Chapter Text
From a gritty, New York alleyway, a bright flash of yellow light preceded a loud, distorted cracking sound. Rose was catapulted forward, the force of the blast forcing her into a run, as she slowed down to a stop and caught her breath. She still hadn't gotten used to hopping universes with the Dimension Cannon.
Time travel without a capsule is a bitch, and each jump filled her with longing, as she was reminded of the TARDIS and her safe, if a little bumpy, landings. She walked out of the alleyway, and gave Pete and the rest of the Torchwood team the signal indicating her safe arrival to a parallel world.
She held her head high as she walked out of the alleyway, towards the cacophony of sounds, passing a big, but Earth sized, rat munching on some garbage spilling out of a black bin bag. So far, everything was pointing towards this being Earth: the gravity, the noise, the mice, the fire escapes adorning the upper walls of the alleyway, and Rose picked up her pace in anticipation. She stepped out onto the street, and squinted her eyes slightly as the retreating light of day hit her face.
Before her, the Brooklyn Bridge stretched out over the East River, its cables and arches glowing in the warm light of sunset; the Gothic towers standing tall in the clear sky as an airplane flew high above.
An airplane, thought Rose, as her eyes widened.
She frantically looked around and found a newspaper lying on a bench. Her breathing increased, and her throat all of a sudden felt full of lead. Could she bring herself to hope that after countless jumps and parallel worlds, she’d finally come back to her Earth? She looked down at the newspaper. A bold, black font read “The New York Times”.
Her hands trembled slightly as she willed herself to remain calm. She walked a few paces to a hotdog stand and gave the man a couple of blank bits of currency, developed from psychic paper, and received a cup of hot coffee in return. She thanked him, turned around and walked away. She was going to sit somewhere, think her opinions through, and come up with some plan on how to get to London and how to find the Doctor. She looked up from her coffee, glanced across the road and gasped as her grip loosened, her cup splashing on the pavement in a black puddle.
It was him.
Dressed in an exceptionally tailored, purple suit, trimmed stubble, and neatly styled hair, stood The Doctor. Rose didn’t have time to question his slightly different appearance, she didn’t even look both ways before sprinting across the road.
“Doctor!” She shouted, running towards him as he turned to face the noise.
His surprised expression was covered by a cloud of blonde hair, as Rose jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
"Oh my god" said Rose tearfully. "I can't believe I found you." she said, tightening her arms around him. He furrowed his brows, but ultimately enjoyed holding the young blonde in his arms. She was gorgeous, smelled like vanilla, and seem to be really quite happy to see him, thought Kilgrave, wrapping his arms around her blue leather jacket clad waist as she pressed her body close to his.
He sat her back down as she looked in his eyes. Her left hand was laying on his chest and she raised her right hand to tangle in his hair.
"What's happened to your hair?" She said, running her fingers through his scalp, ruffling his hair to make it stand up erratically on top of his head. She lowered her hand, cupping his cheek, "And the beard?" She chuckled.
"You don't like it?" Asked Kilgrave, amused. It had been a while since he had met someone so forward with him. "So, you're from London too?" He asked, his arms still holding her tight about the waist.
"Huh?" Answered Rose, tensing up all of a sudden, her brows furrowed. Her hand still lay on the right side of his chest, and she blanched as she realised what was missing. Under her palm, everything was still. Gone was the double heartbeat she was so used to. She raised her other hand and could feel a steady rhythm on his left side. This man was human.
Was he still the Doctor, had he made himself human? Or was this someone else completely? Rose was all of a sudden afraid. His lips were curled upwards, radiating the charm she was used to seeing in The Doctor, but something felt off. He seemed hollow, his smile slow and deliberate, as if he was enjoying some private joke that Rose had not yet understood.
As her breath quickened, and her heart beat loudly in her chest, she heard Pete's voice in her earpiece.
"We detected some unusual vital signs", heard Rose in her ear. "Please confirm that you arrived safely."
Kilgrave tapped her ear, "Tell me the truth, who's that?" He asked.
"That's my boss. He wants to know if I've made it here safely, he has a monitor that shows my vital signs and has noticed my heartbeat's increased." said Rose, unsettled, and unable to explain why she was being so open with this man. The more seconds passed, the more she was sure he wasn't the Doctor. He had once told her Time Lords didn't exist in parallel worlds, this must be a simple lookalike, if nothing more sinister was happening.
"Well," started Kilgrave, " tell him you're okay and that he doesn't need to involve himself further." He ordered calmly.
Rose tapped her earpiece, "I'm fine, Dad. I found the right place, I might not be on for a couple of weeks. I'm gonna try and find my way back to London." her eyes wide and hands trembling, as she could feel a faint buzzing in her head.
In Pete's world, she had received some basic psychic training from Torchwood, and she could feel something was wrong as she came to the realization that she had followed his commands to the letter.
She tried to pull away, but he didn't let her, unwrapping his arms around her and holding her hand tight. "Come," he said, "I live close by. Let's have a drink at mine". He stated walking towards the corner, his hand in hers as she followed.
"Who are you?" She asked quietly. She had never seen a human with these kinds of powers, and was trying her hardest to remain calm as he led her to an old, but elegant apartment building.
"My name is Kilgrave." He stated, walking in the ample lobby and stepping into the lift.
"Seriously?" Rose raised her eyebrows. "What kind of a name is Kilgrave? What's your real name?" She prompted.
He wasn't sure how to react to this woman. Aside from being absolutely stunning, shoulder length hair, full lips and wide eyes, she seemed self assured and outspoken. She clearly thought he was someone else and mistook him for this mystery man, hence her practically jumping on top of him. Despite his skepticism, there was something about her, he thought, that made him want to tell her everything about himself.
"Kevin." He said, surprising himself just as much as her. "That's my real name." He felt annoyed all of a sudden, self conscious that he had let his name slip so easily. " Now stop asking questions" he warned.
He placed his hand low on the small of her back as the lift dinged, arriving to his penthouse. He could feel her trembling slightly beneath him, although, to her credit, she seemed to be doing everything in her power to appear nonchalant. He stepped behind her as he led her to his front door, and pushed up against her as he took his keycard from the inside pocket of his grape suit. “Go on then.” he urged.
Rose took a deep breath, and obediently stepped inside the vast apartment.