Jackie thought she was losing her mind when she woke up, swearing she could hear Rose’s voice calling to her. Next to her, Pete rose up, wondering what had woken her and why Jacks was breathing so heavily. From down the hall, they could hear Mickey rushing towards their room. He knocked and they called to him to enter.
“I heard her. I heard Rose,” he gasped.
“I did, too,” Jackie sighed. “She was calling to me.”
“Yeah.”
“She sounded so tired, Micks.”
“She is tired.”
“We’ve got to find her.”
Later that morning, the three of them loaded up Pete’s van and set out. They drove across the water, following Rose’s voice until they reached a beach near Bergen. The locals called it Dårlig Ulv Stranden. Mickey had chuckled at that and then spent a half-hour explaining “Bad Wolf” to Jackie and Pete. Jackie was amazed at that. Her daughter scattering a message across time and space to lead herself back to the Doctor.
They walked down the beach, looking for Rose. In the distance, Jackie saw a faint, shimmering outline. She ran towards it, Pete and Mickey following on her heels. It was Rose.
“Where are you?” Jackie asked.
“Inside the TARDIS,” Rose replied. “There’s one tiny little gap in the universe left and it’s about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection. I’m in orbit around a supernova. I’m burning out a sun just to say good-bye,” Rose said sadly.
“You look like a ghost.”
“Hold on.” Rose aimed her sonic screwdriver at the console and the projection grew stronger.
“Can I?” Jackie asked, holding her arms out.
“I’m still just an image, Mum. No touch.”
“Can’t you come through properly?”
“The whole thing would fracture. Two universes would collapse.”
Pete and Mickey caught up to Jackie. Tears were streaming down both women’s faces. “How long have you got?” Jackie asked.
“‘Bout five minutes. Where are you? Where did the gap come out?” Rose wondered.
“We’re about fifty miles out of Bergen. In Norway,” Jackie answered. “At a place called Dårlig Ulv Stranden.”
“Dalek?” Rose asked, horrified.
“Dårlig,” Jackie corrected. “It’s Norwegian for ‘bad.’ This place translates as ‘Bad Wolf Bay.’”
“Mum, I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry. I miss you so much but it’s better this way. You have Pete.”
“Yeah,” Jackie sobbed. “And you’re all alone. Mickey told me about Madame Pompous. About the Doctor abandoning you. I swear, I never thought that man would leave you, Rose. Not after the way…”
“Mum, please, let’s not talk about him,” Rose sighed. “Mickey’s still with you?”
“Yeah, I am,” he grinned.
“And Pete?”
“Yeah,” Jackie nodded. “There’s four of us now, though. Mickey, Pete, me, and the baby. More Tylers on the way.”
Rose smiled as tears rolled down her face. She’d always wanted a little brother or sister. And now that her mother was having one, they were a universe apart. “Are you happy, Mum?”
“I am,” she nodded, sobbing. “But I’d be happier if you were here with us. Or if I knew that you were safe. And loved.”
“I’m safe enough. I’ve got the TARDIS. She looks after me. Back to the stars, traveling. Same old life.”
“On your own, though?”
“Yeah, for now,” Rose nodded. She took a deep breath. “Here you are, living a life. Day after day. The one adventure I’ll never have.”
“Rose…”
“We’re all dead, back home. Officially,” she continued. “So many people went missing that day and we’ve all vanished. Our names are on the lists of the dead.”
“Even yours?”
“Yeah. Even mine.”
“We’re dead,” Jackie sighed. “Have you gone back to our flat?” Rose shook her head. “When you get the chance, go by there. I want you to get the photo albums. Especially the ones from the last couple of years. I think you need to see some of those pictures.”
“Alright,” Rose said slowly. “Mum, Mickey, I love you. You two will always be my family.”
“We love you too, sweetheart,” Jackie wept. “And we miss you. Every day. We’ll tell your little brother or sister about you. About Rose Tyler out among the stars, defending the world, saving people’s lives. But promise me, Rose. Promise me you’ll get back to the Doctor. And once you’ve slapped him – twice for me, please – see if he has a good explanation for what he did.”
“I know why he did it, Mum,” Rose sighed.
“No, you don’t. I…Rose, he adored you. He would hardly let you out of his sight. He looked at you the way a man in a desert would look at an oasis. So I think there has to be more to why he didn’t come back for you. Something must have happened. And you need to find out what it is.”
Rose nodded. She did intend to go back for the Doctor once she convinced the TARDIS to do so. However, the ship had a mind of its own and seemed content to take Rose anywhere except eighteenth century France. “We don’t have much time left. Mum, take care of yourself. I love you. I miss you. Dad, look after her. And Mickey. God, Mickey. I miss you so much. You’re my best friend and you always will be.”
“Yeah,” Mickey said, getting choked up as well. “You look after yourself, too. And punch the Doctor for me for leaving you behind like that.”
“I will,” Rose chuckled. “Good-bye. I love you all.”
The projection vanished. Pete wrapped his arms around Jackie. Mickey did as well. The three of them stood on the chilly beach in Norway and wept for the woman who had been left behind.
~*~*~*~
Rose collapsed to the floor after the projection gave out. She sobbed until she thought she would be sick. Her heart hurt even more. Her family was gone. She’d never see them again. If it hadn’t been for the TARDIS’s comforting presence, Rose thought she might have lost her mind. Instead, the TARDIS sang to her, a song of gentle comfort and sorrow shared. Her sister could feel her loss, her pain. And she wanted to ease it.
“I’m so tired,” Rose sobbed, scrubbing at her face. “Sister, I’m so tired.”
Then we’ll rest here for a while.
“Rest. Yeah. God, I can’t remember when the last time I slept was. My old room,” Rose asked hesitantly. “Where did it end up?”
Where it’s always been, the TARDIS admitted. I just removed the door. It’s back now, by the way. You going back to it?
“Yeah, for now,” Rose sighed. “I’ll still sleep just about anywhere, though. I just need to take a long shower. And change my wardrobe.”
Going shopping?
“No, actually. I was rather hoping you could help me with a new look. See, Rose Tyler is dead,” Rose sighed. “I don’t know what I’m going to call myself but I can’t go back to Earth as me. It’ll cause all kinds of headaches. I can’t even use Marion or Mary because that’s too close as well. I need something nice and anonymous. And, I’ll need to dress differently. Do my makeup differently. I could dye my hair but I rather like it blonde. I just need to look different enough from myself that I can put it off as coincidence if someone recognizes me.”
What do you have in mind, then? For your new look.
Visions of the first Doctor floated in Rose’s mind. He’d worn a leather jacket, black pants, thick boots, and a jumper as if they were armor. Her current Doctor – the one living it up in France at the moment – wore pinstriped suits and trainers. Another kind of armor. Rose had always favored jeans and t-shirts. But now, she wanted to be different. She wanted to pass anonymously when she had to return to Earth. The image of white blouses, black dress pants, black trainers, and a long black leather trench coat floated in her mind. She felt her sister’s approval with a minor change – a small silken scarf tied around her neck. Something to give the look a bit of color. On the ends of the scarf were a rose and a magnolia. Rose nodded. It would do. She stood up and walked towards her old room. Ducking inside, she saw that nothing had been changed. It was still a mess. She sent a mental request for garbage bags and the TARDIS complied. Rose stuffed all of her old clothes into the bags. She would give them to a charity. Once she emptied the closet (and cleaned off the floor and bed), her new clothes appeared. Rose nodded in approval and then ducked into the shower to get cleaned up. She even settled on a new name while she showered. Vairë Arkytior Carter. The TARDIS had suggested it as a way for the Doctor to find her (if he wanted to), a tie to her old name (since Arkytior was Gallifreyan for “Rose”), and a way of starting fresh. Varië came from Maggie’s love of Tolkien. It was beautiful, simple, unique and relatively unconnected. She’d spend some time on Earth setting the identity up so that any checks or scans run on her would point to that instead of Rose Tyler (who was dead according to official records).
Getting out of the shower, she dried her hair out straight and then took a pair of scissors to it, cutting it until it hung just below her jaw. She applied her makeup much more lightly than she had in the past, forgoing eyeliner entirely. She used earth tones instead of the brighter colors she had favored. Rose found that she liked the new look. She looked a little older. More mature. Sophisticated, almost. She walked back into her room and got dressed. Once she was finished tying the black laces on her black trainers, she slipped on the trench coat with its bigger on the inside pockets and studied herself in the full-length mirror.
She looked different. The Doctor would still recognize her if he looked closely but she was different enough that others wouldn’t see the resemblance right away. Satisfied, she headed back to the console room and settled down on the jump seat to think. She had a lot of things she needed to think about. The Doctor. Her love for him. The depression she kept feeling trying to overwhelm her. The thoughts of suicide that had scared the crap out of her. Her anger at the Doctor and his betrayal. How much she wanted to forgive him and beg him to come back. The little brother or sister she would never see. The Daleks. So many things she needed to think about and she barely had the energy to stay awake. Tears rolled down her cheeks again as she let her head lean back against the jump seat, lolling in fatigue.
“Who are you?” she heard a woman’s panicked voice shouting from near the TARDIS doors. Rose lifted her head and stared in confusion. There was a bride standing with her back to the console, her red hair whipping about from underneath her veil as she looked around her in confusion.
“What?” Rose asked, confused.
“Where am I?”
“What?!” Rose and the bride stared at each other in confusion.
“What the hell is this place?”
“What?! You can’t do that,” Rose muttered as she pushed herself off the jump seat and began staring at the monitor. “We’re in flight! That is physically impossible – though obviously it’s not if you’re here,” she muttered. “How did you do that?”
“Tell me where I am!” the bride demanded. “I demand you tell me right now where am I?!”
“Inside the TARDIS,” Rose muttered absently.
“What?”
“The TARDIS.”
“WHAT?!”
“THE TARDIS!”
“What?”
“It’s called the TARDIS.”
“That’s not even a proper word! You’re just saying things!”
“How did you get in here?”
“Well, obviously when you kidnapped me! Who was it? Who’s paying you? Was it Nerys? Oh my God, she’s finally gotten me back! This has got Nerys written all over it!”
“Who the hell is Nerys?”
“Your best friend,” the bride retorted.
“Hold on, what a minute. What are you dressed like that for?” Rose said, gaping as she took in the wedding dress. This had to be a prank. Maybe her sister’s way of trying to snap her out of her melancholia.
“I’m going ten-pen bowling. Why do you think, sweetheart? I was half-way up the aisle!” she moaned. “I’ve waited all my life for this! I was just seconds away and then you, I dunno, drugged me or something!”
“I haven’t done anything!” Rose protested as she began working the dials, trying to get a scan of the strange woman who had suddenly appeared in the TARDIS. The ship seemed just as confused as her sister was.
“I’m having the police on you! Me and my husband! As soon as he is my husband, we’re gonna sue the living backside off you, blondie!”
Rose sighed. This was going to be a long and difficult situation.