Doctor Who Fan Fiction ❯ Rose and Nine The Inbetweens and backstories ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Peckham Police Station.

177 Peckham High Street. SE15 5SL.

`So Mr. Smith, do you mind if I call you Mickey?' The detective asked him in the interview room.

`No I don't mind you callin' me Mickey,' he replied in a huff. `What I do mind is you lot accusin' me of murderin' my girlfriend.'

`Mickey, we're not accusing you of anything . . .'

`Jackie is,' he shot back.

`Mrs. Tyler is understandably concerned about her daughter's disappearance, and she informs us that you don't seem unduly concerned about it, that's all. We just need you to tell us what you know about her whereabouts, and this man that she allegedly left with.'

Oh great! If he didn't get locked up in prison for the murder of Rose, he'd get locked up in the loony bin for believing she'd been abducted by aliens (well `an alien' at least).

`Okay, I last saw her Sunday before last, y'know after all those plastic dummies tried to kill everybody. This Doctor bloke seemed to know all about it and stopped them. `Right then, I'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you could come with me' he said, and off she went.'

`Doctor who?' The detective asked.

`Dunno, just the Doctor. Some sort of scientist or secret agent I suppose.'

`What makes you think that?'

`Like I said, he seemed to know all about them plastic things and how to stop them.'

`And you haven't heard from Miss Tyler since that night?'

`Nah, it was the same when she ran off with Jimmy Stone last year. Maybe you should be askin' `im where she is.'

`Oh don't worry, we will. Does a lot of running off with other men does she?'

`Hey, what you tryin' to say about my Rose? That she's some sort of trollop or somethin'? It was only that wanker Stone who enticed her with lies about becomin' a famous rock star.'

`And now a mysterious doctor. How does that make you feel Mickey? Does it make you angry that she'll just run off and leave you? Does it make you want to punish her?'

`NO! I love Rose, an' in her own way, I know she loves me. I know what you're doin', you're tryin' to get me all riled up so that I'll say that I wanted to kill her for runnin' off, but it ain't like that, `cus I love her and I'd never do anythin' to hurt Rose . . . Never!'

Mickey fell silent as he thought about what he had just said.

Interview terminated at 13:10. We may need to speak to you again Mickey, please let the desk sergeant know if you are going away on holiday or anything like that so that we know how to contact you.

Mickey left the police station and took out his mobile phone, searching through the contacts for Shareen's number. He found it and pressed the dial button.

'Hello Mickey,' Shareen said, having seen it was him on the caller display.

'Hiya Shareen. Have you heard from Rose lately, 'cos I've just been interviewed by the police as a suspect in her disappearance.' Mickey liked to think that Rose would call him before anyone else, but then if she was feeling guilty about running off with "Big Ears", then she might talk it through with her best mate.

'Wha? Seriously? That's crazy. No, I ain't spoken to her since the week before last, when the shop blew up. I wanted to see if she was all right and if she'd got any goss' on what happened. I've tried phonin' her, but all I get is . . .'

'It has not been possible to connect your call,' Mickey finished for her. 'Yeah, me too. Okay, it was worth a try,' he said disappointedly.

'Is she still off travellin' with that insurance bloke you told me about?'

'Yeah, she must be havin' a good time as she's forgotten to phone.'

'Why don't ya try Keisha? She might have heard from her,' Shareen suggested.

`Y'know, that's not a bad idea. I've got to go back to work now, but I can call in to see her on my way home. Thanks Shar, speak to you soon.'

The next morning, Mickey woke up with a certain amount of disorientation. It was partly due to the amount of alcohol he'd consumed the night before when he'd called in to see Keisha. She hadn't heard from Rose, but she invited him in anyway to chat about where she might have got to.

Mickey didn't mind, because he had always suspected that Keisha had a crush on him, and it stroked his “lads” ego. What he didn't know, was that although Rose was her best mate, she was secretly jealous of their relationship. Keisha had always been a shallow, self centred person, and was never able to keep a boyfriend for long.

She had poured them a drink, and after discussing Rose, they started chatting about growing up on the estate, how they'd both came from dysfunctional families and broken homes, and then about anything in general.

He'd drunk so much, that he couldn't remember how he'd got home, or how he'd gotten to bed, and that was when the other cause of his disorientation hit him like a slap in the face . . . He wasn't in his bed, and he wasn't alone in whoever's bed he was in.

When he rolled over, he was suddenly very sober, and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach had nothing to do with his hangover. He catapulted out of her bed as though he'd been on a trampoline.

`Keish! What's goin' on? What happened?' he asked urgently.

She gave him a lopsided smile. `That memorable eh? You really know how to make a girl feel special, don'tcha.'

He slowly realised that she was smirking as she was looking at him, and she wasn't looking at his face. Her gaze was focussed on an area below his waist. He looked down, and saw that he was naked.

`Oh my God, what have I done?' he dropped to the floor and gathered his clothes together, holding them in front of him as he hedged around the room, and backed out of the door.

`Sorry Keish, I've got to go to work . . . This was a mistake . . . A big mistake.'

As the door closed, Keisha's playful giggle and teasing smile, turned into an evil, malicious grin.

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Seven weeks after Rose had disappeared off the face of the Earth, Jackie heard the doorbell chime out.

`Rose?' She asked, her hopes rising and her heart pounding suddenly. Had she come home for her birthday? She hurried down the hallway and opened the door to her friend and neighbour, Ru Chan. She was holding a pink envelope and a small package covered in birthday wrapping paper.

Jackie looked at the birthday card and gift for Rose and started to cry.

`No news then?' Ru asked. Jackie wailed, and Ru enveloped her in a comforting hug. `Oh Jackie, I'm sure she'll be all right,' her friend said trying to comfort her.

`I wish I was sure Ru, but she's never been off like this before without gettin' in touch. I know somethin's wrong, I can't feel her in here,' Jackie said, holding her fist over her heart.

`Here, come and sit down, I'll put the kettle on, and then I'll call Billy Crewe, he's got a computer with one of them fancy laser printers, we can make up some flyers and posters.'

Jackie dabbed her eyes with a tissue. `Oh, that's a good idea; someone's bound to have seen her.'

`Of course they will, and it'll jog their memories,' Ru said, going through to the kitchen. `I hear that Keisha Selby and her cronies have been givin' Mickey hell, puttin' accusin' letters through his letterbox and threatening him with violence. And he's been interviewed by the police again.'

`Quite right too,' Jackie called out from the living room. `Okay, I don't agree with what Keisha's doin', but he knows somethin', and it's like he's afraid to say anythin'.'

`You can't think Mickey had anythin' to do with Rose's disappearance can you? I mean, he's besotted with her, and he wouldn't hurt a fly.'

`And what is it they say? It's always the quiet ones, the ones you never suspect . . .'

Peckham Police Station (again).

177 Peckham High Street. SE15 5SL.

`So, Mickey, we've made some enquiries, and we've got a few more questions for you,' the detective said.

Mickey just glared at him, giving him a sullen, defiant look.

`Jimmy Stone is out of the picture, he's in a Dutch prison at the moment. You however, are in this picture. For the tape, I'm showing Mr. Smith a frame from a pizzeria security camera, dated sixth of March.' He slid the photo across the table where Mickey could see it. It showed the Auton version of Mickey attacking Rose and the Doctor.

`Is that you in the photo, attacking Miss Tyler and her new “friend”? Were you enraged at the thought of Miss Tyler dumping you for this other man?' The detective asked with a raised eyebrow.

`No, I was nowhere near that restaurant.'

`We have witnesses that saw you there. Miss Tyler was so frightened by you that she set the fire alarm off. In the confusion, some of the witnesses claim that the man in the picture pulled your head off, but I think we can discount those claims.'

`I'm tellin' you it wasn't me, it was one of those plastic robot things made to look like me. And if you hadn't noticed `detective', my head is still firmly on my shoulders. I was in a dustbin outside that bloke Clive's house, and the bloke in the photo is the Doctor that Rose went off with.' There, let them argue with those facts, Mickey thought.

`Ah yes, Clive Finch, we spoke to his widow when you told us about Miss Tyler going to see him.'

`Widow? He's dead?' Mickey asked, this was getting very disturbing; anybody who knew about the Doctor seemed to end up missing or dead.

`Yes, an unfortunate victim of those plastic robots. His widow gave us permission to look in his shed; it appears he'd been very busy looking for this man you call the Doctor. For the tape, I'm showing Mr. Smith a photo from Clive Finch's files of the individual known as the Doctor.'

When Mickey looked at the photo, he could see the unmistakable big ears and leather jacket, in the crowd of onlookers in Dealey Plaza in Dallas. He was stunned, that flash git was telling the truth, if that was him in that photograph, then he must be able to travel in time like he had said.

`Anything to say?' The detective asked, wondering if Mickey could cast any light on how this man could be in that picture.

`Oh I've got plenty to say, but you lot ain't listenin',' Mickey said, getting annoyed now. `My girlfriend goes missin', and all you lot can do is pick on her poor, unfortunate boyfriend. You listen to her mother's gossip and lies.' He was on a roll now.

`Look, I don't know where Rose is, all I know is she went with this Doctor bloke, and he's bad news. Danger seems to follow him around and people end up dead, and Rose went with him, just like that, and I'm scared for her, scared that she's gonna end up dead too.'

He finished his rant and stood up. `Now, you either charge me with somethin' and get me a lawyer, or I start going to the papers or my MP or somebody an' start shoutin' police harassment.' He glared at the detective, challenging him to arrest him, because he had had enough and he was ready for a fight.

He knew it wasn't their fault really. Hell, they probably weren't looking on the right planet, the Doctor had said he could go anywhere in the universe. And now he knew they probably weren't even looking in the right century.

`Interview terminated 14:37.' The detective stood up and showed Mickey to the door. `If it's any consolation, I believe you, and I will find Rose, I promise.'

Mickey gave a half smile of thanks and nodded his appreciation before leaving the interview room. The detective followed him out, escorting him through the security door into the reception area and out of the main entrance.

When the detective went back to his desk in the main office, his superintendent was waiting for him, along with a man in a suit that he hadn't seen before.

`Detective Preece, my name is Duncan Prescott; I wonder if I could have a minute of your time?' The strangers ID badge said that he was from `The Torchwood Institute'.

`Er, yeah, of course.'

`You can use my office,' the superintendent said.

Five minutes later, the man from Torchwood left the office, and the station unnoticed. The superintendent found Detective Preece sitting in the office when he returned.

`Are you all right Preece?'

Preece jumped at the intrusion. `Oh, sorry sir, miles away there. I'll just go and finish the report on the Tyler case and close the file.'

`If you think that's best.'

`Yes sir, all the evidence points towards an impressionable young woman taking off with a rich sugar daddy. She'll be back when it all goes sour again, like it did last time.'

`Good work Preece,' he said as he went around his desk and sat down. Preece stood and left his superior's office, returning to his own desk to close the file on this missing person's case.

Both men went about their business, unaware of anyone called the Doctor, or his ability to show up at a number of historic occasions. There were no security camera photographs of him, and no witness statements from a pizzeria.

Mickey had no more calls for police interviews, and Clive Finch was just another conspiracy theorist who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.