Born of Fire (Doctor Who AU)

Chapter 2 Introductions

Rose lay curled on her side watching the digital clock blinking ten past two in the morning. Two hours earlier when she'd finally given into complete exhaustion and climbed under this luxurious duvet, she'd been sure sleep would embrace her immediately. But sleep didn't come. Instead, she stared at the ceiling trying to fathom the last day and a half. She spent years working Torchwood scientists, including two from Lumic's bunch to build the dimension cannon. Then came jump after jump to hone geographical and time coördinates to get back to the Doctor, and she'd failed. Why?

Her life made no sense. Rose ran every leap through her head, trying to figure out where the time line changed. At what point did he decide that loving her wasn't enough. He didn't love Donna; she knew that for a fact. She was there when Donna started travelling with him. She'd landed on one parallel world after another ensuring that she ran into Donna again. Never, not once, had Donna acted in any way other than the friend destined to save reality. Finally, after all that, she'd made it back to his arms in time to save not one but two universes. And now -- it was over? Why did she bother to save all of reality because if this was reality; it sucked. Rose heaved a sigh. She'd lost the battle to re-join the Doctor -- again and this time she had nothing left to give.

Rose tugged the duvet over her head in a vain effort to block out the blinking clock. The numbers reminded her too much of a beating heart. She forced slow deep breaths to quiet her mind, but peace didn't come. The sounds of the dematerialising TARDIS playing over and over inside her head made it impossible. In frustration, she tossed the cover back to gaze at the almost three-dimensional painting of the beloved ship commissioned by Pete for her twenty-fifth birthday.

"Why did you do this to me? He doesn't even kiss like you," she said.

Wind chimes, tinkling quietly in the night, provided a lonely answer to the question. The sound brought a brief smile. Jackie had laughed when she'd put the silly thing up outside her balcony door. She'd laughed harder when she'd told her that it was her timey whimey TARDIS detector. Rose heaved a disgusted sigh, gave up the struggle for sleep and pulled herself from the warmth of her bed. She slipped into her dressing gown then grabbed the duvet as a shawl. The blast of cold air when she opened the balcony doors sent a shiver through her slim body. She blew a frosty breath watching it crystallise in the air then, as she had hundreds of nights before, stepped out on the balcony to survey the stars.

Even after three years, it was still odd to see such a difference in this galaxy and her home universe. They called it universe prime now. If things hadn't been so off, she might have caught the disappearances of three planets in Davros' bid for destruction. She rested her elbows on the railing hoping to catch a glimpse of that daft blue box, but all she saw was the murky outline of the moon shining through dense fog. Questions tumbled about him; where was he, who was he with, was Donna still beside him? The hybrid had grown silent when she asked about Donna. She stared up at the night wondering how the man she loved with every fibre of her being could have left her with a hybrid. He'd given her a bloody consolation prize instead of his love.

A stone splashing in the pond shifted her attention to the garden.

There he was, slowly walking a circular path around the small body of water, stopping occasionally to skip a rock across its surface. She contemplated shouting out a warning; Pete would kill him if one his prize fish took a conk on the head. He made a turn around the far corner and started back towards the house. Spring nights, even in southern England, tended toward the frosty side. Bugger, she thought, he looks cold and miserable. Like a little boy in his dad's overcoat. His hands shoved deep in the pockets of Pete's coat, he walked with his head bent and shoulders hunched, looking lost and alone. Rose still didn't understand his creation. After years of dealing with all sorts of alien life forms, a man who, until two days ago didn't exist, turned out to be the most alien of all. She wondered what kind of thoughts ran through his mind, and how much Donna's DNA influenced the way he would think and act.