Searching for the Doctor [attn: Rose]

Donna Noble regretted her decision not to travel with the Doctor a few weeks after he'd gone. It wasn't as though she'd missed him, in the grand scheme of things, but on long, boring days at the office or on crisp nights star-gazing with Gramps, she couldn't help wondering what had become of the alien Doctor who was so very lonely when she'd met him. She wondered if he'd ever found his friend.

A few weeks later, still, Donna had decided to find him. There was nothing here for her on Earth; in London. She had a job she didn't like and each day melted into the next with little to no bravado. Things were becoming mundane, even moreso than usual. She wasn't sure, really, when the decision had been consciously made, but there it was.

First on the bill of things to check out was the old Torchwood One building that he'd mentioned when he'd been with her last. Donna waited until dusk and made her way there, sneaking inside, ignoring the yellow caution tape and shattered glass, glittering against the sidewalk in the sunset.

The building was quiet - too quiet - for her comfort, but she wondered if maybe she'd find the Doctor here, reminiscing or mourning, perhaps. He'd seemed melancholy when he'd mentioned what had happened there.

Making her way up the stairs, she eventually found a room which looked as though a natural disaster had blown its way carelessly through it. Papers were scattered about haphazardly and glass was broken, spread about on the floor. As she knelt to examine a piece of metal ripped and jagged amongst the glass, Donna stiffened. Suddenly, she didn't feel as though she was alone, anymore...

Close to the wall a figure had faded into slow existence, fingers crossed at her sides and eyes squeezed shut. Waiting for a few moment's once she'd solidified before she opened her eyes she bit her lip lightly. There was air, that was good. Ground. It was quiet, but that didn't mean anything. It'd been quiet when she left. If she'd left. Taking in a deep breath Rose Tyler opened peered out through half opened eyes to see where she was.

"I made it." There was breathless excitement in her voice as she looked around, daring a smile. There was no way she could forget this room, and beyond the slight differences that came as it sat, this was it. Really, it! She was so entranced by her surroundings that at first she didn't notice she wasn't alone in the room. But taking a careful step forward, she noticed the other woman and froze.

"What're you doing in here?" The question was out of her mouth almost before she'd had time to think. The place looked abandoned from the bits she could see, and while she realized she technically wasn't supposed to be in there either, she wasn't worrying about it. Besides, Rose had an easy way to get out of any situation she might run into. Not that she had any intention of using it, not yet.

There was something of an unsettling feeling surrounding Donna. She looked over her shoulder, slowly, but saw nothing; no one. Shaking her head and dismissing it as the creepy feeling people sometimes get when in an old, abandoned place, she turned back to the mess on the floor. That had to be the source of the feeling, especially considering the clear destruction that had gone on in this room the last time it had been inhabited. Donna went back to examining the broken piece of metal.

"What're you doing here?"

The voice, quite honestly, scared the shit out of her. There was really no softer way to describe it. She nearly jumped out of her skin upon hearing it.

Donna whirled to face the voice, quite a bit more than simply surprised to see a person standing there. The girl was blond and pretty, but the thing that struck Donna about her most was that she was at least half Donna's age. Without really thinking about it, she suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for her own youth.

"I..." Donna started as she stood. It occurred to her that the girl was not in uniform and probably had no authority to be here, either. Donna's entire attitude changed. She looked back at the girl indignantly. "What are you doing here?" she asked, instead, hoping to stall long enough to come up with a fleeting excuse for why she was here. Anything other than admitting she was looking for an alien in the ruins of a place she knew next to nothing about.

Rose froze for a moment when the question was turned around on her, but made something resemblent of a recovery. "I asked first." She informed the older woman, eyes narrowed just slightly. Not the best retort seeing as she was older than say, eight, but it was what she came up with. Besides, it was an actual point. The fact that she'd figured on trying to get through to this spot because it should've been empty didn't lose its irony on her.

She kept her ground, not taking a step in either direction until she found out who she was dealing with. As she waited for an answer she straightened her jacket idly to keep from fidgeting. Part of her was racking her mind for an explanation to use herself. There was an ID card in her pocket that might do the trick, and she didn't think it would hurt to try.

"But-" Rose started, in attempt to continue on from her last statement, and pulled the thin wallet from her back pocket. She stopped before opening it though, cutting herself off as realization dawned. He'd said her name was on the list of the dead. If whoever this woman was had seen the list, they might recognize her name. It wouldn't do to be a ghost.

Donna watched as the girl faltered. She was definitely just as out of place here as Donna, herself. Placing a hand on her hip, Donna raised her eyebrows as she watched the girl fish a wallet from her pocket.

There was something that Donna couldn't quite put her finger on about this girl that made her feel a little uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the way that the girl tried to assert some sort of authority when she clearly had none, or perhaps it was the flash of something unfamiliar in the young girl's eyes.

Either way, Donna was the elder and she'd gotten here, first. She didn't plan on letting some punk kid send her packing before she found what she was looking for.

"But what?" she asked, placing a hand on her hip and looking expectantly back at the girl.

"But," She continued, grasping at a straw as she floundered for something else to finish the sentence. "I'll be nice and give you some more time to think." Rose smirked slightly as she folded her arms across her chest, trying to exude more confidence then she was currently experiencing.

"Just stopped in here as a waypoint." That was true enough, she didn't have any business with the building itself. "I'm on my way somewhere else." To find him, but she wasn't sure how well that information would play out. If she said she was looking for someone, chances were she'd get asked who. "Sort of an investigation."

She kept the wallet closed against her arm, Rose had to admit she'd been more than a little hasty drawing it out. What she could really use was some psychic paper, unless this woman had worked for Torchwood in which case it'd probably do more harm then good. Maybe it was better she didn't have it then.

"Your turn now." Rose told her, trying to keep her voice cool.

Donna watched the girl carefully for a moment, considering her next move. It was like a conversational game of chess. She had to be careful or she'd set herself up for a loss.

Wetting her lips as she considered her wording, she listened as the girl added, "sort of an investigation." Once again, the girl had given her a safe spot in which to place her words. "An investigation? Me too," she replied. ...sort of, she didn't add. "Donna Noble," she offered, deciding it couldn't hurt anything to tell the younger woman her name.

Donna looked back at the girl and finally stepped toward her slowly, holding out a hand to shake. "And you are...?" she asked.

Rose hesitated, weighing her options. Whether or not she should give her real name and chance the recognition from the list. On second thought though, what were the chances that someone would remember her name and not her face? She hadn't changed that much while she'd been in the other universe. Besides, she could always say that no, wrong person.

"Rose Tyler." She introduced herself, taking a few steps forward to meet her in the middle, carefully avoiding a rather large piece of glass. She took the opportunity to slip her wallet back into her pocket when she uncrossed her arms, giving Donna a smile as she took the extended hand and shook it.

After shaking hands with Rose, Donna dropped her hand. "What are you investigating, exactly? Maybe I can help?" she offered.

Slowly, Donna surveyed the room through her periphery vision and over Rose's shoulder and suddenly, a very thick sadness filled her heart, though she had no idea why.

Before Rose could answer her query, Donna posed another. "What do you suppose happened in here?" Her eyes focused on the woman before her once again. "It looks like the end of the world happened here, or something, doesn't it?"

Rose drew back her own hand, hooking her thumb into a pocket of her jeans. Her smile fell for a moment, as her mind replayed the events, and she turned and took a few steps towards a chunk of metal on the right side of the room. She smiled again a moment later though, and there was a hint of satisfaction in it.

"Whatever happened here, it's over." Rose said the words to Donna, but she might as well have been addressing the universe at large as well. "It does though...doesn't it?" She agreed, though she could think of several other vistas that better fit that description.

"Just... strange things, really. Sounds daft saying it like that though." Rose realized as an afterthought she'd lost the air she'd been trying to wear a moment ago. "But things that are happening, not like this. This's already happened."

Donna nodded, looking around the room. In spite of the disarray, the room was almost peaceful. Like, indeed, whatever had happened here was over and in the past; nothing really to see except the relics of the affair of which Donna knew nothing.

"Right, I don't know what it is about you, Rose, but I'm going to be straight with you. I'm looking for someone and I'm sorry, you seem very nice, but...I haven't time to stand here and chat. He's obviously not here nor will he be coming back, if the feeling I get in this place is anything to judge by, so..." Donna sighed. "I think I ought to go. Unless, of course, you need help with your investigation..."

Pausing, Donna offered Rose a half-smile. "Because God knows I need something with which to occupy myself, since I haven't a bloody clue, really, where to begin with my own," she admitted, frowning.

Rose bit her lip for a moment, thinking. She had no real connections around here anymore, what with her being considered dead after the whole incident had played out. It might be useful to have someone currently in residence of this universe give her a hand. If she got close enough to her goal, close to finding him, she could always say she had to go, and they could split paths then.

"Might take you up on that. I'm not exactly caught up on the latest news around here myself." She admitted honestly, playing with the idea in her head for another minute or so. "You could say I just got here." There was something of a conspirational partial smile. "Literally."

Something else caught her ear though, and she couldn't help fielding the resultant question, if only because of the fact that she was looking for a someone too and just not willing to mention it. In case. "Who's it you're looking for?" There was levelled curiousity in her voice when she asked. "I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"Not from around here, then?" Donna asked gently. "You're not missing much, darling," she added listlessly, thinking of the boredom that had lately been closing a tighter grip around her life since the absence of the Doctor. It was as if she was being punished for not answering the door when opportunity knocked. As much as she was certain she deserved it, that didn't make Donna feel any better.

"Who's it you're looking for? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

Shaking her head and looking simultaneously amused and sheepish, Donna smiled awkwardly. "The truth is, I don't know his name. I don't know anything about him," she said slowly. "It's just that..."

Donna paused to consider her words. She didn't need this new person to think she was a complete nutter, after all.

"It's just that I met this...man...and he saved my life. Then he offered to take me traveling, but, if I'm honest, he scared me a little. I told him no. Now, I wish I'd gone. So, I'm hoping to find him again, is all, I suppose. How about you? What are you looking for, Rose?"

"I used to be from around here." Rose admitted, pushing some stray hair behind an ear while she thought. "It's just that I've been away for awhile. I'm a bit out of touch with everyone here now." That was an understatement she knew, but not enough of one to be a lie. Out of touch was out of touch.

"To be honest...a friend of mine. I never really wanted to leave, then I thought it'd be impossible to come back." Her smile was soft, almost sad but there was triumph in her eyes at the fact that she was. "Problem is, he moves around alot himself. I don't think he'd settle down for the world. Won't even carry a mobile unless he's forced to." There was fond condemnation in her voice.

"Met him around the same way you met yours, actually." Almost exactly the same way, she thought. She'd even refused the first time around, and if he hadn't come back... Rose wondered if she'd have done the searching herself, back then. Part of her said no, she'd have let it be then, accepted that her opportunity'd been missed. Now though, after all that, she didn't really have a choice. "How 'bout that?"

Donna gave the girl a sympathetic smile. She remembered when she was Rose's age and the way that a love lost felt like the end of the world. The way Rose spoke of her 'friend,' Donna got the feeling that perhaps there was a bit more there. It was the tone in Rose's voice and the way her smile didn't really seem to reach her eyes. Donna nodded and rested a hand on the girl's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, leaning her face in closer to Rose's. "Men," she murmured, winking and then stepping away, giving Rose a larger grin.

"Small world, though, yeah? Meeting people in such a similar way." She paused. Really small, Donna thought, considering just how similar their friends sounded. "My friend probably doesn't stay put, either. Though, as I've said, I don't know him very well. I just got the feeling from him that he can't seem to stay still for very long. Antsy little guy, he was..." she added almost fondly. "Scrawny as he was, he had an awful lot of energy and most definitely...antsy."

Donna grinned. "Let's go find your friend. You're young and people make mistakes. Just because you left doesn't mean you can't come back, right? He can't possibly be as elusive as my friend; we'll find him if we look hard enough," she said enthusiastically.

"It's-" Rose started to protest, give some sort of correction but let it fall flat. Mostly because she wasn't sure what she'd have been protesting exactly, but also because she had a feeling it might be a little easier to let things be. She smiled in response instead, freeing her hands to rest on her sides.

"Very small world. 'til we start looking anyway, I bet. Then just Ear- London'll be too much to look through." She couldn't help finding the recognition in some of the description though, of sudden bursts of energy out of nowhere. "Starting to think our friends would prob'ly get along great. Or horribly." Rose added as an afterthought. Live-saving and travelling. Was it really that popular of a past-time? She had to admit she had a certain fondness for it herself. Especially the company it had entailed. There was a niggling thought in the back of her head, but she ignored it.

"Oh I dunno..." Rose gave Donna a conspirational smile, humor in her eyes. "I think my friend could give yours a run for his money. But let's go, definitely. Not gonna find either of them standing around here, right?" She mirrored the enthusiasm.

"Usually two people so similar don't tend to get along that well. I have a feeling, whoever your friend is, he could kick mine's ass," Donna laughed. "My friend's a right beanpole," she added, grinning. "But yes, I suppose you're right; we'll never find them standing around in this place. That and it's really depressing in here..."

Just as she was about to make a move to leave the room, something caught Donna's eye. Two levers, upright and oddly ominous, were placed on either side of the room, one on each side. "Hey, look at this..." she breathed in awe. "They're completely in tact...they're the only things..."

Donna walked past Rose and made her way to the lever on the right side of the room, touching it gingerly as she looked it over. "Wonder what this was for..." she thought aloud, running a hand over its length before gripping the handle reflexively. She looked back at Rose and admitted sheepishly, "sometimes I think I'm too curious for my own good..."

Rose's expression was clouded when Donna looked back, almost sad. She closed her eyes for a moment to block the image, the memory, and reminded herself that she was here. Once they were open again she smiled slightly, not quite meaning it. "Nothing wrong with curiousity. It's prob'ly just luck they're in one piece- two I guess. Or they had something important to do with the whole thing."

Quick to move the attention, Rose made her way to the door, stopping just before the frame to look back. "Mine wouldn't go in for a fight, so yours'd probably be safe. It's cos it's empty." She told her, not feeling the need to add that it was probably because of whatever happened too. She'd seen ruins, but it was different without the air of mystery.

"C'mon though, wouldn't even find a ghost in here I bet. Wouldn't want to let either of them get away, would we?" She grinned from the doorway back into the room, her gaze focused on Donna.

Donna abandoned the lever and approached Rose again. "It's almost like our friends are the same person," she joked, "because I don't think mine would be up for a fight, either, now that I think of it. Not really. He gets a little intense, but I think he mainly means well. Docile, which is weird considering what I saw him do..." her voice trailed off and she shook her head. She didn't want to go into that story. Then, Rose would definitely think she was crazy.

Having reached the doorway and standing just behind Rose, Donna peered over her shoulder into the empty hallway. "It's a bit spooky, isn't it?" she joked awkwardly. "Let's get out of here, yeah? On second thought, this place is giving me the creeps."

"It'd cut down on our searching." Rose joked back, though she couldn't help thinking that all of it did sound alot like him. "Suppose we'll find out when we find one of them. I haven't got a picture or we could make this alot easier." That was one of the things she'd have to do once she found him. Just some pictures. He'd complain, she imagined, but probably not too much.

"Definitely." She agreed, taking a step out into the hallway, then a few more. "Not going to argue with you there." Rose blanked as far as what direction to go, realizing she'd never actually gone through the front door of the place. To cover it up she took a step to the side, planning to let Donna take the lead.

Donna noticed a slight falter in Rose's step as they exited the room and then Rose stepped to the side to allow Donna to take the lead. So, she was right: this girl didn't belong in here, either. They were on the same page, even if neither was entirely willing to admit it out loud.

"Where should we go...?" Donna asked, making her way back down the halls and toward the stairwell. It seemed as though perhaps Rose didn't even know her way, which was odd, considering she had to have come from somewhere. She paused. "How'd you get in, anyway? Which way, I mean?"

"I'm not sure. I think I got a little turned around while I was in here." Rose hoped the excuse would work well enough as she followed Donna down the hall. She didn't think it would go very well to explain how she'd actually gotten in. It'd mean telling the rest of the story too, and she didn't think that would be taken very well. Things would probably be easier without it anyway.

"Once we're out though... Whereever we can get some information, yeah?" She suggested lightly. There was one place that it might make sense to check, but it could wait until they'd seen if anything in particular was going on closer. Also for her to figure out where to get the money for the train. Rose wondered if it would be an idea to try to get in contact with...

Donna nodded at Rose, giving a weary smile. "Well, that is if I can find my way back out again, anyhow. It's a little confusing, this place. I have to wonder if it's intentional, you know?" she asked as she paused to regain her bearings. When she was confident she was going the right way, she started walking again, checking occasionally to make sure Rose was still beside her.

"I'm not sure what type of information you're looking to find, so I don't really know where to take you. What are you looking for, exactly? That might help me..." Donna said. "Ah, there we go. The lift is broken over here, so we have to take the stairs. Hope that's all right." She paused and grinned at Rose. "You're young, I suppose you'll be better off than I will be," she joked as she started back down the stairs.

"What, to keep people out of the know from poking around, like? Could be." Rose kept pace, thinking about it as she walked. It made some sense, even if in afterthought it was a little off. She looked around as she did, for all the good recognization would do her.

"Don't think I'd trust the lift in here even if it did work. 'Magine if it got stuck between floors, the explaining when we got a call out." Rose smiled as she trailed down the stairs behind her. "No problem with'em at all."

She tried to think of how best to word what it was she was looking for. "Information about strange things happening. Like..paranormal, strange." Rose gave a brief pause as she realized that had been fairly blunt. "Not sure where I'd expect to figure that out.. somewhere with internet I'd think. Unless you've got an idea?"

"Information about strange things happening. Like..paranormal, strange."

Donna stopped dead in the stairwell and stared at Rose. "You're joking," she breathed. "Now this is just getting creepy. That's the same sort of thing I'm looking for!"

She suddenly felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. They were doing the same sort of research, so Rose wouldn't think she was crazy, after all. It was a little weird, though, that they were both looking for a male friend and both thought that the best information they could look for in order to find him was something paranormal or weird.

Instead of saying anything about the ever-growing coincidence, however, Donna decided to address the problem at hand. "I...well, I have the internet at my place or we could go to the library, but...I haven't a clue how to actually use is other than to check my email," she admitted sheepishly.