.
“No, it’s that bloody idiot again!” she said, knowing Pete would know exactly who she was talking about. “He’s disappeared. He hasn’t contacted Rose as he promised and when I went to the flat its obvious that he hasn’t been living there, but all his clothes are still in the wardrobe. It’s as if he’s suddenly disappeared. You don’t think he’s finally found a way to get back to the other universe do you?” Jackie hoped that this wasn’t the case. If it was she and Pete were going to have to come up with a most convincing lie to tell Rose.
“No,” Pete answered, “he wouldn’t leave Rose behind if he had, no matter what. And anyway, the Dimension Cannon doesn’t work; he hasn’t been able to fix it. He told us last week to dismantle it, that it would never work because, oh I don’t know, something to do with his coral not being compatible with this universe.” Pete sat back down at his desk and began typing on his computer.
“Well, he’s not been admitted to hospital or arrested that’s for sure,” he said after a few minutes of searching through the databases.
“He bloody will be when I get hold of him,” Jackie scowled, her anger betraying her worry for the man she had thought of as a son- in- law since the incident with the Sycorax on Christmas Day. “Rose is distraught. Is there anything we can do to find him?”
Pete shook his head, avoiding answering the question. “He doesn’t want to be found Jackie,” he said. “He is so mixed up, I don’t know what to do either, all I know is he’s pushed us away and worked on the Dimension Cannon because he thinks Rose doesn’t want him. Nothing any of us has said has made a difference to him. Maybe he needs to decide if he wants Rose. And if and when he does, he’ll realise that not only has he got Rose, but he has us too. We have to leave him to make this decision himself. If we force him Jackie, he’ll just keep running away.”
Jackie nodded slowly. She knew Pete was right, but she still wanted to find him, to make sure he was all right, even if he didn’t want to come home. She closed her eyes and prayed to whichever deity was listening to please bring him home, safely and quickly.
Jackie arrived home with Pete to a very quiet house. Tony was sleeping on the sofa, his favourite starry blanket covering him, with Rose sitting on the other side, feet under Tony’s blanket, staring at the mobile in her hand.
“He still hasn’t texted. Do you think he’s okay?” she asked no one in particular.
Jackie moved forward and sat on the arm of the sofa, wrapping her arms around Rose. “He’ll come back when he’s ready, love. I’m sure he hasn’t meant to miss his text date. I bet he’s getting into all sorts of scrapes and didn’t realise what day it was.” Jackie realised her mistake a heartbeat too late.
“What do you mean? What do you know?” Rose demanded, sitting up straighter and shrugging off Jackie’s embrace.
Jackie took a deep breath, “I went to the flat earlier Rose. There’s no sign of him. It looks as if he’s just up and left.”
Jackie waited for Rose to explode further but was stopped when Rose said, in a voice reminiscent of a child, “He’s gone. He’s really left this time.”
Jackie watched as Rose crumpled inside and detached herself from her family. Standing, Rose looked around blank faced, placed her phone on the side table and walked away.
Jackie sighed and looked at Pete in despair, not only had her daughter lost her soul mate today, her daughter had lost her soul.