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Rose bounced her leg anxiously as she sat alone inside a stranger’s office in another universe. It was all rather neat and organized; the contents of the desk in front of her was meticulously put together. The decor seemed like the 1970’s, possibly the 1980’s, she wasn’t sure. Whatever facility she’d found herself in was almost certainly military, judging from the crisp uniforms and obscene amount of guns. She’d activated her dimension cannon in the offices of Torchwood in Pete’s World, and the next thing she knew, at least a dozen armed men were encircling her in a courtyard, weapons aimed right at her.
One man had handcuffed her, and then another took her by the arm and frog marched her into the building and through several winding hallways before dumping her in an office and telling her to wait.
She flexed her wrists in the handcuffs. She had a hairpin, she could probably jimmy the lock given enough time, but then what? The building was crawling with soldiers and security. And they’d taken her dimension cannon, so it was all moot anyway.
Just as she was considering breaking free of the handcuffs just for something to do, the door swung open. A man with dark hair and a mustache entered. He placed a file down on the desk and surveyed Rose carefully. She’d spent enough time around military types to know what he was doing: looking for signs she was a threat.
“This is the girl, then?” asked the man.
“Uh, yes, sir,” said a younger man, stepping into the room.
“Why do you have her handcuffed?”
“Sir, she used some sort of… device – we’re not sure what it is, I’ve sent it to Liz and th–”
“Get to the point, Benton.”
“Sorry, sir. She used a device and, well, teleported right into the courtyard.”
“Did you scan her?”
“We tried, sir, but the technology’s still in progress, doesn’t always work. It couldn’t tell us what she is.”
“Excuse me, do you mind?” asked Rose, hackles raised. “I can hear you, you know.”
The older man cleared his throat. “Right. My apologies.” He sat down across from her at the desk and looked her in the eyes. “What’s your name, ma’am?”
Rose deeply wanted to cross her arms, but the handcuffs made that difficult. She sighed. “I’m not sure I should tell you that.”
“And why is that?”
She set her jaw and met his gaze. “I’ve been around a bit, me, and I’ve learned the hard way that the wrong word in the wrong place can offset an entire causal nexus.”
The younger man standing by the door raised an eyebrow. “She talks like the Doctor.”
Rose’s heart jumped into her throat, and hope surged through her veins. “The Doctor? Hang on, you know the Doctor?” She looked between the younger man – Benton, she’d thought he’d been called – and the older man, whose only reaction was a mildly raised eyebrow. “Who are you? What is this place?”
The man studied her for a moment before motioning to Benton. “Uncuff her.”
“What?” asked Benton.
“I said, uncuff her. Long past time, I should think.”
Benton did as he was told, and Rose rubbed at her wrists, trying to calm the irritated skin there.
“I am Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart,” said the older man. “Head of UNIT.”
“UNIT?”
“You’ve heard of us, then?”
Rose looked down, trying to catch up with her racing thoughts. “Yeah, I have. The Doctor–”
The Brigadier cut her off. “The Doctor is our scientific advisor.”
“Can I speak to him? Please?”
He looked at her for another moment, and then nodded. “Come on, then.”
They led her through more of the winding hallways, past office after office and countless men in the same green uniforms. Rose was, to be completely honest, incredibly surprised that the Doctor would work with a military organization like this.
But if it truly was him… then she’d done it. The Doctor had told her that Time Lords only existed in one universe. That meant she’d finally found the right universe, even if it was the wrong time.
Finally, they led her up a set of stairs and the Brigadier knocked firmly on the door before pushing it open.
“Oh, come on, Brigadier, how do you expect me to get any work done if you continue to interrupt me like this?”
The voice was different and unfamiliar, but still, any doubts Rose had that she was about to see the Doctor again fled her mind when she heard it.
The Brigadier sighed. “You’re working on the teleportation device Benton sent up here a couple hours ago, yes?”
“Hmm. Trying to.”
“I thought you might like to speak to its owner. She may be able to tell you more.”
Rose snorted. “Well, I should hope so, given that I built the damn thing.”
A tall, light-haired man in a velvet jacket and a frilly shirt stepped forward. He peered into her eyes, and the light that shone there was so familiar she could hardly breathe. “You built this? What does it do? Fascinating technology, but I can’t seem to make heads nor tails of it.”
Rose frowned, momentarily panicking. She pushed past the Doctor into the lab, rushing to the table where her dimension cannon sat. Thankfully, it was still in one piece.
“Oh, I thought you’d taken it apart for a second there,” she said. “That’s a relief.”
The Brigadier cleared his throat. “Doctor, she claims to know you.”
“I’ve never met her before in my life,” said the Doctor. “What’s your name?”
“She wouldn’t tell us,” Benton piped up. “Said something about a causal nexus.”
Rose scowled and opened her mouth to say something, but the Doctor was already in her face. He grabbed her arm. “Are you a Time Lord?” he asked quietly, dangerously. “Have they sent another one to tell me off?”
“What? No!” said Rose.
“It’s odd,” he said. “I can’t see your timeline, but I can tell something about it is off.”
“Doctor, I need you to believe me,” said Rose. “In your future, you and I are friends. We travel together. Well, we used to. We got separated. I got trapped in a parallel universe, and I’m trying to get back to you. That–” she indicated the device on the table– “is my travel device. We call it a dimension cannon.”
The Doctor frowned. “A parallel universe?” he asked. “Those are quite easy to travel between, if you’ve got a TARDIS. Oh, dear lord, do I still not have the TARDIS in your time?”
“What? No, you have one. But in my time… travel between worlds isn’t possible for the TARDIS. The walls are sealed.”
“Then how is it you’re here?”
Rose sighed. “It’s complicated. And I’m not sure I can even be talking to you at all without mucking up the timelines.”
The Doctor hummed thoughtfully. “Timelines should be fine,” he said. “You’re right to not tell just anyone your name. Names have power.”
“I know they do,” said Rose softly. “Learned that from you.”
Suddenly, she spotted the TARDIS in the corner of the room and crossed over to it, placing her hand on the door. “Oh, I didn’t realize she was here,” she whispered, almost reverently. “I don’t suppose you could–” She licked her lips nervously. “I don’t suppose you could bring me forward in time? To a place where I’d be more likely to find the you who knows me?”
The Doctor grimaced. “You won’t have much luck there, I’m afraid,” he said. “I would be happy to, but, she’s… asleep, as it were.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m exiled here on Earth. The blasted High Council of Gallifrey took away the navigational circuit. They also removed any knowledge I had of flying her from my mind.”
Rose looked at him in shock and horror. “That’s awful. What did they do that for?”
The Doctor smiled, and the look in his eyes was a little bit proud. “I broke their non-interference rule. Not to mention stealing the TARDIS in the first place.”
“So, they punished you for being you.”
“That’s a good way to sum it up, yes.”
“Bastards,” said Rose, and the Doctor smiled at her again.
“Enough about me,” said the Doctor. “Is your device working?”
She sighed and looked back down at the cannon. “Yeah, I think so. It should be fully charged in… oh, I dunno, six hours? But I’m stuck here till then, I s’pose.”
Benton smiled. “You should come to Liz’s party!”
“What?”
“My assistant, Liz, is throwing a party tonight to celebrate Hanukkah,” said the Doctor. “Food, drinks, the like.”
“Are you going?” Rose asked the Doctor, knowing his stance on human holidays.
“Liz has threatened me with death if I don’t, so…”
“So you better had, then,” laughed Rose, and the Doctor allowed her a small smile. “I wouldn’t want to impose or anything, though, I can just–”
“Nonsense. Liz won’t mind. And if she does, she’ll take it out on me, not you.”
—
As it turned out, Liz didn’t mind at all, she was happy to add another plate – especially for the person who had gotten UNIT so riled up today. Rose could tell after about two minutes of talking to her that she was just as brilliant a scientist as the Doctor, if not more so. She asked questions about the dimension cannon and lamented that she hadn’t gotten to take it apart and see how it worked. She met a few more of the UNIT agents – a man called Yates, a handful of scientists, and the Doctor gave her a running commentary of everyone who arrived at the party.
She loved talking to this Doctor. He was so much like the man she knew, and yet so different. There was something missing from his eyes, and it took her a while to figure out what it was: his eyes were so much less haunted. When he spoke of the Time Lords, it was with disdain and resentment, but not pain. Not guilt.
All she wanted to do was pull him into a hug and warn him, and tell him that everything would be okay, eventually.
But she couldn’t.
Not yet, at least.
At the head of the table, Liz stood and clinked her glass to get everyone’s attention. “Thank you all for coming,” she said, rather businesslike. “The sun’s just set, so we’re going to go ahead and light the menorah, say a quick prayer, and then we’ll get to the food. Doctor?”
“Hm?”
“Lighter, please.”
“Oh, yes, right you are.” He reached into his coat and pulled out a lighter, tossing it to Liz. She lit the middle candle and tossed it back to him.
“It’s the second night, so we’ll be doing these two,” said Liz. “If you know the prayer, feel free to join, but if not, your presence here is just as meaningful.”
She spoke in Hebrew, and a few folks around the room joined her in the prayer, including, to Rose’s surprise, the Doctor. Liz lit the candles and smiled. “Food’s on the table, there’s more than enough for everyone, so take as much as you like. Chag sameach!”
“Chag sameach!” echoed the rest of the table.
—
“How are you doing?” the Doctor asked Rose a few minutes later.
“Y’know, I think this is the best brisket I’ve ever had.”
“Hmm, sounds about right. Pass the latkes, would you?” he asked Yates, sitting a few seats away from him. The Doctor looked back at Rose. “Have you ever celebrated Hanukkah before?”
“A few times,” said Rose. “A few of my friends growing up celebrated, had me over.”
“So I’m guessing you know how to play dreidel?”
“No,” said Liz firmly from across the table. “Don’t play dreidels with him, he’s a nightmare. Last year he hustled Benton out of at least half a pound of chocolate gelt.”
Rose laughed. “How do you hustle someone in a luck-based game?”
“Dreidels aren’t luck based,” said the Doctor. “They require massive amounts of skill.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
“Would you bet on it?” asked the Doctor, his face lighting up.
Rose narrowed her eyes for a moment before grinning. “You’re on. You still owe me ten quid, y’know.”
The Doctor cocked his head. “On the contrary, my dear, I don’t think I owe you ten quid yet.”
—
The food and conversations were so good that the allotted six hours passed by in a blur. The Doctor caught Rose’s eye when the time came, and he motioned his head towards the door. Rose nodded, and they quietly left the room.
The Doctor led her back up to the lab, and Rose quickly attached the cannon to its regular spot at her waist, inputting a few commands to tell Control back in Pete’s World that she was ready for a recall.
She looked at the Doctor, who was studying her carefully.
“I still can’t figure you out,” he said. “Who you are to me. Why your timeline is so complex. How a human from… I’m guessing the early 21st century is able to build transdimensional travel without a capsule. Fascinating.”
“You’ll figure it all out one day, Doctor. And I know you don’t know me yet, but… I’ve missed you so much. It was so nice to see you.”
The Doctor smiled. “You’ll see me again soon, I should think. The me who knows you.”
Rose sighed. “I hope so.”
“You will,” he repeated. “I’m sure of it. You’ve got the right universe now. Just shift the temporal coordinates by a few decimal places, and you’ll be there.”
Rose stepped up to him, lifted herself onto her tiptoes, and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,” she said softly. “And thank you for being so kind to me. Tell Liz I said thank you for having me tonight.”
The cannon beeped twice, indicating that she was about to take off, any moment now. “Well, that’s my ride,” she joked. She paused, trying to work up the courage for what she really wanted to say.
“Rose,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“My name. Rose.”
The Doctor smiled widely and took her hand. He lifted it up and pressed a kiss to the back of her knuckles. “Rose,” he said. “It was lovely to meet you. For the first time.”
“Till the next time,” she said.
Electricity crackled in the air, and a moment later, she was gone.