The Rose's Thorn
Disclaimer: We do not own Doctor Who! The idea for this fanfiction was devised by TheDevilsPuppetMaster and improved upon by CapturedAngelNo19. There is a strict plan in place for this book and the next in the series, a plan which hasn't changed from the first version of these books. We hope you all enjoy.
Note from CapturedAngel: Angels and Gentlemen, welcome to the first, fully finished and edited chapter of The Rose's Thorn. Now, things have changed dramatically because both Devil and I have decided that we didn't like the direction Thorne's character was going: she seemed more like an everyday companion and I have to admit, all my writing has been very rushed lately because of my mental health issues – some of which Devil has informed me Thorne shares so certain things that you read here will actually relate heavily to myself or Devil.
Note from TheDevilsPuppetMaster: Hello my puppets, welcome to the first book I have written in a few months. I hope my collaboration with Angel will allow for everyone reading them to have a very visceral experience. Now, both Angel and I suffer from metal health issues that Thorne does share to a degree so the mention of mental health will be from the perspective of either one of us.
Actress playing Thorne: Louisa Connally-Burnham.
Chapter One: Rose and Thorne
"Thorne, get up. It's time to go," called Rose Tyler stepping into her younger sister's bedroom. Her blonde hair was poking out in every direction as she ripped the covers off of her sister's sleeping form and stared at her angelic expression, which was quickly ruined by Thorne's eye twitching – signalling the fact she was awake. "Get up. Don't even try to pretend not to hear me."
"I don't want to," groaned Thorne, she curled up into ball facing away from her older sister, "I'm tired."
"You shouldn't have stayed up reading all night then, should you?" Rose snorted. She glanced at the clock and let out an annoyed huff before poking Thorne's back. "Either you get up or I'm getting a cup… and ice cubes."
"I'm up!" Thorne yelped, instantly springing into the sitting position and staring at her sister with wide, terrified brown eyes. "I'm up!"
"Good," said Rose approvingly, "now get a move on."
"Yes, ma'am," said Thorne rolling off of the bed and closing the door after Rose.
Watching at her clock with impassive eyes, Thorne threw her duvet back on her single bed and grabbed one of her favourite outfits from her wardrobe. Her blonde hair shinned in the artificial lamp light as she slipped the dark blue, one sleeve crop top over her head and climbed into her blue jeans before pulling on her black combat boots. Thorne, then, grabbed her mirror and pulled her hair up into a messy pony-tail before sliding her leather satchel onto her left shoulder and walking into the living room.
Her mother, Jackie Tyler, was sitting in the living room in her dressing gown watching T.V while slipping a hot mug of tea. The oldest Tyler looked up upon hearing Thorne's bedroom door open – Thorne's bedroom being attached to the living room – and sent her a happy smile, peppered with sorrow and regret. Thorne returned the smile with a bright and cheery one of her own, trying to ignore the emotion her mother was trying to hide.
It wasn't Jackie's fault – Thorne's current predicament – but she always seemed to blame herself even after Thorne assured her that it was her choice. Thorne had been set to become the youngest ever scholarship holder to Oxford University – she would have skipped college all together – but had stopped herself going after Jackie had lost her job and Rose had dropped out. It had been one of the hardest decisions of her life but since she had graduated high-school at twelve she easily got a job at Henricks Department Store in order to help pay rent. It wasn't Jackie's fault.
"Morning sweetheart," said Jackie, a plate of toast in her hand for Thorne to take.
"Morning mum," Thorne yawned.
"Rose getting ready?"
"No idea," said Thorne flopping down next to her mother. She was watching the door to Rose's room with interest as she munched on the piece of jam covered toast. "Though she can't take that long, she's the one that woke me up."
"We really should get you an alarm clock, sweetheart," said Jackie, taking another sip of her tea.
"Mum, I don't need one," said Thorne, popping the crust of the toast into her mouth, "besides, I'd rather not waste money on it when we already have Rose's one."
"Alright."
Soon Rose came storming out of her bedroom with her coat and phone in hand. Immediately, Thorne stood up, gave their mother a peck on the cheek before following her older sister towards the front door.
"Bye!" called Rose over her shoulder.
"See you later!" cried Jackie just before Thorne closed and locked the Flat's door.
The Central London bus wasn't as packed as usual Thorne noticed when she slipped into a window seat. Rose sat just in front of her, her head resting against the window as she listened to her music and seemingly entrapped in her own little world. Breathing out a sigh, Thorne focused all of her attention on what was outside the window, spotting a man in the crowd staring at her. The man was blonde with a beard and moustache and, from what little Thorne could see, he was wearing a black suit with red inside. She blinked when her eyes started to burr and the moment she opened her eyes again, he was gone.
Thinking nothing of it, Thorne continued analysing the outside world, memorising every little detail like she had trained herself to do when she was younger. She did her best to ignore the amount of people getting on the bus, her anxiety growing with every full set of seats, as she tapped the beat to a random song on her arm. Rose glanced behind her and got up from her seat, slipping into the one beside her younger sister and holding her hand with a kind smile.
"Thanks," Thorne whispered, her grip on Rose's hand tightening.
"That's what family is for," said Rose pulling Thorne's head so that it was resting on her shoulder.
The drive only took twenty minutes before they had arrived at their destination and Rose tugged Thorne up, leading her out of the doors. The pair of them looked up and let out a collective groan of annoyance: a red 'Henrick's Sale' banner was hung above the shop front.
"We're screwed," said Rose.
"No, I believe you'll find you're very screwed," said Thorne, grinning, "I'm just on the register."
"Yeah."
The moment they walked in the sister's split up and went towards their different sections. Thorne smiled at her friend on the other register as she grabbed her pin and name tag.
"Morning Mels," said Thorne with a smile.
"Morning Thorne," said Melody with a happy grin.
"I thought you were going back to Ledworth?"
"Na, friends have gone off travelling," said Melody glancing at the clock, "besides, I couldn't, in good conscious, leave you to face this crowd alone."
"Thanks for caring," said Thorne with a bright smile.
Lunch, thankfully, came quicker than expected and soon Melody and Thorne were walking down the street towards a bakery the pair of them loved. While on their way, Thorne felt a shiver run up her spine and looked around with a raised eyebrow. It was almost like something was calling her, like something was warning her of an oncoming storm. The feeling went away as quickly as it had appeared, and Thorne shook it off, but not before noticing the very same man from before staring at her from an alleyway while holding up a metal device in his hand. Once again, he was gone the moment she blinked.
"This is a customer announcement. The store will be closing in five minutes. Thank you," called the Tannoy.
Both Thorne and Melody let out small cry of relief as people began flooding out of the building. They had barely gotten a break since Lunch and Thorne's fingers hurt, not because she needed keep pushing buttons to work out the amount people were spending but from taking off all the magnetic tags. Rose seemed to be on the very same wavelength as the other two as she was practically running towards Thorne in order for them to leave quickly.
They had just reached the main doors when a guard pulled out a clear plastic bag and waved it in front of Rose, which she tried to ignore: "Oi!" but to no avail. Moaning quietly, Rose grabbed the plastic bag and ran towards one of the lifts, Thorne following her sister: Rose was the one with bus money. The sisters waited in the lift for a few seconds before the doors opened and they stepped out.
"I don't like it down here Rose," said Thorne, tapping her arm in a bid to keep her anxiety down.
"I know," said Rose, the bag secured in her right hand, "but we won't be here long, I promise."
Holding her hand out, Rose gently squeezed Thorne's hand and pulled her closer. Rose, then, wrapped an arm around Thorne's shoulder and led her further into the basement. Thorne's breathing increased but she felt a lot safer with her sister's arm around her.
"Wilson?" Rose called, her voice cutting the silence like a knife. "Wilson, I've got the lottery money." There was no reply. "Wilson, are you there?"
"Maybe he's already gone?" whimpered Thorne, her brown eyes darting around and analysing every corner. "Or up above."
They stopped outside a massive red door with a large 'danger of shock' sign on the front which claimed to be the office of 'H. , CEO.' Thorne gently knocked on the door, "Wilson, it's me and Rose. Are you in there?"
Once again there was no answer.
"We can't hang about 'cos they're closing the shop," said Rose. No response. "Wilson! Oh, come on."
Suddenly something clattered to the ground further down the corridor. Thorne let out a small yelp and clutched Rose's shirt tighter. Rose looked down at her younger sister and hushed her softly before stepping forward. "Hello? Hello, Wilson, it's Rose. Hello? Wilson? Look, I've got Thorne with me and you know she hates it down here!"
Pulling open the door to one of the larger storage rooms, Rose turned on the lights and looked around before feeling Thorne shrink further into her side. Instantly she realised why her younger sister was reacting this way: mannequins. Rows upon rows of half-dressed shop dummies lined the walls and were hidden behind boxes filled with clothes from previous collections.
"Thorne, it's alright. Their just statues," soothed Rose. "Wilson? Wilson!"
They stepped further into the storage room, looking around for any sign of their missing co-worker, when they heard the door slamming behind them. Rose immediately ran towards the massive doors and pulled at them while Thorne stood in the centre of the room as tears flooded her vision.
"You're kidding me," Rose hissed before running towards her little sister and wrapping her arms around her. "Sh, it's going to be fine." There was more sounds echoing around and Rose instantly tightened her grip. "Is that someone mucking about? Who is it? You know Thorne's down here! If I find out whose idea this was, they're going to be sorry!"
Thorne cried out as one of the male shop dummies turned and edged towards them. He was very slow and seemed to have very restricted movement. The feeling Thorne had had earlier suddenly came back ten-fold and she whimpered against her sister's side.
"Yeah, you got us. Very funny," Rose snarled, hate burning in her eyes at the thought of anyone terrifying her baby sister like that. Then, more of the dummies began to move around behind the first, slowly coming towards them. "Right, I've got the joke. Who's idea was this? Is it Derek's? Is it? Derek, is this you? You know Thorne's terrified! I'm gonna kill you!"
"Rose…"
Soon all of the shop dummies in front of them were moving and Rose immediately pushed Thorne behind her as they continued to step back. Thorne quickly found her back against the wall and looked around for a way out as she felt Rose grab her hand. The leading dummy raised his arm and both girls closed their eyes.
Suddenly, something grabbed Thorne's wrist.
Snapping her eyes open, Thorne gasped as her brown eyes connected with the brown eyes of a man, "Run."
Running as fast as she could, Thorne didn't even glance back as the stranger pulled her through the basement towards the lift. Rose however, did look back and went pale when she spotted them following. The moment they got into the lift Thorne's wrist was released and Rose immediately hugged her like their lives depended on it. The leading dummy slammed his hand through the closing doors, trying to strangle the stranger, but didn't manage to truly stop their assentation as the stranger pulled its arm off and made sure the doors were closed.
It took a few seconds for Rose to finally snap back into reality but when she did, she was not happy. Thorne was practically crying in her arms after seeing her worst fear come to life and if whoever had orchestrated this ever revealed themselves Rose would make sure they'd never walk again.
"You pulled his arm off," said Rose in shock.
"Yep. Plastic," said the stranger. He didn't seem at all fazed by the crying teenager in her sister's arms, though he did glance over to Thorne every once in a while.
"Very clever. Nice trick!" Rose hissed. "Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what?"
"Why would they be students?" asked the stranger.
"I don't know," said Rose.
"Well, you said it. Why students?" he asked again.
"'Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students," said Thorne with a sniff, "no adult would ever do that because it would be seen as an immature waste of time."
"That makes sense. Well done," said the stranger, suddenly producing a pack of tissues from his pocket and handing them to her.
"Thanks," said Thorne gratefully accepting the thin bits of paper.
"They're not students," said the stranger.
"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police," said Rose, "and if I get a hold of them, their gonna be in hospital too."
"Who's Wilson?" asked the stranger, raising his eyebrow.
"Chief electrician," answered Thorne, her voice still gravelly from crying.
"Wilson's dead."
The lift stopped and the stranger motioned for them to get out. Rose ushered Thorne out before glaring at the stranger as he turned towards the lift once more. "That's just not funny. That's sick!"
"Hold on," he said before they could move further. "Mind your eyes," he ordered. Thorne looked at him as he pulled a cylindrical device with a blue tip from his pocket as Rose continued to growl.
"I've had enough of this now," growled Rose. The stranger didn't listen as he pointed the device at the controls for the lift and set about disabling the lift mechanism. "Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there?" the stranger began to move. "I said, who are they?"
They began moving through the store, towards the roof, with Thorne forcing Rose to follow along despite her sister's want to just leave this behind. "They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this," the stranger pulled a small bomb out of his pocket. "So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed."
Neither Tyler noticed when they had arrived at the roof until the stranger fled through the main door up to the roof. He shut the door firmly behind him leaving the girls just staring after him until he opened it once more.
"I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?"
"Rose."
"Thorne."
"Nice to meet you, Rose, Thorne. Run for your life!"
Without so much as a second thought, Rose grabbed Thorne's wrist and pulled her down the stairs and out of the building. Thorne glanced around the main road, nervous of all the dummies in the shop windows, before the pair practically ran to the other side, almost getting hit by a black cab. "Watch it!"
KABOOM!
A huge fireball erupted from the roof of Hendrik's, swallowing the upper floors and completely destroying them. Rose didn't even stop to see as she continued pulling Thorne along, not even noticing when they passed an out of date Police Telephone Box which was parked just in the alley between two other shops.
"The whole of Central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire. Early reports indicate—"
Thorne gripped her steaming mug of tea in her left hand and lowered herself onto the settee across from Rose. Her hands were shaking like no tomorrow as she gently set it down on the coffee table and wrapped her massive fluffy blanket around her shoulders. Rose was slumped against the other settee and was staring at the T.V with passive eyes.
Jackie was gliding around the flat with a phone in her hand and a cup of coffee in the other, "I know. It's on the telly. It's everywhere. They're lucky to be alive," said Jackie. "Honestly, it's aged Rose. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now you'd think I was her daughter. Thorne's just traumatised, could barley get anything out of the poor girl," the front door opened and Mickey Smith came running into the flat. "Oh, and here's himself."
Mickey rushed into the living room and practically fell down in relief upon seeing Rose and Thorne perfectly safe. "I've been phoning your mobile. You could've been dead. It's on the news and everything. I can't believe that your shop went up!"
"I'm all right, honestly, I'm fine! Don't make a fuss," said Rose smiling.
Mickey turned to look at Thorne, "what about you, little rose?"
"I'm okay," said Thorne smiling slightly at the nick name.
"Well, what happened?" Mickey prodded.
"I don't know! We don't know," said Rose.
"What was it though? What caused it?" Mickey once again questioned.
"We weren't in the shop; Rose and I were outside. We didn't see anything," said Thorne before Rose could even mention it. She sent her older sister a look telling her to keep quiet about the strange man they had met.
Soon Jackie retuned with the phone outstretched for Rose to take: "It's Debbie on the end. She knows a man on the Mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview."
"Oh that's brilliant! Give it here," said Rose. She quickly took the phone from their mother and ended the call with a roll of her eyes.
"Well, you've got to find some way of making money. Your job's kaput and I'm not bailing you out. Thorne is the only one in this family that shouldn't have to work yet."
Suddenly the phone rang again and Jackie immediately scooped it up, "Bev! They're alive. I've told Rose, sue for compensation. They were within seconds of death."
"What're you drinking, tea?" asked Mickey, "Nah, nah, that's no good, that's no good. You're in shock. You need something stronger."
"I'm all right," said Rose.
"Now, come on, you deserve a proper drink. We're going down the pub, you and me. My treat. How about it?" asked Mickey, "sorry little Rose, you're too young."
"No problem. I don't drink anyway, kills brain cells," said Thorne with a smirk.
"Is there a match on?" asked Rose.
"No," said Mickey, defensively, "I'm just thinking about you, babe."
"There's a match on, ain't there," asked Rose turning to Thorne.
"Yep, started fifty minutes ago," said Thorne. "I looked it up earlier, Mick."
"That's not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes," said Mickey with his trademark puppy dog eyes.
"Go on, then. I'm fine, really. Go," said Rose. Suddenly she produced the arm of the lead dummy and threw it at Mickey as Thorne shivered. "Get rid of that."
"Bye, bye," grinned Mickey.
"Bye."
"Later Mick."
Mickey pretended to strangle himself with the arm before disappearing out of the door.
"Fire then spread throughout the store. Fifteen fire crews are in attendance though it's thought there is very little chance of saving the infrastructure."
Hearing Rose's alarm clock the next morning, Thorne groaned and rolled out of bed, grabbing her mirror and rushing to pull her hair up.
"There's no point in getting up, sweetheart. You've got no job to go to," called Jackie from the living room.
Groaning in annoyance, Thorne splashed a lot of water on her face and grabbed her newest book off of the third book shelf before heading out into the living. Jackie smiled brightly at her youngest as she flicked through the paper in order to try and find Rose a new job, she didn't want to suggest that Thorne get a job just encase she could get another scholarship to Oxford.
A few hours later Rose came storming out of her bedroom and the three females sat down. Jackie was the first to mention jobs but it was mostly to Rose. Thorne was about half-way through 'Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix' and occasionally added her thoughts in to the conversation.
"There's Finch's. You could try them. They've always got jobs," said Jackie.
"Oh, great. The butchers."
"I don't think The butchers are allowed to have anyone under the age of seventeen," said Thorne, turning her page.
"Well, it might do you good, Rose. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about compensation. You two had genuine shock and trauma," said Jackie standing up and staring at her eldest daughter. "Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek! I know she is Greek, but that's not the point. It was a valid claim."
Hearing something rattle at the door, Thorne put down her book and stood up.
"Mum, you're such a liar. I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays," said Rose.
"I did it weeks back!"
"No, you thought about it," said Thorne as she walked towards the door.
There were screws just in front of the cat flap, as if they had jumped out. Bending down, Thorne picked up one of the screws before throwing herself backwards when the cat flap moved. She quickly moved towards it again and opened it only to spot the stranger from before staring back at her. Immediately, she stood up and pulled the door open, staring at the man in front of her with inquisition and confusion.
"What're you doing here?" the Doctor asked. His expression was a mixture of annoyance and confusion as he looked her up and down.
"I live here," said Thorne, "this is a residential area, after all."
"Well, what do you do that for?" asked the Doctor referring to opening the cat flap.
"Because I do," snapped Thorne, "I'm only at home because someone blew up my job!"
"I must have got the wrong signal," said the Doctor looking down at the device in his hand. "You're not plastic, are you?" he knocked on her head. "No, bonehead. Bye, then."
Rose, wondering what was taking so long, appeared behind Thorne and immediately grabbed the Doctor, pulling him into the flat. "You. Inside. Right now."
"Kidnapping! When you want a date but can't get one the normal way," mumbled Thorne.
"Who is it?" called Jackie from her bedroom.
Thorne shook her head as she walked into the living room and grabbed her book, flopping down on the settee and opening it to her page. The Doctor glanced at her as Rose slipped into the kitchen.
"It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry," said Rose, "Give us ten minutes."
"She deserves compensation," their mother said.
"Oh, we're talking millions," said the Doctor.
"I'm in my dressing gown."
"Yes, you are."
"There's a strange man in my bedroom."
"Yes, there is."
"Well, anything could happen."
Immediately, Thorne stood up and ran back over to where the Doctor was standing. She grabbed the Doctor's leather jacket and pulled him into the living room, "No mother, just no!"
"Thanks," said the Doctor.
"No problem, mum's just weird," said Thorne returning to her book.
"Don't mind the mess," said Rose as the kettle went on. "Do you want a coffee?"
"Might as well, thanks. Just milk."
Thorne giggled at the Doctor's strangeness – the Doctor's eyes lit up upon hearing at sound – before grabbing her mug and handing it to Rose who was waiting for it. The Doctor was looking around the room with an expression that was often seen on Thornes: curiosity.
"We should go to the police. Seriously. All three of us," said Rose as she began making drinks.
The Doctor slowly moved throughout the room and looked at the Coffee table, specifically Rose's copy of 'Heat' magazine. He raised an eyebrow and that and picked it up causing Thorne to look at him. "That won't last," said the Doctor pointing to the couple on the cover, "he's gay and she's an alien."
"Alien?" asked Thorne. "Honestly that explains a lot."
"I know right," said the Doctor with a cheesy grin.
"I'm not blaming you," Rose continued in the kitchen, unaware that neither Thorne nor the Doctor were listening to her, too consumed in their own little worlds, "even if it was just some sort of joke that went wrong."
"May I?" the Doctor asked referring to her book.
"Sure," said Thorne, highly amused, handing him the paperback.
He flicked through the pages before handing it back to her: "Hmm. Sad ending."
"How did you –?"
"I'm an alien," said the Doctor. He had, at first, wanted to lie but something about Thorne made him want to test her, it was almost as if they had met before.
"I'm… I'm not going to comment."
"They said on the news they'd found a body."
The Doctor continued looking around and picked up a photograph of Rose, "Rose Tyler." He looked at another picture and his jaw dropped, "you graduated at age twelve?"
"Yep," said Thorne with a smile, "one of the worst days of my life."
"Why?"
"I was twelve and everyone else was way older."
"Good point," said the Doctor with a smile of his own.
Walking forward, the Doctor suddenly caught sight of his reflection and immediately turned towards it. Thorne watched as he poked and prodded himself, like someone who had just had plastic surgery and hadn't seen the results, it made her want to laugh. It was at that moment that Thorne realised she was completely relaxed around the Doctor! Her anxiety hadn't spiked once and she didn't know whether to be happy about it or scared: a complete stranger was making her more at ease then her own family!
"Ah, could've been worse," said the Doctor, pulling his ears and nose. "Look at the ears."
"Yeah, they are massive," she giggled when the Doctor turned to her.
"All the same, he was nice. Nice bloke," Rose continued, not hearing anything they were staying.
"Pass those cards," said the Doctor. Thorne, highly amused, complied and handed him the deck. "Want to see something cool?" he began shuffling the deck. "Luck be a lady."
"Anyway, if we are going to go to the police, I want to know what I'm saying. We want to know." The cards went flying everywhere and the Doctor sent Thorne an apologetic look as the pair of them quickly grabbed them all.
"Thorne and I want you to explain everything."
"Maybe not," mumbled the Doctor.
The cat flap rattled and both Thorne and the Doctor turned to look.
"What's that, then? You got a cat?" asked the Doctor.
"No," said Thorne, "we used to but –!"
Suddenly the plastic arm from the night before lunged from behind the settee and flew past Thorne, grabbing the Doctor's throat in an iron grip that kept tightening. Thorne immediately ran over to try and help him pull it off but found it impossible, it was almost like it was made of stone.
Rose walked into the living room holding two mugs and set them down on the table, taking no notice of the Doctor and Thorne trying to pull off the plastic arm. She just shook her head and assumed they were messing around, it wasn't Thorne's style but it wouldn't be completely out of character.
"I told Mickey to chuck that out," said Rose, "men, you're all the same. And I thought you were better than this Thorne. Give a man a plastic hand," she stopped and turned to look at them. "Anyway, I don't even know your name. Doctor, what was it?"
Summoning strength Thorne didn't know she had, she pulled the plastic arm off the Doctor and threw it into the air. The arm, however, stopped in mid-air and, despite the fact Thorne was closer, flew towards Rose, latching onto her face. She tried to scream but found it impossible as both the Doctor and Rose tried to pull it off of her, causing her to slam down on the coffee table and smash it. The Doctor quickly released the arm and pulled out his blue tipped device from earlier as Thorne finally managed to remove it from Rose's face, he slammed the device into the palm of the hand and Thorne watched as the hand slowly stopped moving.
"It's all right, I've stopped it. There you go, you see?" he threw it at Rose. "Armless."
"Do you think?" Rose hissed, hitting him in the arm with it.
"Ow!"
Soon the Doctor was up again and flying out of the flat door with both Rose and Thorne running behind him. Rose was quicker than Thorne, gymnastics and all, but Thorne kept up easily as they crashed through the stairwell doors and looked over to see the Doctor further down and continuously running with the plastic arm in his hand.
"Hold on a minute. You can't just go swanning off," yelled Rose as she and Thorne ran after him.
"Yes I can. Here I am. This is me, swanning off. See you."
"But that arm was moving. It tried to kill me!"
"It tried to kill you!" Thorne chimed in, "and it took two people to get it off."
"Ten out of ten for observation."
"You can't just walk away. That's not fair. You've got to tell us what's going on."
"No, I don't."
They were outside in an instant and the Doctor had no where to go as both girls caught up with him. Thorne studied his movements with inquisition, he was obviously used to just leaving without an explanation and having people follow him. Who was he? What was he?
"All right, then," said Rose finally coming to a stop and causing the Doctor to do the same, "we'll go to the police. We'll tell everyone. You said, if we did that, we'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell us, or we'll start talking."
"Is that supposed to sound tough?"
"Sort of," Rose stuttered.
"In her mind, yes," Thorne agreed.
"Your sister's right, doesn't work. Not on me."
"Excuse me but who exactly are you?" Thorne asked, "I mean, you appear from nowhere to 'save' us from those shop dummies – as if you knew it would happen – then you pull out a bomb and possibly explode our jobs after saying one of our co-workers is dead, and then you appear at our flat – unscathed I might add! – in time to save us again from another attack! I understand not wanting to tell us everything about you, believe me I do, but can you honestly blame us for asking who you are and wanting to know what's going on?"
"No, I guess I can't," he sighed, "but that still doesn't mean I have to tell you anything."
"So, start with your name," said Thorne.
"Yeah, you said you were a doctor but Doctor what?"
"Just the Doctor."
"The Doctor," Rose and Thorne repeated.
"Hello!"
"Is that supposed to sound impressive?" asked Rose, mimicking him.
"Sort of," said the Doctor.
"Not working."
"Come on, then. You can tell us. We've seen enough," prodded Rose, "Are you the police?"
"No, I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home."
"But what have I done wrong? How comes those plastic things keep coming after me?" asked Rose.
"Rose, I highly doubt it was after you," said Thorne. Rose turned to look at her sister in shock, having expected Thorne to be on her side. "I'm sorry, okay? But those things defiantly weren't after you. If they were then why would the hand have gone after the Doctor first, despite me being closer. And in the shop, those things only started moving after we got there, if they had been after you they would have moved before that." Rose seemed to be understanding. "Besides, think about it… both times we were attacked he," she pointed at the Doctor, "was either in the room or close enough to us for those things to be mistaken. I think we were just in the way… it was almost hunting you Doctor, like it was waiting for you to find it.
"It tried to kill me!"
"Thorne's right Rose, It was after me, not you," said the Doctor. "Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you've met me."
"So what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you," said Rose with a raised eyebrow.
"Sort of, yeah."
"You're full of it."
"Sort of, yeah."
At the same time Thorne coughed out the word 'Narcissist' before looking at the pair in front of her with innocent eyes. The Doctor smirked at her and nodded his head, "sort of, yeah."
"But, all this plastic stuff. Who else knows about it?" asked Rose, getting to the heart of the conversation.
"No one."
"Not even UNIT? Or Area 51? Or Dreamland?" immediately Thorne clamped a hand over her mouth as the Doctor sent her a very sharp look.
"How do you know about those?"
"Um…" Thorne blushed, "that's for me to know and you to – rather hopefully – never find out…"
"Thorne!"
"What? I was bored and the library was empty!" cried Thorne in her defence.
"So you hacked the military?" asked the Doctor, a massive cheesy grin on his face.
"Well it wasn't like they had good security. Honestly all they had was a five digit encryption code with a single space sypher and a metric system based lock which any undergrad would be able to undo with a blind fold."
"You are something else," said the Doctor.
"Yeah, well. Don't report me and I might tell you how I do it," said Thorne with a grin of her own.
Suddenly Rose stopped and turned back to the Doctor, as if finally realising what he had said, "Wait, you're on your own?"
"Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on."
"Okay. Start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do, how did you kill it?" asked Rose.
"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead."
"So, the arm – and everything else with plastic in it, I assume – is either being controlled remotely through a radio, thought control or through a satellite orbiting around Earth which is able to connect with the WIFI signals and control them that way," said Thorne.
"Thought control," said the Doctor nodding in shock. How could one human child know so much and yet so little? His eyes caught Rose swinging back and forth on her legs and decided to try and bring his thoughts away from the young girl who intrigued him so very much. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?" asked Rose.
"Long story," said the Doctor.
"But what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?" said Rose jokingly.
"No."
"No, Rose, just no."
"It's not a price war," said the Doctor. "They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you." he turned and looked at her fully. "Do you believe me?"
"No."
"Yes."
"But you're still listening," said the Doctor, trying to ignore Thorne as best he could.
"Really, though, Doctor. Tell us, who are you?" begged Rose.
Slowly, the Doctor turned and gently took their hands. His mind went blank as, almost robotically, he began to speak. "Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go," he released their hands and suddenly came back to reality. "That's who I am. Now, forget me, Rose and Thorne Tyler. Go home."
The Doctor walked off towards the massive blue police box from earlier and stepped inside. Thorne watched him with confusion as Rose began walking off towards another block of flats. Hearing a rush of air and strange noise Thorne gasped as she watched the blue box dematerialise just as Rose came running back.
"Where did he go?" asked Rose.
"I don't know."
Rose led Thorne through the twists and turns of Mickey's complex towards his flat. Neither of them spoke as they made it up the stairs, both of them thinking about the strange events that had occurred that morning. The Doctor had disappeared into nowhere right in front of Thorne and she still couldn't believe what she saw. The blue box disappeared! Right in front of her! Like it was never there!
"Thorne," called Rose gaining her attention.
"Right, sorry," said Thorne as they arrived outside Mickey's flat.
Taking out her spare keys, Rose sighed and opened the door, allowing the smell of left-over take out to waft out of the room. Mickey was sitting in the living room watching the T.V, specifically football, and immediately straightened up upon hearing the door open.
"Hey, hey, here's my woman and my little Rose," cried Mickey with a grin, "Kit off!"
"Shut up," Rose smiled, giving him a kiss.
"Minor in the room!" Thorne gagged.
"Hush you," said Rose, smacking the back of Thorne's head.
"Coffee? Tea?" Mickey asked.
"Yeah, only if you wash the mug. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash," said Rose going further into the flat and letting Thorne move further. "Can we use your computer?"
"Yeah. Any excuse to get in the bedroom," he suddenly turned around just as Thorne entered the bedroom, "Don't read my emails!"
Slipping into the chair, Thorne immediately pulled up and typed in 'Doctor.' Rose and Thorne shared a look at the 17,700,000 results before trying something else. 'Doctor Living Plastic' gave 55,300 results but the pool was getting closer. 'Doctor Blue Box' gave only 493 results and Thorne grinned upon seeing the top one, it said 'Doctor Who? …do you know this man contact Clive here' she hastily clicked on the link and waited as a massive blurry image of the Doctor appeared.
"Got him."
The drive to Clive's house – the man who had made the website and probably had information of the Doctor – was awkward to say the least. Mickey and Rose had had a massive fight about going and it hadn't of helped that both Rose and Thorne had been very cryptic about their reasons for even knowing this man. Currently, they were crammed into the tiny yellow Beetle in complete silence until they arrived and Mickey mentioned coming in with them.
"You're not coming in," said Rose after his fifth time mentioning it, "He's safe. He's got a wife and kids."
"Yeah, who told you that? He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say," said Mickey.
Thorne watched as one of Clive's neighbours rolled their black wheelie-bin outside and shot Mickey a nasty look. Her anxiety was increasing with every word her friend said and Rose could practically see that.
"Rose… Mickey has a point."
"Thorne, I know your anxious but don't worry, I'll be right by your side."
Nodding, Thorne and Rose got out of the car and crossed the road. They quickly found the correct address and Rose knocked gently on the door, grabbing Thorne's hand to keep her calm. A young boy opened the door, he looked about Thorne's age, and raised an eyebrow at them.
"Hello, we've come to see Clive?" said Rose with a smile. "We've been emailing."
"Dad!" he called behind him. "It's one of your nutters!"
An older man – probably late thirties early forties – came to the door with a bright smile on his face. He looked the pair of them up and down before holding his hand out for them to shake, " Oh, sorry. Hello. You must be Rose and Thorne. I'm Clive, obviously."
Thorne's nerves were instantly soothed.
"I'd better tell you now. My boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill us," joked Rose.
"No, good point. No murders," Clive joked back, waving at Mickey who glared at him.
"Who is it?" a woman's voice called from further in the house.
"Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. They've been reading the website," Clive called into the house. "Please, come through. I'm in the shed."
Rose held Thorne's hand tightly as they made their way through the immaculate house and outside towards the blue shed. Both girls were eager to learn about the Doctor but Thorne could sense that this wasn't going to be as enlightening as they hoped. Something about the Doctor told her that he wouldn't leave obvious loose ends that would allow someone to track him. It was just a feeling. The calm before the Oncoming Storm.
"A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive. I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean," said Clive. " If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place. Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just the Doctor. Always The Doctor. And the title seems to have been passed down from father to son. It appears to be an inheritance. That's your Doctor there, isn't it?" he asked handing them a picture.
The picture was blurred but Thorne and Rose could both see the Doctor in the picture, the very same Doctor they had met.
"Yeah." Rose agreed.
"That's him," said Thorne.
"I tracked it down to the Washington public archive just last year. The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original –," he pulled up a picture of the Kennedy's cortege going through Dallas, the Doctor was a simple face in the crowd but he was looking directly at the camera. "November the 22nd, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy. You see?"
"It must be his father," said Rose.
"Or grandfather."
"Going further back. April 1912. This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton, and friend. This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip and survived. And here we are. 1883. Another Doctor," he showed them a sketch. "And look, the same lineage. It's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded. The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake and he has one constant companion."
"Who's that?" asked Rose, Thorne held her breath.
"Death."
"If the Doctor's back, if you've seen him, Rose, then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger. If he's singled you out, if the Doctor's making house calls, then God help you."
"But who is he? Who do you think he is?"
"I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world."
When they returned to the car Mickey was sitting behind the steering wheel with a blank expression on his face. Thorne felt the bad feeling intensify as she sat back in her seat but chose not to comment as Rose hopped in the passenger seat.
"All right, he's a nutter. Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak. You win! What are we going to do tonight?" said Rose. "I fancy a pizza."
"Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!" repeated Mickey.
"Or Chinese," Thorne suggested.
"Pizza!" Mickey started the engine and began weaving down the road.
The Pizza Restaurant was packed to say the least. Rose, Thorne and Mickey were sitting near the kitchen as over a dozen people pottered about around them. Thorne began tapping a beat on her arm and focusing on the music that was being played. Mickey's face was focused on Rose.
"Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had ajobs going in the canteen. Is that it then, dishing out chips. I could do A Levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him. Look where he ended up. What do you think?" asked Rose drawing Thorne's attention in.
"So, where did you meet this Doctor?" Mickey asked out of nowhere.
"I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?" Rose asked.
"Mickey?" asked Rose.
"Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?"
"No."
"Stop."
"Come on."
"Sort of."
"Rose!"
"What was he doing there?" asked Mickey, leaning in.
"I'm not going on about it, Mickey. Really, I'm not, because, I know it sounds daft, but I don't think it's safe. I think he's dangerous," said Rose.
"He is," said Thorne, "so drop the subject."
"But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe," his tone dropped, "sugar, babe, sugar," his voice returned to normal, "You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. Because that's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart."
"What're you doing that for?" asked Rose.
"Mickey, what's wrong?"
A waiter walked over with a bottle of champagne in his hands and stood next to their table. "Your champagne."
"We didn't order any champagne," said Mickey, "Where's the Doctor?"
"Madam, your champagne."
"It's not ours," said Rose. "Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?"
Thorne looked up and her eyes widened as she spotted the Doctor holding the champagne instead of a waiter. He placed a finger over his lips and signalled towards Mickey who was still focused on Rose.
"I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?" asked Mickey.
"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?"
"Look, we didn't order it," said Mickey. He looked up and smirked upon seeing the Doctor. "Ah. Gotcha."
The Doctor began shaking the bottle vigorously as he pointed it at Mickey, "Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!" The Doctor released the cage around the cork and Thorne watched as it flew straight into Mickey's forehead before Mickey spit it out of his mouth.
"Anyway," Mickey stood up and turned his hand into a chopper. Rose immediately moved away in shock whilst the Doctor pulled Thorne behind him. Mickey destroyed the table and continued on towards the Doctor who grabbed Mickey's neck as Thorne axe-kicked his head off.
"That was fantastic!" cried the Doctor.
"That was kick-boxing," said Thorne with a smile.
"Don't think that's going to stop me," said Mickey's head.
The body began flailing out of control. Rose ran over to the fire alarm and pulled it before yelling out, "Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!"
Grabbing Thorne's hand and keeping the head in the other, the Doctor ran through the kitchens with Rose following behind them. The body began following them as well making a wreck of the restaurant as it went. The moment all three of them were outside the Doctor closed the door and used his device on the door, sealing it. Rose ran over to the massive gate only to find it was secured by a padlock which she couldn't pull apart.
"Open the gate! Use that tube thing. Come on!" yelled Rose, in fear.
"Sonic screwdriver," corrected the Doctor.
"Use it!"
Thorne began hyperventilating.
"Nah. Tell you what, let's go in here," said the Doctor with a grin.
The Doctor unlocked the blue box and slipped inside just as the body began hammering on the metal door, making massive dents. Thorne was quick to follow the Doctor and gasped in shock at the beauty within the box. She didn't even notice Rose until she was right beside Thorne.
"It's going to follow us!" cried Rose.
"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute," the Doctor ordered. "You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. Right," he pulled down a lever, "Where do you want to start?"
"Er, the inside's bigger than the outside?" said Rose.
"Yes."
"It's alien."
"Yeah."
"Are you alien?" asked Thorne.
"Yes. Is that all right?" asked the Doctor.
"Yeah," said Rose.
"It's more then alright!" said Thorne.
"It's called the Tardis, this thing. S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space," said the Doctor.
"She's beautiful," said Thorne. The Tardis brightened. "You're welcome."
Suddenly, Rose burst into tears.
"That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us," said the Doctor.
"Did they kill him?" the Doctor looked at her questioningly. "Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?"
Thorne felt fear flood her system.
"Oh. I didn't think of that," said the Doctor.
"He's my boyfriend. You and Thorne pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think?" Rose cried hysterically, "And now you're just going to let him melt?"
"Melt?" the Doctor turned around and groaned as the head began melting onto the console, where the Doctor had hastily attached wires to it. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" he quickly but the Tardis in motion.
"What're you doing?" Thorne asked, grabbing onto the nearest thing that would keep her steady.
"Following the signal. It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!" The shaking stopped as the Doctor ran towards the doors with a massive grin.
"You can't go out there. It's not safe," cried Rose as both she and Thorne followed him.
The moment they stepped outside though they realised something was off. They had moved! They were now on the Thames next to the RAF monument, somewhere Thorne had been hundreds of times when she was angry.
"Oh, that's amazing," gaped Thorne looking around.
"I lost the signal, I got so close," hissed the Doctor.
"We've moved. Does it fly?" asked Rose.
"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand."
"She vibrates her molecules and atoms so fast that time and spaces don't matter as she dematerialises whilst we are safe inside another dimension, and the outer box moves wherever it wants," said Thorne.
"How did you—?"
"Sci-fi nerd," said Thorne. "That and I've completed an online quantum physics course."
He stared at her in pure shock but that was soon forgotten as Rose, once again, began to speak.
"If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose," questioned Rose, bringing up an excellent point neither of them had thought about. Or so Thorne belived.
"It melted with the head," said the Doctor. "Are you going to witter on all night?"
"I'll have to tell his mother," the Doctor again looked confused, " Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again! You were right, you are alien."
"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey—!"
"Yeah, he's not a kid," snapped Thorne, "he's my best mate."
"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?"
"All right!"
"Yes, it is!"
The three of them cooled down.
"If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the North?" asked Thorne.
"Lots of planets have a north," said the Doctor.
"What's a police public call box?" asked Rose.
"It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise."
"Okay. And this, this living plastic. What's it got against us?"
"Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It's food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!"
"Any way of stopping it?" asked Thorne.
The Doctor pulled a tube of blue liquid out of his pocket and held it up for the pair of them to see, "Anti-plastic."
"Anti-plastic."
"Anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"
"Hold on. Hide what?" asked Rose.
"Obiously, you're looking for the transmitter," said Thorne, "thought control, like all types of control, require a type of transmitter to be able to go long distance."
"You're a genius, you know that," said the Doctor.
"Nope, common sense."
"What's it look like?" asked Rose.
"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London," immediately both girls spotted it in the centre of the London Eye behind the Doctor. "A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible," he noticed their looks. "What?" he turned around. "What?" he turned around again but still couldn't see it, "What? What is it? What? " Suddenly he realised what they were looking at and grinned, "Oh. Fantastic!"
With one girl in each hand, the Doctor ran across Westminster Bridge and towards where the transmitter was located. "Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables."
"The breast implants," said the girls said.
"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."
"What about down here?" asked Rose pointing down at a large manhole entrance at the bottom of some steps.
"Looks good to me," said the Doctor before the three of them ran towards it. The Doctor easily opened the hatch, exposing the red light inside.
They climbed down slowly – the Doctor going first and Rose going last – into a massive brick-built area with hundreds of chains scattered around. Another door sat at the bottom of the ladder which the Doctor opened and suddenly they were assaulted by the heat.
"The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature," said the Doctor pointing towards a massive vat where a creature of plastic sat.
"Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go," said Rose.
"I'm not here to kill it," said the Doctor, giving Thorne a measured look. "I've got to give it a chance."
Thorne and Rose watched as the Doctor walked down the catwalk that was overlooking the seething vat. The bad feeling Thorne had been having increased as her heart pounded within her chest. No one noticed Thorne's eyes changing colour from brown to silver.
"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation," the vat flexed, "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"
Rose was looking around and spotted Mickey on the lowar levels, she immediately ran down towards him causing the Doctor to roll his eyes. Thorne followed after her sister, through remained slightly behind the Doctor as they got down to Mickey's level.
"Oh, God! Mickey, it's me! It's okay. It's all right!" cried Rose hugging Mickey close to her breasts.
"That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!" yelped Mickey.
"You're stinking," said Rose. "Doctor, they kept him alive."
"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy," said the Doctor.
"You knew that and you never said?" hissed Thorne in annoyance.
"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" the Doctor continued downwards. "Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilisation by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?" A face formed in the plastic and began trying to speak. "Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights. I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."
"Doctor!"
A pair of shop dummies grabbed the Doctor from behind, keeping him in place above the vat. One of them dipped into the Doctor's pockets and pulled out the vile of anti-plastic. "That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not," it flexed. "What do you mean?" A metal door slid across to reveal the Tardis. "No. Oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship. That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"
"What's it doing?!" cried Thorne.
"It's the Tardis! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, girls! Just leg it now!"
The plastic roared and Thorne ran over to the Doctor. He sent her a panicked but she refused to meet his gaze and instead focused on the creature in the vat. Upon seeing Thorne it immediately stopped and seemed to stare at her with fright, as if it could see something she couldn't, but the dummies didn't come towards her so she assumed it was alright to speak.
"Please, don't harm my planet," said Thorne, the vat flexed, "like the Doctor said, we're young and inexperienced. We don't even know that aliens exist, we had no part in the war that destroyed your home. I'm so sorry you lost everything but think of everything you're destroying by harming us! All the sorrow you must have felt and now you're trying to push that onto us! Please, perhaps if you're willing, we can work something out with you, allow you to remain here and be happy, like together in peace! No one has to die today, no one even has to get hurt. Just don't harm anyone."
Two more dummies grabbed Thorne from behind and pulled her closer to the Doctor, the creature didn't seem to care about what Thorne was saying and continued with the attack as planned. A massive beam of light flooded out of the creature and into the sky as Thorne whimpered.
"It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!" cried the Doctor.
"It's the end of the world," said Thorne.
"Get out, Rose! Just get out! Run!"
"The stairs have gone," Rose yelled as they watched them collapse. Rose tried running to the Tardis but realised too late that she didn't have the key and turned to the Doctor who was being pushed closer to the vat. "I haven't got the key!"
"We're going to die!"
"No!" cried the Doctor.
"Time Lord."
Standing up, Rose looked at the Doctor and her sister before bolting around the chamber.
"Just leave them! There's nothing you can do!" cried Mickey.
Thorne glared at him.
"I've got no A Levels, no job, no future," said Rose as she grabbed an axe, "But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team. I've got the bronze!" Rose slammed the axe into the rope hold the chain and wrapped the chain around her hand. With skill she didn't know she retained, Rose swung out, knocking the dummies away from the Doctor and Thorne and into the vat, including the one with the anti-plastic. The creature turned blue.
"Rose!" cried the Doctor, grabbing her as she swung back. Thorne wrapped her arms around her shoulders and grinned. "Now we're in trouble."
Explosions rang out throughout the chamber as Mickey, holding onto Rose for pure life, followed after the three of them. The Doctor was holding onto Thorne's hand and quickly pushed her into Tardis before running to the console.
"Rose, Rose, don't go out of the house. It's not safe. There were these things, and they were shooting! And they Hello? Hello?" Rose smiled and closed her phone.
Mickey practically lunged towards the door and hid behind a pallet. The Doctor and Thorne remained into the doorway of the Tardis as Rose went to console Mickey.
"A fat lot of good you two were," said Rose.
"Nestene Consciousness? Easy," said the Doctor.
"For Rose," said Thorne grinning at her older sister.
"You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me," said Rose.
"Yes, I would. Thank you. Right then, I'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge," said the Doctor.
"Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing," cried Mickey.
"He's not invited," said the Doctor looking pointedly at Mickey, "What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere."
"Is it always this dangerous?" asked Rose.
"Yeah."
"Is it always this fun?"
"Oh, yeah."
"Yeah, I can't. I've er, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so," said Rose.
"Is that offer open to me?" asked Thorne. The Doctor nodded.
"Thorne?"
"I'm sorry Rose but I can't stay here, my brain is rotting. I have an IQ larger than Albert Einstein and I was working in a shop. I just can't," said Thorne.
"You still not coming?"
"No."
"Okay. See you around," said the Doctor.
"Bye Rose."
They walked into the Tardis and Rose watched as it dematerialised. A few seconds later it returned and the Doctor stuck his head out fully, "By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?"
Rose's face lit up and she turned to Mickey, "Thanks."
"Thanks for what?" asked Mickey.
"Exactly."
Rose quickly kissed Mickey on the cheek before sprinting into the Tardis and into Thorne's arms.
Next Chapter: 15/01/2019, 18:00.