"Tyler, here!" Rose chose to answer her phone curtly in her professional Torchwood Rose voice since she did not know who was calling. She was in the field, so she was using her work-issued ear pod instead of her regular phone, and she could not see the number. It would have been difficult under any circumstances, however, to check her caller ID while she tried to pin down a struggling Tripurlian. Their extra set of appendages really got in the way when you were trying to cuff them!

"Oh! Hey, Molly. You have a what? Okay, okay, I will be there as soon as I can. Just let me get this get this finished up first. Thanks!" Agent Tyler continued to work while she talked. She was soon able to hand over the now restrained troublemaker to her second-in-command, Jamie, to take back to Torchwood to process. "Be a good boy and cooperate," she said to the young Trippie in Galactic Standard (the most widely spoken language in the universe), "and we will try to get you on a ship and back home as soon as we can. If you can stop joyriding in stolen school buses, that is!"

Then Rose left as quickly as she could after telling Jamie that she was heading out to the St. Bart's morgue in order to check on a possible Code Orange…and that she would deal with the paperwork in the morning. Jamie just chuckled, since he knew how much his partner hated the boring desk work part of their job. He wished her luck, though, in his deep Scottish brogue, and told her to call him if she needed him.

On the way to the hospital, Rose thought about how she had met Molly Hooper about a year ago when the body of a relocated "visitor" had accidentally ended up in her morgue. Torchwood found out about the mix-up a little too late and Rose had arrived after Molly had already started the autopsy. After the initial shock of finding out that the body had a four chambered stomach (similar to a cow's), Molly's natural medical curiosity prevailed. She asked the right questions and made some astute observations, so much so that Rose made the decision that Molly would make a better ally with her memory of the encounter left intact. That was the beginning of their professional relationship.

After the next visit (involving off-world parasites), they became friends, as well. Besides seeing each other at the morgue whenever something strange showed up, Molly often joined Rose and her work friends at the pub or at one of their flats for movie/game night whenever their schedules allowed. She fit in very well – especially since they did not have to hide their work from her.

The young pathologist also had some interesting friends of her own. Rose was completely surprised the first time that Molly had mentioned Sherlock. The woman had obviously been besotted with the man for a while. The attraction was apparently unrequited, however, and Molly eventually moved on – even though they still worked together in the morgue on occasion. It was clear, though, that Molly's Sherlock was really the Sherlock – the famous detective who existed only as a fictional character back in Rose's first universe!

However, since Rose herself had traveled with an ancient alien through time and space before being trapped in a parallel universe, who was she to judge what should be considered impossible? She did not tell Molly any of this, of course. However, she was always interested in hearing about Sherlock and his adventures and consistently read John Watson's blog whenever it updated. She thought that both men were fascinating and they seemed to have lives very similar to her own...except with human criminals instead of alien ones. Rose only hoped that she could meet them in person one day. In fact, she thought that it was probably inevitable that they would turn up at one of her field investigations eventually – especially since they seemed to be drawn to trouble and danger – just like she was!

When Rose arrived at the hospital, she pushed her musing aside and noticed that it was already getting dark. It had already been a long day, but apparently it was not over, yet. She wondered idly what other surprises the night had in store for her. With this thought, she strode quickly to the morgue, and simply waved to the guard on duty who knew her by sight.

Agent Tyler happened to look down, however, as she suddenly realized that she was still in her military-style field uniform: black top, black cargo pants, and black boots with her hair pulled back into its usual casual blonde ponytail. That was probably a good thing, though, because who knew what she would find on Molly's table. It was sure to be messy, not matter what. It's certainly not like I am trying to impress anyone, she thought, as she passed by Molly's office. Since the woman she sought was not in there, Rose went straight to the exam room instead.

"Okay, Molly Dear, what weird slimy thing do you have for me tonight?" she exclaimed jovially as she strode through the swinging double doors. To her shock, however, Molly was not the one standing over the body on the table! As the unexpected visitor turned around to face her, surprise flashed briefly across his face. Rose had to suppress her urge to sigh girlishly, however. Her first impression was of longish curly dark hair, light skin, sharp cheekbones, and penetrating eyes that seemed to subtly change color and that obviously assessed her while they looked at each other. Quite frankly, he was gorgeous!

He was also definitely not supposed to be in the exam room – especially not at this particular time. However, since Rose also knew instantly who he was, she certainly was not surprised. Somehow, she was sure that the man often ended up being in places where he just should not be. From all that she had heard and read, it was easy to see that the bloke lived for trouble. Well, she could certainly give him that! She grinned cheerfully at the thought and walked towards him.

"Sherlock Holmes, I presume?" she finally asked, as she gave him a dazzling smile and offered her hand.

…

For his part, Sherlock was bored. He was not ready-to-shoot-the-wall-bored, yet, but it was a close thing. Therefore, he needed to find something to do. He needed something different, something surprising! He seemed to be out of options, however, because John was still on his honeymoon, Mycroft had nothing for him (apparently the government was running smoothly for once), and Lestrade was still ignoring him. Therefore, the detective decided to go to the morgue. He wondered if Molly had anything interesting on the slab there. At any rate, he needed to pick up a new brain to dissect because had an experiment that he wanted to perform. He was sure that he could convince Molly to provide one.

When Sherlock arrived at the morgue, however, Molly was in her office on the phone. Her back was turned towards him, but the door was open. Therefore, he stopped to listen. Most people would consider this to be rude, but it was really just the normal modus operandi for him.

"Hi, Rose. It's Molly. Something weird just came in that you are going to want to see. I haven't poked around with it too much, but it's certainly nothing that I have seen before, so I thought it would be right up your alley." A short pause followed – apparently while the Rose person spoke - before Molly cheerfully wrapped up the conversation. "Okay, I will see you then. Bye!"

Sherlock thought the situation sounded intriguing. He did not know who this Rose was, but if something "weird" was "right up her alley," then it might be worthwhile for him to meet her. Wait a minute, he thought suddenly. Molly's tone had been very casual, as if she was speaking to a friend. He thought back and remembered that he had heard Molly mention a friend named Rose before – something about their team winning a pub quiz or something similar? Sherlock felt a bit of disappointment as he realized that the mystery woman must not be as interesting as the phone conversation implied, if pub quizzes were her leisure activities of choice. What a pity! I am going to see what was on that table, anyway, though, he thought as he headed for the door of the exam room. Unfortunately, Molly caught him before he reached his destination.

"You can't go in there, Sherlock," she said as she shook her head at him in exasperation. However, she did not seem at all surprised to see him in the morgue so late in the evening. At his scoff of disbelief, she insisted. "I'm serious! Somebody is coming for that body soon. Why don't you head into the lab instead and see if there is a brain available in the cooler? You mentioned the other day that you needed one. Everyone else has already gone home for the evening, so you shouldn't be disturbed."

Molly was pleasantly surprised when her ploy seemed to work. Sherlock did not argue with her about her refusal to let him see the body. He just nodded, instead, and headed off in the direction of the empty lab. She did not realize, of course, that his easy acquiescence was due to the fact that he knew that he could see the door to Molly's office…as well as the one to the exam room…through the large glass window of the lab. Sherlock was not a man known for his patience, but he felt he could wait until Molly was distracted enough that he could slip in and see what all of the mystery was about.

In fact, it did not take long, at all. Soon, Molly received another call, and after she glanced at both the exam door…and the lab window to make sure that Sherlock was where he was supposed to be, she turned, and walked down the corridor in the opposite direction on an unknown errand. The detective then made his move. He slipped into the exam room, and had just started his examination of the body, when he heard a bubbly, cheerful voice call out from behind him.

"Okay, Molly Dear, what weird slimy thing do you have for me tonight?"

Sherlock spun around and quickly masked his surprised expression when he saw the unknown woman who stood there. His eyes roamed over her in a quick assessment:

Young – mid to high 20s

Dark blonde – slightly darker eyebrows – high end salon color

Eyes – deep brown – knowledgeable - observant

Lean and muscular – active lifestyle - fighter

Military style uniform – Special ops – highly trained – leader

Armed – unrecognized weapon – used only when necessary

Stance – casual – welcoming? – interested?

Mind – alert – assessing – amused? – admiring?

Attractive – single?

Sherlock shook his head at the surprising track that his thoughts had taken and watched in amazement as the young woman obviously assessed him, as well. He briefly wondered what her verdict would be, but he certainly did not expect the resulting smile and the welcoming hand. She had not introduced herself, but she must be Molly's Rose – and his lips turned up a bit in pleasant surprise as he realized that he had obviously underestimated her!

…

For her part, Rose watched as Sherlock reacted to her. She could not really judge his emotional state or thoughts without touching him (Not that she would without his consent but…Wow!...that brought up some interesting thoughts that she had not had in a while!) Plus, she really did not know how he would acknowledge her after his assessment. Therefore, she was pleasantly surprised when he returned her smile with a pleased look of his own. He nodded his acknowledgement that she had identified him correctly. He even shook her hand and even replied with uncharacteristic politeness in a pleasantly accented baritone, "Nice to meet you, Miss ….?"

"Tyler…Rose Tyler," she answered with amusement, "but I assume that you already knew that."

He had not known her last name (even though it sounded familiar and he filed that information away for later) but he was not going to admit it, so he just nodded again and slowly let go of her hand.

"Now, I would ask you what you are doing here, when you obviously shouldn't be," she continued cheerfully. "However, that answer is fairly obvious, as well. Sherlock Holmes is a curious man, and he won't rest until he figures out what is going on." She laughed and gestured at the body on the table, "Well, prepared to be surprised!" she said cryptically as Molly burst in, flustered and upset that Sherlock had not listened to her.

"Rose, I am so sorry. I told him not to…" she started to explain.

"Don't worry about it, Molly, I don't blame you in the slightest. In fact, I have a feeling that Mr. Holmes rarely does as he is told!" she replied as she shot an amused smile in his direction.

Sherlock did not allow his face to show it this time, but he felt a strange combination of confusion and pleasure at her words. Rose Tyler certainly seemed to understand him…and if that was not unusual enough…she seemed to like him anyways! What a surprise! Well, I'm certainly not bored now! he thought in a considerably more cheerful state of mind than he had been in when he had arrived. He turned back towards the body on the table in anticipation.

"Well, now that we are all here and ready, let's see what we have." Rose's voice sounded more serious and professional than it had before while she donned the gloves and face protection that Molly passed to her. She gestured for Sherlock to do the same, and then all three of them leaned towards the body on the table. Rose noticed with dismay how heavy-set the body was and reluctantly reached up under the hairline to reveal a zipper-like device.

"Shit!" she exclaimed emphatically, much to the surprise of both Molly and Sherlock. "It's a Slitheen."

Molly exhaled sharply as she turned towards Rose. "You mean the ones that you told me were from Rax..Raxa…" she stuttered - as Sherlock looked between the two of them and back to the body again – while he tried, and failed, to connect the dots.

"Raxacoricofallaptorious, yes – unfortunately," replied Rose, without the hint of the amusement that usually accompanied the name. "I don't see an obvious cause of death, which is worrisome, so that means we are going to have to take him out of his skin suit. Then, I will call in my team." She looked back at Sherlock with a serious look in her eyes. "Are you sure that you are ready for this?" she asked with some concern. "Because after you see it, there is no going back."

Sherlock, still a bit startled by the phrase "skin suit," looked at the body again and then over at Molly. He noticed that she seemed tense, but not scared. Therefore, he realized, surprised once more, that she knew and accepted what was happening here – and that it was not her first time in this type of situation. He then looked back to Rose. He searched her warm brown eyes for a moment, as he noted the real concern (for him!) there. Finally, he nodded as he continued to hold her gaze. If Molly could handle it, then obviously so could he. He wondered about the relief that flashed briefly in Rose's eyes, as she nodded back, and then turned her attention back to the body. Sherlock could only watch intently as she slowly pulled the forehead "zipper" open.

Sherlock never even blinked when he witnessed horrific murder scenes, but even he had to admit that what happened next was one of the most disgusting things that he had ever seen. Rose finished opening the zipper, which almost completely encircled the body's head and then she started tugging the skin downwards. She motioned for Molly to help, and from opposite sides, they continued pulling down the skin with enough force to reveal the huge, green, and almost gelatinous-type creature inside. It practically burst out of the loosened skin – like pus in an infected pimple. Sherlock was too stunned to even consider questioning Rose when she told him to help pull the skin off of the feet area where it had started to bunch up, while she and Molly continued to tug on the sides.

When they had finally pulled it completely off, Rose folded it neatly – skin, clothes, and all – and sealed it in a large evidence bag. She then walked back to the table where Molly carefully examined the "new" body before she looked back over at Sherlock to see how he was coping with his first introduction to extraterrestrial life. He had leaned back against the counter with his eyes shut and the fingers of both of his hands were steepled in front of his chin. It was clear that he was trying to process what he had just experienced. Fortunately, as far as Rose could tell, he did not seem to be in distress or overly upset, just in deep thought. Therefore, she decided to give him some more time while she talked with Molly about the body.

Rose returned to him shortly, but found that he still in the same position. "Mr. Holmes?" she spoke in a quiet and reassuring tone. "Sherlock?" she inquired again as she placed her hand on his arm when he still did not answer. "I need to know how you are doing before I call for a team from HQ." She continued to watch him with concern, but finally, after just another moment, he opened his eyes. Rose removed her hand and stepped back from him in order to watch his face as to better judge his reaction.

"I can see now why you called it a skin suit," he said carefully to show that he had accepted, at face value, everything he had just witnessed. He had spent that entire time in his Mind Palace – his place of mental focus where he stored information that might be needed at another time. Even there, he could not find anything to confirm what he had seen, but he could not find anything to refute it, either. Therefore, he forced himself to consider the evidence on hand.

First of all, the body was right in front of him. He had seen the "before" and had helped to remove the skin to display the "after." The skin was still right there in the room, undisturbed, in the bag, as well. He had felt it with his own hands. In addition to all of that, Rose and Molly were both completely unfazed, which spoke about their experience in such matters. He did not really know Rose well, yet, but she seemed very confident and capable. Also, he trusted Molly and her instincts (even with his life). Therefore, it all must be true. The thing on the table must be real...and not human!

Rose looked at him in surprise since she had expected more of an argument from him. However, he just shrugged. "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." He told her matter-of-factly and then blinked, astonished, when those words seemed to cause another dazzling tongue-touched smile to sweep across her face again.

"Fantastic!" she exclaimed with delight. "Now, I know that you have questions and I will try to answer them all. Just let me call for a clean-up crew first." Then she surprised him even further when she gave both him and Molly a quick hug before she pulled out her mobile and walked over to the other side of the room for a bit of privacy. While she made her call, he looked up to see that Molly was watching him intently. She smiled at him with understanding, and to his surprise, he actually found himself smiling back slightly in response. The adrenaline from all of the newfound discoveries that the night had provided (including Rose's hug) coursed through his veins…and he realized that it felt good!

Sooner than he expected, three men showed up pushing a hospital trolley. One was dressed in a similar way to Rose, but the other two wore standard hospital scrubs. They all greeted Rose respectfully. However, the one in black with the Scottish accent showed a lot more familiarity than the other two. Sherlock watched the interaction between the two in black carefully until he came to a deduction. The man was obviously Rose's partner, but not lover, he decided after a moment. For some reason that he felt reluctant to consider further at that time, he felt irrationally relieved about that particular observation.

Sherlock also noted with interest that all three of the men greeted Molly by name, but completely ignored him. Things moved very quickly after their arrival, though. Sherlock purposely removed himself to the edge of the room so that he would not attract undue attention, but where he could still closely observe what was happening. He watched as the two in hospital scrubs followed Rose's directions, carefully packed up the body and the skin suit, and then sterilized the room. He saw the one in black, whom Rose referred to as Jamie, send a questioning glance his way before he leaned down to whisper something in her ear. Sherlock saw her shake her head emphatically, and even though he could not hear exactly what she said, it was obviously a negative response…a denial. The man with her just shrugged unconcernedly. However, he took the time to bid the ladies goodnight before he walked out the door behind the other two - but still without so much as one word to the detective.

Rose did not seem to find anything strange about such behavior, though. In fact, her earlier enthusiasm was back in full force when she turned back towards Molly and Sherlock. "Well, that takes care of that!" she exclaimed with a beaming smile. "I don't know about you two, but I'm starving! How about some Thai?" Molly just giggled at her friend's non-sequitur and led the way into the office to get a takeout menu while a bemused Sherlock followed close behind.

While they waited for their food to arrive, they all settled in comfortably around Molly's desk as Rose explained the events of the evening. "They are not really called Slitheen, you know" she said casually...as if it they were having a normal conversation. "We just use that as a nickname for them because it is easier than trying to say Raxacoricofallapatorians all of the time." She paused at the complicated name, and this time the memories associated with it did cause a brief smile to pop up on her face before she continued the explanation. Sherlock, meanwhile, studied both her face and her mannerisms intently as she spoke.

"Slitheen is just the surname of a particular family of them that I met once," Rose clarified. "Most members of their species are quite peaceful, but there are some rogues, like the Slitheen family, who were willing to destroy an entire planet...and its residents...for profit. The rogues tend to murder somebody, take their skin and identity, and live among humans trying to fulfill whatever crazy plan that they have. This one was obviously a rogue because that was a real human skin suit, instead of one of the synthetic ones that we provide for authorized visitors. Therefore, I reported it to HQ, so that the poor human could be identified and his family notified with a reasonable cover story. The rogue also needs to be reported to his native government, so that his identity, cause of death, and plan can be uncovered. Fortunately, the Raxacoricofallapatorian government is very conscious of their universal image and reputation and is always quite helpful when it comes to these matters." Rose paused again as she let both of them absorb this information while the food arrived and Molly fetched them some drinks from the machine down the hall.

"I think this counts as a business dinner," she cheerfully claimed when the guard called the office to let them know that their food had arrived and the delivery guy was on his way down. She met him at the door, paid for the food, and gave him a generous tip (which he appreciated) and a wide smile (which made the young man blush). Sherlock watched all of this with interest and decided that Rose must have that effect on a lot of people. The three of them then divided up the food and started to eat. While they had their dinner, Sherlock asked Rose to continue her story…and she eagerly complied.

"The Slitheen aren't our only visitors from off-planet, of course," she explained. "On any given day, there are thousands of universal visitors spread out all over the globe. Some are here on vacation, some work for us, and some are refugees. Most are peaceful, but we do occasionally get troublemakers. However, my organization serves as the first line of both welcome and defense. Any questions, yet?"

That was an understatement. Sherlock's active mind practically swirled with questions as he watched and listened to Rose. She showed such knowledge and enthusiasm that it proved her work was obviously a topic close to her heart. One question in particular, however, stuck out as very important to him. The longer that he was with the mysterious woman, the more he wanted to know about her. Therefore, he leaned towards her with intent and asked seriously, "Who are you?"

"I am Rose Tyler of the Torchwood Institute, field team leader and Inter-Species Relations department head," she replied to the question with that same brilliant smile that had affected him earlier. "I am also known to some as the Defender of the Earth." Her smile faded a bit then as she gave a short amused laugh that, oddly enough, sounded a bit sad at the same time.

There's a story there, thought Sherlock before Rose interrupted his reverie when she asked again. "Any more pressing questions?"

"Why are you telling me this? How is Molly involved?" Sherlock chose the next set of questions among the many that were weighing heavily on his mind as he continued to think about everything that she had told him.

Rose nodded as if she had expected that particular inquiry. "As you can imagine planetary safety and universal harmony is a very big deal," she explained. "At Torchwood, we are all experts in our fields, but sometimes even the experts need help. It is very important for us to have intelligent and trustworthy people outside of the organization to let us know about anything "interesting" that we might not be in a position to notice ourselves and to provide an extra set of eyes or hands as needed – to serve as unofficial consultants – if you will. That's what Molly did for us tonight. She has been affliated with us for about a year or so, and we are so very grateful for her. We would not have known about this rogue, or several other past incidents, otherwise. That makes all the difference in our work. Not only that, but she is a lot of fun, as well!" Rose laughed and gave her friend a hug which was fondly returned.

Sherlock frowned suddenly and looked at them both with sudden suspicion. "Is that what you want from me? Did Molly tell you that I was going to be here tonight?" he spat out in dismay while he wondered if that was the only reason Rose had been so friendly towards him. In fact, he was so disappointed by the thought that he had completely forgotten about the fact that he had shown up unannounced and unexpected at the morgue.

Instead of getting angry, though, Rose just laughed. "Believe it or not, Mr. Holmes, the world does not revolve around you," she answered pleasantly with a twinkle in her eye. Her obvious amusement at his expense ironically somehow managed to immediately relieve him of his doubts. "Meeting you tonight was a surprise...a happy accident. Yes, Molly has mentioned you in the past and I won't lie and say that you don't intrigue me. In fact, I have read about your work and I have to admit that I think you and your partner are amazing. However, I did not set out to meet you on purpose. I just hoped that if we were ever thrown together in the course of an investigation, you would prove yourself to be capable of handling such a monumental twist in the reality of the world as you know it!"

Rose Tyler finds me intriguing and amazing! That surprising thought was enough to make the corners of Sherlock's mouth curl up again as he absentmindedly noted that he had smiled more tonight than he had in a very long time. He was not finished with his questions yet, though. He simply had to know something else.

"Did I? Did I prove myself?" he asked, almost desperate to have her answer in the positive. For some reason, he wanted her to continue to think highly of him.

"Well, I did convince Jamie earlier not to wipe your memories of the evening!" Rose said with a wink, but still sounded serious enough that he could tell that she was being completely honest. His eyes followed her as she stood up and he found that he had automatically echoed the movement, as well.

"It's been fun, you two," Rose continued, "but I think that it is time to call it a night." She looked at the clock on the wall to emphasize her point that is really was getting late. However, she looked over at Molly one more time. "Movie night tomorrow at Mickey and Martha's?" she asked. Molly nodded happily at the invitation. "If aliens don't invade, that is!" Rose added, and the tone of her voice proved that she was only half joking. She then walked over to Sherlock. "Until next time, Mr. Holmes," Rose said with a smile. "Call me if you need me, though," she added sincerely as she stepped close to him and tucked a business card into his jacket pocket.

"I look forward to it, Miss Tyler," Sherlock replied with a small enigmatic smile of his own as he realized that he spoke the truth, "…and please call me Sherlock." He watched that gorgeous smile bloom across her face again at the unexpected invitation as she turned to walk out of the office. She stopped at the door, though, to give them both a cheeky wave before she headed on down the hall.

"Well...what do you think of her?" Molly asked as she watched Sherlock watch Rose.

"She certainly is… surprising!" he said honestly and then walked out the office himself without a backwards glance.

…

Sherlock could barely remember how boring his day had been – especially since his night had been nothing but one surprise after another! Consequently, he mused about aliens and Rose (and when he would see that intriguing woman again) all the way back to Baker Street. In fact, his mind was so full of everything (and everyone) that he had seen through the night that he was already up the stairs and in his flat before he realized that he had forgotten to bring the brain from the lab home with him…