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People say that some things are fated to happen. But the little-known truth is, all things are fated to happen. It’s just a matter of whether it happens in your universe or not.
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“Control? I need another shift.”
Rose spoke into her comm unit to the other universes Torchwood. It had been fairly reliable, interdimensionally, and she could only hope it would last; unfortunately, she was fairly sure the battery was run down . It figured that Torchwood would not be thwarted by interdimensional signals, or the fact that she was hopping universes quickly, but by the fact that a double A battery only lasted so long.
“Lock me onto the TARDIS, now.”
The comm unit crackled to life.
“Sorry, repeat that?”
Rose hit her comm against her palm; it didn’t help, but it made her feel better.
“I need a shift. Lock me onto the TARDIS, now.” She turned to Sylvia and Wilf.
“Right, I’m gonna find him. Wish me luck!” She grinned, and waved.
“Oh, good luck!” Sylvia said. Wilf returned her wave.
“Good luck, sweetheart!”
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Small things, tiny differences in between universes, or even between sets of universes, make a world of a difference.
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The TARDIS faded into view on a dark street. People had run, abandoning homes, cars, yards- wherever they were, they ran. The street was utterly deserted.
“It’s like a ghost town,” Donna said, shivering quietly as she stepped out of the TARDIS. A dog howled, and a dozen others replied to his mournful wail.
“Sarah Jane said they were taking people. But what for?” The Doctor questioned, looking around. He kicked a stray tin can.
“Think, Donna. When you met Rose in that parallel world, what did she say?” He implored her.
“Just… the darkness is coming,” she repeated.
“Anything else?”
Donna’s reply was cut off by a series of gunshots. It spoke to how long she had been traveling with the Doctor that she immediately ducked.
“What was that?” She asked, eyes wide. She turned wildly to see a small amount of smoke rising from down the street, diagonal to where she stood. A man in an old fashioned uniform broke into a run as he saw the TARDIS.
“Doctor, who is that?”
But the Doctor didn’t answer her.
He stared down the road, hardly able to believe his eyes. There was Rose, with a gun- he momentarily frowned- looking hardly older than when he’d last seen her. Which, the Doctor realized, was far too long ago.
He broke into a run.
“They just block the rest of the world out, don’t they?” Said a voice from behind Donna. She whirled around. The man in the uniform leaned against the TARDIS, watching the Doctor and Rose greet each other.
“They’ve always been like that. Makes you wish you could be them. Or join them.” He winked at her. “Captain Jack Harkness, former companion.”
She rolled her eyes, “I know. The Doctor warned me about you.”
“He’s just jealous.”
Both of them turned to watch the Doctor and Rose.
Jack sighed quietly, resigned. Donna was reminded of a boy on the outside of a home, peering into a warm living room with a roaring fire while out in the cold.
Suddenly, Rose pulled away from the Doctor, who was trying to reclaim her lips in another kiss. She looked up at the TARDIS, looked back at the Doctor, and slapped him.
Jack and Donna couldn’t hear what they were saying, except for some raised voice on Roses part.
“Jack!” She yelled to the other man. She finally put down her gun, and ran to Jack.
“He left you. He left you for dead and I am just… so… so…” she spluttered, unable to put her rage and disbelief into words.
Jack held his arms out to her. “It’s over,” he said, not unkindly. She embraced him.
The Doctor trudged back towards his TARDIS, his expression unreadable. Rose broke away from Jack, lips set in an unforgiving line.
“I don’t like what you did. I might even hate you for it,” she sighed, “But I haven’t seen you for far too long, and I can’t hold a grudge now; we have planets to save.” She wrapped an arm around the Doctors waist.
“I missed you,” she murmured.
Some tension left his frame as he held her.
“I missed you too.”
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The problem with the fact that all things are fated to happen is that sometimes, for this universes version of you, or anyone else anywhere else for that matter, they don’t.
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“Control? I need another shift. Lock me onto the TARDIS. Now.”
Rose spoke into her comm unit, and then turned to face Sylvia and Wilf.
“Right! I'm gonna find him. Wish me luck!” She grinned at them.
“Oh, good luck!” Said Sylvia.
“Good luck, luv!” Replied Wilf.
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The TARDIS materialized on a dark, deserted street. It looked like people had dropped what they were doing and fled.
““It’s like a ghost town,” Donna said, shivering quietly as she stepped out of the TARDIS. One mournful dog howled.
“Sarah Jane said they were taking people. But what for?” The Doctor questioned, looking around. “Think, Donna. When you met Rose in that parallel world, what did she say?” He implored her.
“Just… the darkness is coming,” she repeated.
“Anything else?”
She looked behind him.
“Why don’t you ask her yourself.”
The Doctor turned around. And ran.