The Star at Night Saga: Book 1

by BlackRoseBooks

9th Doctor/OC (Astra Nyx – Kristin Kreuk) – Astra Nyx was just an ordinary young woman. That was until she met the Doctor. Join them as they travel through Time and Space. One thing's for sure. It is going to be the adventure of a life time! Goes through all the series starting with series 1

1. Astra

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

My OC (Astra Nyx) is portrayed by Kristen Kreuk

Astra

In a small three bedroom town house, a twenty minute drive from the centre of London, a young woman called Astra Nyx woke up to the early morning radio. The sun shone slightly through sheer curtains as she looked across to the alarm clock set on her bedside table. Reading the time, she sat up and stretched languidly, releasing the stiffness from her body caused by a good night's sleep. She got out of bed, turned off her alarm and headed for the kitchen.

She headed straight for her coffee maker. She turned it on before she leaned back against the counter and took a moment to simply enjoy the peaceful morning, enjoying the smell of fresh coffee as it quickly filled the room.

As the coffee machine buzzed gently in the background, Astra contemplated what she felt like doing this morning. Upon deciding that she felt like baking, she quickly set about gathering the ingredients she needed to make some blueberry muffins. After making the batter, she distributed it evenly into muffin case lined trays. She placed the trays into the oven to bake before she headed to the bathroom for a shower.

Once finished she wrapped her hair in a towel and put on her dressing gown, before returning to the kitchen. She checked the muffins were fully baked before removing the trays from the oven and put them on a cooling rack.

She finished just as her phone buzzed, alerting her that it had just turned quarter past seven. This meant she had quarter of an hour left to finish getting ready for work. She left the muffins to cool as she went to her bedroom to get dressed.

~*0*~

In a block of flats closer to central London, a slightly younger girl called Rose Tyler jumped awake from her bed. She looked around her bright pink bedroom slightly dazed as her loud alarm blared, breaking the morning silence with its obnoxious ring.

She flopped back down on her pillow ladened bed as she slammed her hand down on the clock to silence her alarm. She groaned as she rubbed her eyes before picking up her clock and trying to get her eyes to focus on it.

She cursed under her breath as she read the time. It was half seven and she was running late... again. She threw off her duvet and raced out of her room and to the bathroom, pushing past her mother as she went. She quickly scrambled to get ready, internally moaning to herself about how her mum should have woken her up sooner.

~*0*~

Astra pulled on a black and white stripy jumper, a pair of faded blue-grey boot-cut jeans and some brown leather, strappy ankle boots. She blow-dried her hair into loose curls and added a hint of mascara and eyeliner to highlight her eyes. She put on some lip balm before she tucked her Claddagh locket under her jumper. She nodded to herself as she looked in the mirror, deeming herself ready for the day.

She went back into her kitchen and boxed up all her muffins. Once boxed, she put them in her brown leather satchel bag before she swung it over her head so it rested comfortably over her shoulder.

She grabbed her keys and left her house, locking the door behind her. She walked down the little drive and got into her purple mini. She checked all her mirrors then started her car and set off to work.

~*0*~

Rose rushed around the flat trying to find an outfit for the day. She grabbed the first thing she could find that smelled clean and put them on. Now wearing a dark pink tracksuit jacket, a pale pink vest top, baggy jeans and trainers she raced into the kitchen. She grabbed a piece of toast off the table and took a big gulp of her mum's tea.

Ignoring the look on her mum's face with a practiced ease she gave her a kiss on the cheek before running for the door, shouting a quick "Bye!" over her shoulder as she slammed the door shut behind her. She barely heard her mother's returning "See you later" as she ran down the stair and out of the building, praying she managed to get to the bus on time.

~*0*~

Astra calmly pulled into the multi-storey carpark down the road from her work. She grabbed her things, exited the car, making sure to lock it behind her before she headed down the stairs and out of the carpark.

She walked down the street and into Henriks department store. As she passed through the doors she paused near the security guard. "Hello" she greeted as she pulled the box of muffins from her bag and offering them to the man to take his pick.

She chuckled slightly as the guard made a show of great debate as he hovered over the muffins before settling on the one he wanted with a look of great delight and playful greed on his face.

He took a big bite, groaning with exaggerated satisfaction. This made Astra laugh loudly, as he said with a charming smile "Gorgeous as always, Az"

Her laughter trailed off as she waved away the compliment with a slightly embarrassed smile. She turned and headed for the offices to drop off her handbag and things in her locker before she headed to the cash register to get to work.

~*0*~

Rose jumped on the bus headed to central London, biting her lip as she prayed for the bus to go faster. As the bus pulled up outside the department store she jumped off it not bothering to acknowledge the people she pushed out of the way in her hurry as she raced for the doors.

She rushed in, straight past the security guard ignoring the way he was rolling his eyes at her as she ran in late again. She threw the manager a pathetic look as she apologised when she noticed his attention was on her. He looked at her with raised eyebrows before he just sighed and shook his head at the girl.

She dropped off her bag in the office before taking her time making herself a cup of tea. She went to the changing rooms to keep an eye on them for the first couple of hours of her day.

~*0*~

As the morning passed, Astra worked the register, answered any telephone calls or internet queries that came in. She assisted any customers that needed help finding the specific items they were looking for. She only stopped briefly to go to the office for a quick lunch break.

After finishing her home made lunch of prawn chorizo pasta, she tidied up after herself wiped down the table and put her things away. Once done she headed straight over to the staff organising the window displays in order to offer some assistance in setting them up.

~*0*~

Rose, having finished her shift in guarding the changing rooms, she began moving and organising piles of shirts and jeans around in the ladies' wear section before being given permission to go for her lunch.

She headed out to meet her boyfriend for a pasty lunch in Trafalgar Square, but quickly lost track of time as they played about. She finally realised she was running late again when she heard Big Ben ring out in the background, alerting her to the fact that it had just gone one o'clock.

She rushed through the doors, avoiding the stare she could feel coming from her boss as she headed over to the counter. She picked up the sales tags and started to hook them onto the hangers in the sale section.

~*0*~

At about quarter to eight the announcement system clicked on and Astra's voice could be heard throughout the store. "This is a customer announcement the store will be closing in fifteen minutes. Thank you"

She clicked off the announcement system and gave the customers another ten minutes before she shut down the till and took the money and sale receipts for the day into the back office, locking it in one of the filing cabinets ready for the manager to tally up the next day.

Rose and some of the other girls headed for the doors, gossiping and laughing as they went when Rose was stopped by the security guard. He shook a clear little baggie at her that contained several lottery tickets and some money, he grunted at her and jerked his head back toward the doors leading to the basement.

Rose reluctantly took the bag from the guard with a groan before she turned and ran for the staff lift.

Astra locked the front door behind the security guard before she ran over and quickly stepped inside the lift, just as the doors began to close. She had just come from the office where she had waited to lock up after everyone. She held a cup of fresh coffee in her hands that she had made for the Chief Electrician Wilson. She always took down at least a coffee for him every day she worked but today she had some leftover muffins for him too.

They both stood in semi awkward silence as the lift began its descent to the basement.

~*0*~

Rose left the lift immediately when the doors opened. "Wilson? Wilson, I've got the lottery money" she shouted as she looked around for the man. "Wilson, are you there?" she continued, not immediately spotting the man she started to stomp down to his office.

Astra stepped out cautiously after the girl. The basements usual silence seemed charged with something that had her instincts flaring in warning. She stayed quiet and alert, scanning the area as best she could as she tried to find the cause of her unease.

Rose stomped down to the grey heavy duty door that held Wilson's office. Signs decorated the door. From warnings of electric shocks, to a plaque labelling the room the office of H P Wilson Chief Electrician.

Astra cautiously followed after Rose making sure to keep a constant eye on her surroundings. She jumped slightly when she stated banging loudly on the door. She scowled at the girl for giving her a fright when she was already on edge, before going back to trying to find the source of her unease.

"I can't hang about cause they're closing the shop" Rose shouted through the door, not noticing the look Astra shot her.

She was right there with her, and all of the staff had been informed that as assistant manager, Astra would be the one to lock up whenever the manager was out. Considering the man had to leave early for a Doctor's appointment for one of his children and they all knew that, it was fairly obvious that she would be the one locking up.

"Wilson! Oh, come on" Rose groaned to herself as she looked around trying to find the man.

The clattering sound of falling hangers immediately grabbed both of their attention, directing it to further down the hall. Rose immediately stalked in that direction while Astra followed at a more sedate pace, still watching her surroundings warily.

Astra kept quiet and tried to remain calm as the air seemed to tense with anticipation. Her silence was quickly rendered useless as Rose began to shout again "Hello? Hello, Wilson, its Rose. Hello Wilson? W... Wilson?"

Walking down the corridor Rose glanced to the side at the pile of fallen hangers before she headed over to the door that led further into the storage area. She threw the door open making it clang against the wall as she stormed through, shouting "Wilson? Wilson".

Astra cautiously made her way through the door and hit the light switch revealing a room lined with boxes of extra stock and half-dressed shop window dummies. She made her way further into the room as Rose stormed ahead shouting at the top of her lungs for Wilson all the way. She couldn't contain the shudder that passed through her body as the hairs on the back of her neck raised at the uncomfortable feeling of being watched by unseen eyes.

She glanced around cautiously, her unease shifting to anxiety. Suddenly the door slammed shut behind them which caused her to almost jump out of her skin as she spun around to face the door. She just barely managed to contain the startled shriek that tried to work its way out of her mouth.

Rose ran straight back to the door and pulled futilely on the handle trying to get it open.

Astra span back around, her eyes searching the room for anything that could explain their current predicament. She frowned as she saw nothing out of the ordinary, her anxiety rising as the feeling of danger pressed ever closer. She glanced over her shoulder as she heard the muttering of the other girl in her company. She couldn't help but wonder how Rose could be so oblivious to the rising atmosphere that seemed to be closing in around her.

Rose, having finally given up trying to get the door open muttered to herself "You're kidding me". She turned around suddenly as there was another sound of clattering hangers coming from further down the corridor. She saw Astra looking towards a section of male shop window dummies. "Is that someone mucking about?... Who is it?" she yelled as she walked past the row of dummies.

Astra followed close behind the younger girl just in case she needed to react quickly. She did not see as she passed the dummies that one of their heads had turned to follow them. Nor did she notice when the dummies stepped off the wall rack and started to follow behind them. It staggered slightly as it adjusted to the ability to walk.

"Yeah, you got me. Very funny" Rose trailed off slightly quieter as she started to consider that something might not be quite right with the situation. Neither girl noticed when a second dummy joined the first, or a third.

"Right, I've got the joke. Who's idea was this? Is it Derek's? Is it? Derek, is this you?" Rose started shouting again having very quickly shaken off her feeling of unease as her mind rationalised that there couldn't really be anything dangerous down here.

Astra caught sight of movement from out of the corner of her eye. She turned around only to momentarily stare in shock at the sight before her. The dummies had gathered some extras and were starting to herd them.

She snapped herself out of it quickly and spun around. She caught the still oblivious Rose by the wrist and started dragging the girl at a run through the storage area. She headed to where she knew was a staff service lift leading to an emergency exit. She hoped they would be safe there.

Rose looked over her shoulder in confusion as she was pulled along abruptly. Upon seeing the herd of dummies she wordlessly screamed in surprise as she started to run as well. Astra kept a firm grip on the girl's arm as she managed to pull ahead of her. She tipped over as many boxes and things as she could along the way to try and slow them down.

Finally, the dummies managed to corner them, boxing them in on all sides, trapping them with their backs against the pipe covered wall. The dummy at the front of the herd raised its arm ready to bring down on their heads.

Astra closed her eyes, trying to think of any possible way out of this, as she tried not to listen to Roses fearful whimpering. Her eyes sprang open in surprise as she felt someone grab her hand. She turned to look to her left and started in surprise when her eyes met crystal blue eyes.

She pulled her gaze away from those eyes to look over the rest of the person that had come to their rescue. It was a man. A remarkably calm man. He had very short dark hair, blue eyes, rather large ears and nose. He was dressed mostly in black with a leather jacket, jeans and doc Martin boots, the red jumper he wore not making much contrast with its dark colour.

The man looked her straight in the eyes and gave a single order. An order that Astra had no problem following. He simply said "Run!"

He pulled Astra by the hand through the herd of dummies, dragging Rose along with them by default as Astra had yet to release the girls hand. The man had managed to drag them out of the way just in time as the dummies arm came down where they had just been standing. It slammed its arm down catching a pipe in the process and snapping it clean in half. A gust of steam billowed out hitting the dummy in the face making it stumble back from the force of the blast. It managed to regain its balance and started to chase after them.

~*0*~

The dummies followed them down the corridor as the ran for the service lift Astra had been trying to get them too earlier. The man pointed a silver tube with a bright blue light at one end, at the lift making it open for them as they approached. They ran into the lift, the man in the lead followed closely by Rose who had been pushed in first by Astra who followed in close behind.

The dummy threw himself at the doors as they closed, just managing to fit his arm through as he made a grab for them. He had just missed Astra's hair when his arm was grabbed by the man from inside the lift. The man grunted as he harshly tugged the arm before he successfully pulled the arm right off of the body, allowing the doors to shut.

The man turned around and tossed the arm carelessly at Rose. She hastily caught the arm with a yelp. The man turned toward Astra and grabbed her gently by the shoulders, he ran his gaze over her quickly checking for injuries now that they were relatively safe and had time to do so. As his gaze reached her face their eyes met.

It was like time had paused momentarily as they got lost in a haze of familiarity and warmth that neither of them could accurately describe. The man was surprised when he felt a sense of peace overcome him for the first time in as long as he could remember. Astra however felt a niggling sensation in the back of her mind, as if she was trying to recall some long forgotten memory that was desperately trying to break through to the forefront but for some reason couldn't succeed.

Astra blinked breaking the connection, both of them taking a deep shuddering breath. "Thanks" she said with a slightly tremulous smile.

The man nodded with a small but sincere smile of his own as he continued to look at the girl, still shaken by what had occurred.

"You pulled his arm off" Rose gasped suddenly, having finally found her tongue while she stared at the dummies arm in her hands. She had stood frozen at the back of the lift where Astra had pushed her in staring at the other two in shock as she tried to process what had happened.

Her sudden outburst caught both their attention. The man rolled his eyes and released Astra, having finally realised he was still holding her. He turned to the front of the lift and crossed his arms. Astra however looked slightly ashamed for having briefly forgotten the girl was even there.

"Yep, it's plastic" the man explained.

"Very clever. Nice trick! Who were they then? Students? Is this a student thing or what?" Rose demanded, her early shock fading into an indignant rage that she had fallen for what she assumed was a prank.

"Why would they be Students?" the man asked, his eyebrows furrowed with his confusion as he tried to understand the sudden outpouring of anger from the girl.

"I don't know" she yelled, her ire rising as the man refrained from giving her an answer.

"Well, you said it. Why students?" he asked finally looking at her from over his shoulder as he tried to understand.

"Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they've got to be students" Rose explained as she calmed slightly upon seeing the real confusion evidently displayed on his face. She began to wonder if she might have read the situation wrong and hoped this sounded like a reasonable explanation.

"That makes sense. Well done" he answered sarcastically as he turned back to face the front so she wouldn't see him roll his eyes at the oblivious girl.

"Thanks" she responded with a slight smile, his sarcasm going unnoticed as she preened a little at the compliment.

The man heaved a heavy sigh as he resigned himself to trying to explain the situation to her "They're not students..."

However, Rose interrupted before he could finish "Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police"

"Who's Wilson?" he asked, as he turned to Astra for an answer. He was curious so he wanted to know but the blonde girl annoyed him when she cut him off when he was trying to answer her questions.

Astra blinked at the sudden question and the return of his attention but she answered immediately "Chief Electrician"

"Wilson's dead" he stated, continuing to ignore Rose as he turned to face the doors again.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Astra close her eyes and look down in grief and a little bit of guilt. He could imagine she felt guilty for not sparing a thought for the man, but in her defence she had trying to escape a horde of dummies at the time. He reached out and gently took her hand in his wanting to offer her some comfort. He didn't understand it. Here was a stranger, someone he had never even seen before and yet the mere sight of her starting to get upset and it was evoking emotions within him that he hadn't felt in decades.

He gave her hand one last reassuring squeeze as the lift came to a stop before he let go and pulled a silver tube device out of his pocket and warned the two girls "Hold on. Mind your eyes" as he pointed it at the lift call panel. The end of the tube glowed a violent bright blue and emitted a high pitched buzz before the button panel sparked violently.

The man automatically grabbed Astra's hand as they left the lift and ran down the hall toward the emergency exit. Astra was close on his heels as he practically dragged her after him before she caught her balance enough to keep up, Rose left trailing behind as she tried to keep up.

"I've had enough of this now. Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there? I said who are they?" Rose demanded her earlier anger return as she tried to grab his arm, determined not to be ignored. She wanted answers and he seemed to be the man able to give them to her!

"Are they robots? Like remote control but on a grander scale than just mini cars? If so, who's in control of them?" Astra asked far more inquisitive than Roses demands.

The man seemed mildly impressed with her deductions and logic, at least enough to reward her with an honest answer. "They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures called Auton's. They're being controlled by a relay device on the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this" at the end of that sentence he somehow managed to pull what appeared to be a small bomb out of his jacket 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 cause if you do, you'll get them killed"

"But, wait we can't just leave you to die!" Astra exclaimed as they neared the door "Can't you set it to a timer or something" she asked, not willing to examine the sense of loss that was filling her at the idea of the man doing something so dangerous on his own.

The man released Astra's hand seeming to just realise he still had hold of it and opened the fire exit. He pushed Rose through it before he returned his attention to Astra "Like I said. Don't worry about me" he smiled at the girl reassuringly, thankful for her concern as he gently guided her out before he shut the door.

Not even a moment later the door reopened and the man poked his head back out "I'm the Doctor, by the way" he introduced himself before asking "What's your name?" he looked straight at Astra, seeming to have forgotten that there was even anyone else there.

"Rose" the other girl answered anyway trying to grab even a little bit of the man's attention.

The Doctor shot the girl a dismissive look before returning his attention to Astra far more interested in her answer "Astra. Astra Nyx" the girl answered softly with a small worried smile.

The Doctor froze for a moment as his mind automatically went to a girl who used to go by that very name. He shook off his surprise and dismissed the emotions that it evoked in him. He looked at the girl in question who was now looking at him worriedly after he froze upon hearing her name, he smiled at her "Nice to meet you Astra Nyx" he grinned cheerfully before he gently shook the bomb in his hand and said "Run for your life" before he slammed the door closed again.

~*0*~

Astra and Rose both made their way across the main road in front of the shop. Astra glanced around at all the surrounding shops having a new apprehension for the dummies in the windows that seemed to multiply in number now that she paid attention to the fact they were there.

Rose almost became a hood ornament for a passing black cab as she blindly ran across the road. The taxi driver shouted out the window to her as she held herself up on the hood of the taxi "Oi! Watch it lady!" as she just pushed herself back up and continued across the road.

They ran up the street constantly looking back over their shoulders as they waited for whatever the Doctor had planned for the relay device to take effect, surely with them not being too far away they would at least hear some kind of bang. Together they walked up a side alley that would lead Rose to the bus stop that got her home.

Astra stayed with her wanting to make sure the younger girl got to the bus OK before she headed home. She paused at the end of the alley when the bus stop came into view and Rose just started to walk down it when…

KABOOM!

An enormous fireball exploded from the roof of the shop taking out the top ten floors of Henriks department store.

Rose stopped and stared in shock for a moment before she turned and ran for the bus stop just making it as the bus pulled up and drove her away from the explosion.

Astra watched the explosion with a frown of worry on her face as she silently prayed that the Doctor was safely away before the explosion happened. She turned and watch as Rose sat down through one of the windows of the bus before she turned and headed off to her car.

As she headed back down the alleyway she paused as she spotted an old sixties police telephone box out of the corner of her eye that she could have sworn wasn't there before. She stared at it for a moment, the same feeling of familiarity she got when she first saw the Doctor niggling at the back of her mind. She shook her head slightly but couldn't help the strange sensation of calm that had over taken her at the sight of the blue box. She suddenly felt that everything was OK.

She smiled slightly at the box feeling reassured before she headed to the car park, ready to get home and have a nice chilled glass of white wine and curl up with a good book after a stressful night.

The Doctor from inside the TARDIS watched as she left the alley, hoping that he and the TARDIS had managed to reassure the girl that she didn't need to worry about him. He didn't know why he felt the reassurance was needed but he felt that Astra would have fretted until she knew for sure he was OK.

~*0*~

In the Tyler flat Rose sat slumped on the couch as she listened to her mum potter around in the kitchen as she talked to one of her friends on the phone. She hadn't been off the phone since she had gotten home.

Her mum had been frantic having heard about the explosion on the news and worried that her daughter wasn't home yet. After managing to calm her down she had immediately started phoning her friends thrilled to be the one who had the biggest piece of gossip to share.

Rose ignoring her mother as she stared at the TV watching as the news reporter talked about the explosion in down town London. She kept a wary glance at the plastic arm on the opposite chair to make sure it wasn't going to start moving again.

"The whole of Central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire. Early reports indicate…" the reporter stated before getting drowned out by her mum as she came into the living room talking loudly to the person on the other end of the line.

"I know, it's on the telly" Jackie said as she left a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of her daughter, she stood back up and gave her daughter a critical look over "It's everywhere. She's lucky to be alive. Honestly, its aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in here now you'd think I was her daughter. Oh, and here's himself" Jackie trailed off with a roll of her eyes as Mickey ran through the doors. She walked back into the kitchen to put the kettle back on as she continued to gossip over the phone.

Mickey rushed through the door and straight into the living room. He paused in the doorway at the sight of Rose on the couch, very relieved to see she was alright. "I've been phoning your mobile. You could've been dead. It's on the news and everything. I can't believe the shop went up!" he was almost shouting with his concern as he knelt on the floor in front of her.

"I'm alright" Rose shrugged, barely paying him any attention. She jumped slightly as he pulled her into a hug "Honestly, I'm fine! Don't make a fuss" she demanded as she patted him briefly on the back before pushing him off her.

"Well, what happened?" he demanded as he pulled back. He was worried, she seemed more distracted than normal.

"I don't know!" she shrugged, as her thoughts returned to the man that had saved her.

"What was it though? What caused it?" Mickey questioned, he was not giving up until he knew she was truly as alright as she claimed.

Rose huffed as she focused on her boyfriend "I wasn't in the shop. I was outside with that weird Astra girl. I didn't see anything" Rose shrugged him off again. She hoped this would be answer enough for him so she could return her thoughts to more important matters, like the man who saved her, who fit the definition of a dark, mysterious hero to a tee.

She began to lose herself in thought again and therefore didn't notice the frown of concern on Mickeys face as he heard that Astra had still been there too, he had forgotten she worked in the shop too.

Jackie walked in covering the mouth piece of the phone as she did "It's Debbie on the end. She knows a man on the mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview" Jackie cheered as she tried to get her daughter cheered up by the idea of some money.

Rose leant up and reached for the phone "Oh that's brilliant! Give it here" she demanded irritated by the fact they wouldn't just leave her alone. She took the phone ignoring the encouraging grin on her mother's face as she willingly handed the phone over. She immediately disconnected the call before slamming the phone down on the pile of magazines balanced precariously on the coffee table.

Jackie scowled at her daughter "Well, you've got to find some way of making money. Your jobs kaput and I'm not bailing you out" she exclaimed as she shook her head at her daughter's behaviour. The phone rang again and she picked it up immediately, she answered it as she turned and walked back out of the room.

"Bev, she's alive. I've told her, sue for compensation. She was within seconds of death!" the other two heard Jackie announce before she was out of earshot.

Mickey looked a little bewildered by Jackie before he looked back over at Rose. Noticing the cup of tea in her hand he asked "What are you drinking? Tea? Nah, nah, that's no good. That's no good. You're in shock! You need something stronger" he announced as he stood up, took the cup out of her hands and putting it on the table before he attempted to pull her up with him.

Rose refused to be dragged off the comfy couch "I'm alright" she grumbled as she looked at him, why couldn't they just leave her alone.

"Now, come on" Mickey nodded toward the door "You deserve a proper drink. We're going down the pub, you and me. My treat. How about it?" he tried to entice. He didn't know if she was genuinely as alright as she seemed and the pub was always a good place to distract yourself for a little while.

Rose smirked at him "Is there a match on?" she asked knowingly.

Mickey frowned slightly, while it was true there was a match on he wanted to make sure she was ok "No, I'm just thinking about you, babe" he answered honestly.

"There's a match on, ain't there?" Rose grinned.

Mickey sighed at how oblivious his girlfriend could be "That's not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes" Mickey said, he knew she would say no so there really was no point in carrying on the conversation, especially with how distracted she seemed to be.

"Go on then. I'm fine, really. Go. Get rid of that" Rose ordered as she waved her hand at the plastic arm on the other chair.

Mickey sighed but gave in. He gave her a quick peck before he picked up the arm and headed for the door. He turned back just before he left the room and couldn't resist waving back at her with a high pitched "Bye, bye"

"Bye" Rose laughed slightly as Mickey made a choking noise as he pretended to be strangled by the arm before he left the flat.

~*0*~

Mickey left the block of flats and crossed the concrete courtyard. He threw the arm into one of the large bins down the side of a nearby takeaway. He laughed slightly as he overheard a blazing row between a couple that were a few floors above.

He pulled out his phone and called Astra, they weren't close friends more acquaintances than anything but she was a nice girl. She had helped him out with learning some of the more technical aspects of computers a while ago, so he wanted to make sure she was OK.

"Hey, you OK?" Mickey asked as soon as she answered the phone "I heard you were near the shop when it exploded"

"I'm fine Mickey" Astra said calmly from the other end of the phone "Just relaxing with a glass of wine and a good book to sooth rattled nerves"

Mickey relaxed slightly but had to ask "D'ya know what happened?"

Astra explained "No, Rose had been down in the basement dropping off the lottery money while I visited Wilson so I let us both out the emergency exit"

Mickey relaxed instantly, the emergency exit was on the other side of the building they were in so they were quite far away from the explosion. He and Astra spoke for a little while longer about what she was going to do and some potential job opportunities they both knew about, some of which he made a mental note to let Rose know about.

"Right then, I'll let you get back to relaxing" Mickey said with a slight laugh, he felt better about the entire situation now that he had spoken to Astra. He waited for Astra to say goodbye before he hung up and headed towards the pub. There was still some of the match left after all.

~*0*~

After hanging up the phone with Mickey, Astra smiled to herself grateful for the couple of people who had called her to make sure she was OK. She didn't have any family so it was nice to know there were a few people who cared enough to check on her.

A small frown of worry crossed her face as she considered the Doctor. While it was true she got some small measure of reassurance earlier she couldn't help but worry slightly about the fate of the man that had saved her and Rose's life. She sighed and shook her head, she just had to hope that the feeling she got when she saw the blue police box was true.

She took her glass and headed for the kitchen. She headed straight over to the freezer in her kitchen and took out a tub of chocolate brownie and salted caramel ice cream. She topped up her glass of wine, grabbed a spoon and then returned to curl up on her chair where she had been reading her well-loved copy of the first Dresden files books by Jim Butcher.

She settled down with a sigh as she sunk into the comfy chair. Glancing at her book she decided against continuing to read as she retrieved the remote for her TV off her side table and flicked through the channels until something caught her interest.

~*0*~

The next morning Astra woke up a little later than normal at seven o'clock. She relaxed in her bed for a while. She was a morning person and could be very active when she needed to be but if she had nothing that needed doing urgently then she always enjoyed being a little lazy when she had the opportunity to.

She relaxed and thought about what she was going to do with the day as she enjoyed a peaceful morning in her bed with the restful silence of the morning filling her senses. Deciding that for the morning she was going to make some cookies before going to visit Rose and make sure the girl was OK after everything that had happened last night, she got out of bed and set about getting ready.

She jumped in the shower and enjoyed a long soak before deciding what she was going to wear for the first part of her day, knowing she would change later when she was going to go and look into some of the jobs she discussed with Mickey the night before.

She quickly blow-dried her hair before dressing in a white vest top covered by a blue chequered shirt tucked into her black boot-cut jeans finished with her black ankle cowboy boots. She added some touches of make-up and put her hair up into a ponytail. Once done she headed to the kitchen to make her cookies and have some breakfast.

She sat at her little breakfast bar enjoying her breakfast of coffee, croissants and blackcurrant jam as she waited for the cookies to bake. She took them out to cool a while later and relaxed for a couple of hours as she waited for a more appropriate time for a visit.

~*0*~

Over at the Tyler flat Rose's alarm blared at the usual time of half seven. She smacked her hand down on the buttons to turn it off. She sat up and looked around the room in a daze as she tried to remember why she had woken up and if there was anything she had to do.

Jackie, hearing her daughters alarm as she passed her bedroom door, called to her daughter "There's no point in getting up sweetheart. You've got no job to go to" she called before she headed to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea and some breakfast.

Rose looked at the door for a moment, her mind still partially asleep as she tried to process her mother's words. Realising her mum was right and that she had no reason to be awake she flopped back down onto her bed, pulled the duvet up over her head and went back to sleep.

~*0*~

At about half nine Rose sat at the kitchen table rolling an apple backwards and forwards between her hands as her mum put a cup of tea in front of her. She was unaware of the inattention of her audience as she talked to her daughter about possible places she could find a job "There's Finches. You could try them. They've always got jobs"

Rose seeming to have caught the last part of her mum's speech answered sarcastically "Oh, great. The butchers" before she returned her thoughts to the mysterious Doctor from the night before. She wondered if she was ever going to see him again. She found herself strangely drawn to the man that had swooped in like a daring hero riding to the rescue of the damsel in distress. She wanted to know more.

Jackie responded, ignoring her daughter's sarcasm "Well, it might do you some good. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma. Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek!" She explained as she began to leave the room to go and get ready for the day "I know she is Greek, but that's not the point. It was a valid claim" she called back over her shoulder as she headed down the hallway to her bedroom.

Everything was silent for a little while until there was a knock on the door. Rose slumped against the table all set to ignore it when her mum hollered down to her "Go and get that, will you"

She released a groaning sigh before she forced herself up, down the hallway to the door grumbling as she went. She undid the catches and opened the door to find Astra stood on the other side, holding a Tupperware box that looked to be full of cookies in her hands.

"I just wanted to see if you were alright" Astra said mistaking the look on Rose's face for surprise rather than the irritation that it was.

Rose reluctantly stepped aside to let the girl in, taking the offered box of cookies as she passed. After closing the door, Rose asked out of some deeply ingrained politeness "Would you like a brew?" before heading to the kitchen leaving Astra stood slightly awkwardly in the living room.

"Tea please, a touch of milk, one sugar" Astra called to the general direction of the kitchen.

Rose headed over to the kettle and clicked it on. She threw the box of cookies absentmindedly on the table as she heard the sound of the cat flap rattling behind her.

She went to the doorway looking down the hall to the front door and watched as the cat flap rattled again as if something was playfully batting against it. Astra came to the sitting room doorway looking curiously at the front door as the cat flap continued to rattle but nothing came through.

Rose sighed to herself with exasperation "Mum, your such a liar. I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're gonna get strays" she scowled angrily in the direction of her mother's bedroom as she stomped towards the door.

"I did it weeks back!" Jackie exclaimed. She really didn't know what her daughter was on about sometimes. She was far more used to the way her daughter spoke to her than she supposed she really should be.

Rose huffed "No, you thought about it" she snarked back quietly before she noticed the screws that innocently lay on the floor, evidence that her mum had indeed nailed the cat flap shut.

The flap rattled again as Astra approached from behind Rose. Rose knelt down and quickly pushed the flap with her fingers before she nudged it open fully only to see a familiar face looking back through it on the other side.

Rose jumped to her feet and flung open the door. She was delighted to see the man that her thoughts had been focused on ever since the previous night's events. Only she didn't get the chance to say anything before the man spoke in an almost offended tone

"What are you doing here?" he questioned, wondering why out of everyone he had to run in to the annoying blonde again. He didn't notice, as he started to root around in his pockets for something, that Astra was stood slightly behind her with a slight smile on her face, relieved to see the man was alright.

"I live here" Rose answered the abrupt question just as quickly.

"Well what d'ya do that for?" the Doctor asked as he looked up spotting Astra behind the girl making him smile gently at the relief he saw in her eyes.

Rose bristled at his tone as she said "Because I do. I'm only at home cos someone blew up my job"

The Doctor frowned as he looked down at his sonic screwdriver. He murmured to himself "I must of got the wrong signal. You're not plastic are you?" the Doctor asked slightly louder before he rapped his knuckles none to gently on her forehead, like he was knocking on a door. He grinned cheerfully at the cross-eyed look she gave him as he said "Nope, bonehead. Bye, then!"

Before he could even fully turn away, Rose snapped out of her confusion at being knocked on like a door and grabbed the man by the lapel of his leather jacket and dragged him inside. "You. Inside. Right. Now!" she demanded with what was supposed to be a fierce look that told him not to argue but just seemed to make her look petulant.

"Who is it?" Jackie called from her bedroom as she settled in front of the mirror at her vanity. She started to gently apply her face moisturiser as they passed the open door to her bedroom.

Rose poked her head through the door as she answered "It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes" before she continued toward the kitchen.

"She deserves compensation" Jackie called just as the Doctor passed into view.

The Doctor leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed "Oh, we're talking millions" he answered sarcastically not noticing when Jackie perked up and quite obviously looked him over.

Astra heard the tone of Jackie's voice and decided against trying to pass the man as she waited to see if he even noticed the obviously interested woman.

Jackie stood up and cleared her throat before speaking in a husky voice as she fiddled with the edge of her fluffy dressing gown "I'm in my dressing gown"

The Doctor nodded as he answered "Yes, you are" as he wondered if stating the obvious was somehow hereditary as both mother and daughter both seemed to do it.

Jackie wondered if she was being to subtle as she pressed forward slightly revealing more cleavage as teasingly started playing with the strap of her dressing gown "There's a strange man in my bedroom"

"Yes, there is" the Doctor nodded as he wondered if it had been long enough that he could try and politely excuse himself from the conversation.

Jackie felt slightly confused but figured he must be interested as he… well he hadn't run away yet "Well, anything could happen" she purred, her tone finally seemed to reach the Doctor as he immediately shut her down with a shake of his head and saying "Err... No!" before he turned to follow after Rose.

Astra snickered as she saw the disgruntled scowl on Jackie's face as she passed, following the Doctor through to the living room. She headed for the kitchen to see if there was anything Rose needed help with.

"Don't mind the mess. Did you want a brew?" Rose asked as she moved around the kitchen setting up another cup for the Doctor next to the two already there.

"Might as well thanks. Tea, just milk" the Doctor called back as he looked around the room with interest.

Rose nodded to herself before she started to talk "We should go to the police. Seriously. Both of us" as she waved off Astra's offer to help.

Astra rolled her eyes at the girl's little speech as she turned and headed back into the living room. She was just in time to see the Doctor flipped through a copy of Heat magazine that he picked up off the coffee table. He stopped on a picture of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, he eyed the image critically before he commented to himself "That won't last. He's gay and she's an alien" he said before looking up and spotting Astra in the doorway, watching him with a raised eyebrow.

He looked at the girl sheepishly before he put the magazine back down on the table as she made her way into the room and sat down on the couch.

Rose continued to talk from the kitchen as she made them all tea "I'm not blaming you, even if it was just some kind of joke that went wrong"

The Doctor continued to ignore the rambling girl as he picked up a paperback book from the coffee table. He quickly flipped through the pages before humming to himself "Hmm. Sad ending" He continued to look around the room as Astra watched from where she had settled on the couch.

"They said on the news that they'd found a body" Rose continued not realising from the lack of response that she was being ignored.

The Doctor picked up a letter from the mantle and read the name "Rose Tyler" he tossed it onto the table as he caught a glance of himself in the mirror. Astra frowned as he reacted as if he had never seen his own face before "Ah, could've been worse. Look at the ears" the Doctor said as he flicked his earlobes lightly.

"All the same, he was nice. A nice bloke" Rose carried on.

The Doctor turned away from the mirror as he picked up a nearby pack of cards as Astra left the room. He stood up to see her leave as he shuffled the cards and sang quietly to himself as he swayed gently to the music playing in his mind "Luck be a lady"

"Anyway, if we are going to go to the police, I want to know what I'm saying" Rose said as she added the sugars to two of the tea's.

Astra re-entered the room, having briefly gone to get the cookies she had given to Rose. The Doctor sent the cards he was shuffling flying in all directions as he jumped in surprise at the sudden entrance. Astra shot him an apologetic look for making him jump. He grinned sheepishly, not blaming her in the slightest as she smiled back at him and asked "Would you like a cookie?"

"I want you to explain everything" Rose went on from the kitchen, completely ignored by the other two as the Doctor took one of the offered cookies and took a bite.

The Doctor hummed slightly with delight as he swallowed the bite of cookie "Very nice" the Doctor complimented "Did you make these?" he asked looking at her. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about the girl since the previous night and he was slightly glad to have run into her again.

Astra nodded with a small smile and a quiet "Yeah"

"They are delicious" the Doctor told her earnestly.

This earned him a bright smile for the compliment and a quiet word of thanks.

Suddenly they heard a scuttling noise coming from behind the couch Astra was sitting on. Astra scooted forward and look toward the back of the couch nervously.

"What's that then? You got a cat?" the Doctor called to Rose in the kitchen, not removing his gaze from the couch.

"No" Rose answered sounding confused at the random question as she gathered the cups in her hands, ready to take them through to the living room.

The Doctor cautiously approached the couch while Astra perched on the edge never taking her eyes off the back of the couch. Astra watched as the Doctor knelt on the couch and gripped the back before cautiously peering down it.

The disembodied arm from the night before suddenly leapt up from its hiding place and launched itself at the Doctor's neck. Astra cried out in shock before she ran over to try and help him. She grabbed the end of the arm with one hand and the other grabbed around the wrist as she pulled with all her might trying to get it to release the Doctor as he struggled to breathe through the tight grip.

"We did have, but now they're just strays. They come in off the estate" Rose said as she walked in from the kitchen with the cups of tea. She took no notice of the Doctor being strangled as Astra tried in vain to pull the arm off of him.

"I told Mickey to chuck that out" Rose scoffed as she noticed the situation "You're all the same. Give a man a plastic hand. Anyway, I don't even know your name. Doctor What was it?" Rose asked with a frown, not taking any notice of the pair, even though he was turning red from lack of oxygen.

The Doctor and Astra finally managed to throw the arm off. It halted in mid-air, which finally caught Rose's attention before it suddenly launched itself forward and latched itself onto Astra's face. Astra yelled slightly as it threw her back into the wall.

Astra crashed into the mantle knocking off most of the ornaments as she reached out to try and grab onto anything she might have been able to use as a weapon to get this thing off of her.

The Doctor raced over and grabbed the arm and pulled at it repeatedly. He tried to get it off of her before he pulled slightly too hard and brought them both crashing down onto the coffee table, smashing it. He straddled Astra as they tried to wrestle free of the arm.

The Doctor rolled them so that Astra was on top of him. He pried at the fingers as he tried to get the arm to release her face. He tugged harder until the arm rebelled and threw her off him and against the couch. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and fiddled with it for a moment until he got the correct setting before he jumped up and pressed the sonic into the arm. The arms grip seemed to weaken before releasing entirely. He pressed the sonic into the palm of the hand. The entire arm seemed to struggle to try and continue to move as it glowed blue with a high pitched buzz coming from the device. Eventually the arm froze and the fingers slowly grinded to a halt. Astra gasped from where she lay as she tried to get her breath back.

"It's alright. I've stopped it. There you go, you see? Armless" the Doctor joked as he tossed the arm to Rose who had stood in shock on the other side of the room. She caught the arm automatically not knowing what else to do as he turned around to check on Astra.

"I'm fine" she told him a little breathless. He nodded at her as he got up, then held out a hand to help her up. He helped her get over the remains of the coffee table.

"Do you think?" Rose asked angrily, she ignored the interaction between the Doctor and Astra as she came out of her shock. She swung the disembodied arm as hard as she could and hit him with it, not impressed with his joke after the shock she had just received.

"OW!" the Doctor exclaimed, rubbing the sharp sting out of his arm. He frowned at the girl even less impressed by her than before. He grabbed the arm off her and headed for the door.

~*0*~

The Doctor left the flat and ran down several flights of stairs that led him outside. Astra was right behind him as the Doctor seemed to have forgotten that he still had a hold of her hand.

Rose hurried to try and keep up, she shouted "Hold on a minute! You can't just go swanning off"

"Yes I can" the Doctor grinned as he threw a look over his shoulder at the girl

"Here I am. This is me, swanning off. See you" he said as he jogged down the stairs.

Astra snickered slightly as she kept pace with the Doctor while Rose struggled to keep up behind them. "But that arm was moving! It tried to kill us!" she exclaimed. Astra shot her an incredulous look when she included herself in that statement.

"Ten out of ten for observation" the Doctor complimented sarcastically as he rolled his eyes and continued down the stairs.

"You can't just walk away! That's not fair. You've got to tell me what's going on!" Rose whined.

The Doctor carried on jogging down the stairs as he simply said "No, I don't" as he reached the door. He opened it and let Astra walk through before he continued through it himself leaving Rose to catch the door if she wanted to keep following.

Rose scowled as she quickly caught the door and raced to put herself slightly in front of the man "All right, then. I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said if I did that, I'd get people killed. So…your choice! Tell me, or I'll start talking" Rose threatened, thinking she could blackmail him into cooperation.

The Doctor though clearly didn't buy her act for a second, "Is that supposed to sound tough?" he scoffed, telling people anything like that was more likely to get her sectioned than it was put them in danger. It would put her in danger if the alien discovered someone had information on them though which was the point of his warning in the first place.

Rose pouted, that had not been the reaction she was looking for. She decided to go down a different route. She grinned sheepishly and muttered "Sort of"

The Doctor looked at her sceptically, not understanding the sudden turn around. "Doesn't work" the Doctor explained in response to both her answer and her petulant actions. She reminded him a lot of a child who was trying to get their own way in that moment.

"Who are you?" she questioned, she hoped if she changed the topic quickly enough that it might make him slip up and give her an answer he didn't mean to.

"I told you. The Doctor" he answered, not bothering to hide the exasperation that laced his voice at the pointless questions that kept coming from the girl.

"Yeah, but Doctor what?" Rose questioned, just wanting to get any answer from the man.

"Doctor who?" Astra corrected automatically, before she flinched minutely. She had been trying not to get involved in their discussion.

"Just the Doctor" he answered, grinning a little at Astra's little slip.

Rose took the smile as a good thing, not having heard Astra as she said "The Doctor" a look of complete scepticism on her face.

"Hello" the Doctor cheered with a big grin as he waved at her.

"Is that supposed to sound impressive?" Rose asked in confusion.

"Sort of" the Doctor grinned as he mocked her earlier answer.

"Come on. You can tell me. I've seen enough" Rose needled as she felt herself getting closer to an answer "Are you the police?"

The Doctor shook his head "No! I was just passing through" he explained before he muttered to himself with a sigh "I'm a long way from home"

Rose suddenly seemed to realise the danger of the situations that had occurred for the past twenty-four hours "But, what have I done wrong? How come those plastic things keep coming after me?"

Both the Doctor and Astra turn to look at the girl incredulously. While it was true she had been there for both situations so had they. The Doctor looked a little disgusted by the selfishness of the girl in front of him, while Astra rolled her eyes, she knew enough about Rose from work and Mickey that this reaction actually seemed to fit perfectly within Rose's character.

"Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you" the Doctor sneered "You weren't even attacked. You were just there, that's all"

"It tried to kill me!" Rose exclaimed, her hysteria growing as she thought about how close she came to being killed.

"It didn't go anywhere near you" the Doctor responded incredulously "Beside that. It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in shouting your head off, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on your place is 'cos you've both met me"

Rose seemed to calm down at the idea that she wasn't in any danger that her earlier ire at the man came back full force "So what you're saying is, that the entire world revolves around you!" she concluded in disbelief.

The Doctor rolled his eyes with annoyance and decided a stupid question deserved a stupid answer. "Sort of, yeah" he drawled as he looked around the park they were currently crossing.

"You're full of it" Rose snorted.

Astra looked over from the Doctors other side as she muttered to herself just loud enough for the Doctor to hear "Why hello pot, I'm kettle. Nice to meet you"

The Doctor grinned down at her. He wished she spoke what ran through her mind more, from what he had seen it appeared to be very sarcastic and he loved every little slip. It amused him.

"But, all this plastic stuff. Who else knows about it?" Rose asked but was interrupted before she could get an answer.

Astra had finally had enough with the girls pointless questions. She had one of her own that held infinite more importance "Never mind that! Are people in danger from these Auton's?" she asked the Doctor.

"No! Well, yes, But I swear, I'm working on it" the Doctor answered immediately. He paused and turned to look at her. Grabbing both her hands, he looked her directly in the eyes as he made a solemn vow "I promise. I will stop them!"

"What? On your own?" Rose asked in disbelief.

As he was still looking directly at Astra he saw the roll of her eyes. He smirked at her in amusement as he reluctantly answered the girl "Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, work, go to bed and watch telly, while all the time underneath you there's a war going on" as he turned and continued walking.

Rose did not like the fact she was being brushed to the side by the man she hadn't been able to stop thinking about. She reached across him and grabbed the dummy arm out of his hands. "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?" she asked.

The Doctor sighed as he explained it to the girl as simply as he could "The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal. Dead"

"So that's radio control?" Rose guessed not really knowing much about it either way.

"Thought control. Are you all right?" he asked Astra.

Astra was looking around worriedly at all the families within the park. Suddenly all the plastic they used everyday seemed to stand out in sharp relief as she realised the amount of danger everyone was in now that someone had decided to use it as a weapon against them. She was snapped out of her thoughts at the Doctors question. She nodded her head and opened her mouth to confirm verbally but was quickly interrupted by Rose.

"Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?" Rose answered as if he had been talking to her.

"Long story" the Doctor said by way of answer. He knew that even if he tried to explain that she wouldn't understand so there was simply no point in trying.

"Why shop window dummies though? What's that about" Astra asked in confusion "I mean why would anyone want to take over shops?"

"I know. Believe me, I know. They want to overthrow the human race, so they control the material that is the most widely used: plastic. There's so much of it in highly populated areas but it's often overlooked. Because of this, they can and will be able to catch you off guard and destroy you. As for the shop window dummies if they suddenly start moving, you lot, you'll be entertained. You'll think it's just mechanical. Until it's too late. Do you believe me?" the Doctor asked as he turned to look at Astra as he walked, not noticing he had grabbed her hand as he went.

"No" Rose scoffed with obvious disbelief at the same time Astra nodded with a vocal "Yes" as if to emphasize the point. They looked at each other with disbelief. Astra that the girl could go through everything that had happened and still be in denial about it, and Rose, that the girl believed something so ridiculous.

The Doctor smiled at Astra, relieved that she was taking this seriously and believed him. He knew people often rationalised things that scared them so for once Rose's reaction was actually pretty standard.

Rose stopped as the Doctor carried on walking. He got a couple of steps ahead before the girl called out "Really though Doctor. Tell me. Who are you?"

The Doctor looked back at her as he debated with himself how to answer "Do you know what we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you that the world is turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still" he turned to Astra and gripped both of her hands tightly as he stared with intensity into her eyes. Neither noticed the scowl Rose wore as the Doctor was supposed to be answering her question but seemed more interested in talking to Astra.

The Doctor however finally got around to Roses question, though he kept his focus on Astra "I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at exactly a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around 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 finished softly as he abruptly let go of Astra's hands making her jump. She had been so intensely focused on him that the abrupt movement startled her.

"That's who I am. Now forget me Astra Nyx. Rose Tyler. Go home" he finished trying to convey the seriousness of the situation to them. He grabbed the arm off Rose and waved at them with it.

The Doctor turned and walked away toward the blue police box that Astra had seen in the alley the day before.

Rose turned and walked off sullenly, she did not appreciate being blown off by the man when she was showing she was obviously interested. She pouted to herself as she walked away planning to go and visit Mickey later to make herself feel better.

Astra on the other hand stood there patiently, almost expectantly, as the Doctor entered the blue box. Not a moment later a strange whooshing noise filled the air as the box faded out of existence.

Rose, raced back and stood beside Astra, after hearing the strange noise. She looked around trying to find the source of the sound but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She sighed to herself when it appeared that the Doctor had disappeared as well. She turned and headed off again paying no attention to Astra.

Astra stood staring at the space where the blue box had once stood. She couldn't seem to put her finger on why everything about the man and the box was so familiar to her. It was like recalling a childhood memory, you knew it happened but couldn't quite put your finger on the specifics. She shook herself out of these thoughts and smiled, at least now she knew that the Doctor was truly OK and that he was going to deal with the situation.

She sighed to herself, she was a little sad that the Doctor had disappeared. She didn't understand it, but she missed the man. It didn't make sense, she didn't know the man. She had known him less than twenty four hours and yet she felt like in letting him go she had lost something profound.

She turned and headed back towards her car. She had originally come to see if Rose was alright, and despite what seemed to be a slight growing obsession with the Doctor, she was fine. So she decided to forgo going back to the Tyler flat and headed for her car. She needed to go to a newsagents and a grocery store before heading back home in order to get ready to go job hunting.

~*0*~

"Hey, hey, here's my woman. Kit off!" Mickey cheered as he opened the door to see Rose stood there.

"Shut up," she said with a smile, appreciating the attention after getting nothing from the Doctor. She pushed past him, giving him a quick kiss on the way.

"Coffee?" he offered.

"Yeah, only if you wash the mug. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash. Can I use your computer?" Rose asked as she headed over to it, not waiting for his answer.

"Yeah. Any excuse to get in the bedroom." Mickey joked as he headed to the kitchen, only to seemingly come to a realisation "Don't read my emails!" Mickey called back to her almost guiltily.

Rose opened the internet browser and typed 'Doctor' in the search engine. This produced millions of results of all the different Doctor's in the world from medical and science to philosophy and fine arts.

Next she tried searching 'Doctor Living Plastic'. This still brought up thousands of search results though it did narrow the search down to all the plastic surgeons and doctors who worked towards the use of plastic prosthetics for people who have lost a limb.

Lastly, she typed 'Doctor Blue Box' for the search parameters. This produced only a couple of hundred results. The very top result said 'DOCTOR WHO? ...DO YOU KNOW THIS MAN? CONTACT CLIVE HERE'. This looked more promising than anything she had seen so far so she clicked the link. A fuzzy picture that could have been the Doctor popped up. She decided she was going to contact the man to find out what he knew.

~*0*~

Rose had managed to convince Mickey to take her to visit the man she had been speaking to through emails. She sat in Mickey's bright yellow VW Beetle as he pulled up to the kerb on Clive's street, hoping the man would have some useful information for her on the Doctor.

Rose sighed as she argued "You're not coming in. He's safe. He's got a wife and kids" It irritated her that he wouldn't just do as she told him too.

Mickey was worried. His girlfriend was about to go and meet this random man, She wouldn't tell him why she wanted to meet with the man, or what they had been talking about over the emails they had exchanged. She just didn't seem to understand the fact that people could lie to you about who they were over the internet and you would never know until it was far too late.

He had asked Astra to do a background check on the man for him. She was far quicker and more efficient than he was at doing things like that. It had all come back completely clear and innocent but that didn't completely remove his anxiety, it could just be a really good cover after all.

"Yeah, who told you that?" Mickey asked, he was irritated that she never quite grasped the consequences of anything "He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say!" Mickey shouted after her as she had already left the car part way through his speech. He huffed, slumping back in his seat to watch as she headed over to the house

One of the people who lived across from Clive had been taking out his black wheelie bin when he heard Mickey shout. He scowled at Mickey as he sat behind the wheel of his car. This was normally a quiet street. He didn't want these youngsters coming around this area and ruining the normal peace.

Rose walked up the short path leading to the white door she needed. She knocked and waited anxiously for someone to answer. A boy of about fourteen answered the door and looked her up and down curiously.

"Hello, I've come to see Clive. We've been emailing" she asked politely, miming using a keyboard. She didn't know why the boy was looking at her the way he was so she wanted to make sure he understood.

The boy looked at the girl in disbelief. She was young, blond and seemed to be more than a bit of a ditz. This was not the type of weirdo that usually came to see his father. He shook his head before shouting over his shoulder "Dad! It's one of your nutters!"

He turned to see his dad poke his head out of the living room curiously before he headed off back to his computer. He had some aliens to kill!

A rather large man came fully out of the living room and stepped toward the door to greet his guest. "Oh, sorry. Hello. You must be Rose. I'm Clive" he introduced as he offered her a hand to shake, before sheepishly adding "Obviously"

"I'd better tell you now. My boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill me" Rose laughed slightly as she shook the man's hand.

"No, good point. No murders" Clive chuckled in response, taking it in good spirits. He stepped forward a bit so he was slightly outside the door and waved in acknowledgement over at Mickey who was still sat in his car frowning at him. He hoped he was reassuring the man he meant no harm, but he did understand the caution.

"Who is it?" a woman's voice asked loudly from upstairs.

"Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. She's been reading the website" Clive shouted back before he gestured for Rose to follow him through to the back. "Please, come through. I'm in the shed"

"She? She's read the website about the Doctor? She's a she?" said the woman, who appeared to be Clive's wife, incredulously. A pretty brunette walked down the stairs with a basket full of washing and a fond and indulgent grin on her face at her husband's antics.

~*0*~

Clive led the way through his house and into the back garden. At the end of the garden there sat a medium sized, blue and white painted shed that was padlocked. Unlocking the shed he guided her inside to show her all the Doctor related things he had researched and acquired over the years.

The walls were decorated with newspaper clips and torn out book pages that contained references to the Doctor. Shelves were stacked with a variety of history books and files that he had put together about the Doctor. A bicycle hung from the ceiling decorated with wind chimes, above a small table that was covered with star maps and various odds and ends.

"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. 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" Clive explained as he walked around the room gesturing to various articles that lined the walls as he mentioned them.

"That's your Doctor there, isn't it?" Clive asked as he pulled a folder from the table and opened it to reveal the fuzzy photo of the Doctor that had been on his website.

"Yeah" Rose nodded, seeing the familiar image.

"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 said, before he pulled out another two photos. The first photo showed the Doctor's face in a crowd of people. The second was of a wider shot of the crowd that had surrounded the car that carried President John F Kennedy on the day of his assassination.

"November the 22nd, 1963. The assassination of President Kennedy. You see?" Clive continued to explain, he had never understood why he was so wary of the man. He just knew that the Doctor being around meant trouble and if this girl had been in contact with him it could mean that she was in terrible danger.

"It must be his father," Rose said with a frown, as she struggled to understand how the man could possibly have been at an event that had happened several decades ago.

"Going further back. April 1912. This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton and friend" he showed her a photo of 4 children, three girls and a boy that stood in front of three adults as they posed for a picture on a dock. One of the men looked remarkably like the Doctor.

"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" he explained, he hoped that the girl was beginning to see the link between these incidents and the Doctors interference.

He turned and pulled a drawing off the wall to show to Rose "And here we are. 1883. Another Doctor. And look the same lineage. It's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra on the very day Krakatoa exploded" he explained. He saw the look on her face, the hesitancy that warred with disbelief and hoped to press the situation home for her "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?" Rose asked, fear starting to grip her as she stared at all the photos in disbelief. She didn't know what to think anymore. She was interested in this man, but there was so much strangeness surrounding him that she didn't know just what to believe anymore.

"Death," he answered bluntly. "If the Doctor's back, if you've seen him, Rose, then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger"

~*0*~

Out on the street Mickey stepped out of his car. It had been getting a little stuffy and he needed the fresh air. He glanced around the neighbouring houses, observing the quiet little suburban street. The toys that littered the gardens, the slightly older men enjoying the menial task of weeding their garden, the adults dragging their wheelie bins out to the curb for the weekly collection and the kids that threw a football between each other across the street as they hoped to bounce it off the curb.

It was nice, to see such a peaceful atmosphere. He couldn't help but let his thoughts drift, he wondered if he and Rose might share some of this someday. He got so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice when the wheelie bin that had been put out earlier had nudged its way toward him slightly.

Mickey's attention snapped up from where he was idly watching a middle-aged couple, they were laughing as they unloaded their shopping from the car. He had seen something out of the corner of his eye that drew his attention or at least he thought he had. He could have sworn that the wheelie bin had been further away from him, but it couldn't have moved... could it?

He straightened up from his lent position when the wheelie bin shuffled forward as he watched. He warily approached the bin wondering if there was something inside that was trying to get out making it shuffle that way. He grabbed the lid and threw it open before he could change his mind and looked inside with a shout "Come on, then"

He frowned when he saw nothing inside the bin. There was nothing there to explain how it had moved but there was also nothing in there to explain why it had been put out in the first place.

~*0*~

Back in the shed Clive walked around to stand across the table from Rose. "If he's singled you out, if the Doctor's making house calls, then God help you," Clive warned as he leant closer to the girl with his intensity, making Rose even warier.

~*0*~

Mickey closed the bin lid. He looked at it in confusion before he tried to pull away his hands. He stared in shock as the material of the bin stuck to his finger tips like melted plastic as he tried to pull away.

The bin shuffled forward slightly. Then it seemed to make a strange growling noise before it expanded slightly, as if it was taking a deep breath of preparation. It snapped the plastic back towards itself, which was unfortunately still stuck to Mickey. Mickey was whipped up into the air and swallowed whole by the bin, which released a loud burp in satisfaction.

~*0*~

In the shed Rose wanted nothing more than to leave. She had to ask one last question, it was a question that she had a feeling would either cement her obsession for the Doctor or prove to her that the man was completely delusional "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" Clive explained gravely, he truly believed everything he was telling the girl and he could only pray that the girl would be very careful if she ever encountered the Doctor again.

~*0*~

Rose stormed through the house and back outside. She didn't bother acknowledging anyone on the way as she stomped back to Mickey's car in a huff. That had been an absolute waste of time.

"All right, he's a nutter. Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak. You win!" Rose ranted as soon as she entered the car, 'Mickey' was now sat in front of the steering wheel looking not to have moved since she left him. She sighed and changed the subject before 'Mickey' could start saying I told you so "What are we going to do tonight? I fancy a pizza" she asked not noticing anything different about 'Mickey' as she turned to look at him.

"Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!" 'Mickey' stuttered over the word. He repeated as he tried to get used to his new ability to speak.

"Or Chinese" Rose muttered considering, she barely paid any attention to anything else as she considered what food they should go and get.

"Pizza!" 'Mickey' demanded as he started up his car and started to drive. He weaved dangerously down the road almost hitting several cars and bins as he drove them back to central London.

~*0*~

Rose and 'Mickey' sat together in one of the many pizza parlours in central London. Rose still not having noticed anything different about her boyfriend as he sat there looking rather shinier than normal, a perpetual grin stretched across his face. Rose didn't mention anything she and Clive had discussed, she was hoping if she didn't give him an opportunity to bring it up she could spare herself the gloating.

She decided to move onto more productive endeavours and started thinking about where she could possibly go looking for a job. "Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had jobs 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." She muttered to herself as she jumped from thoughtful to regretful "I only left school because of him and look where he ended up. What do you think? Didn't you mention you'd heard about some jobs earlier?" she asked finally looking up from the table where she had been absentmindedly playing with a small pile of salt.

"So, where did you meet the Doctor?" 'Mickey' asked, looking at Rose intently.

"I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second?" Rose huffed, irritated at being ignored. So much so that she didn't notice 'Mickey's' mention of the Doctor even though she had never mentioned the man to him.

"Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?" 'Mickey' interrogated.

"No" Rose said shaking her head as she looked back down at the table. She hoped he couldn't tell she was lying.

"Come on" 'Mickey' coaxed, the grin never leaving his face.

Rose hesitated. She managed to look at him and muttered a guilty sounding "Sort of" before she shook her head. She opened her mouth to tell Mickey to change the subject because she didn't want to talk about this anymore.

Mickey asked a question before she could even speak "What was he doing there?" his voice growing deeper as his aggression level rose.

"I'm not going on about it, Mickey" Rose demanded "Really, I'm not, because, I know it sounds daft, but I don't think it's safe. I think he's dangerous"

Rose paused slightly as it sunk in what they were talking about. She didn't remember telling Mickey about the Doctor. In fact she specifically remembered avoiding talking about him so that she didn't accidently reveal her interest in the man to Mickey. She was sure he wouldn't understand and he always got so jealous whenever she showed interest in other men. It wasn't like her and Mickey were going to be together forever, he was just... safe.

"How'd you know about the Doctor?" Rose asked hesitantly.

"You must have mentioned him, but you can trust me, sweetheart-babe-sugar-babe-sugar" 'Mickey' continued to try and coax the girl into telling him what he needed to know. His voice skipped like a scratched record being played, moving from higher to lower pitches and contorting as his desperation rose "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?" Rose asked. She was completely baffled by Mickey's out-of-character behaviour.

A bottle of champagne was presented from beside Mickey. Neither he nor Rose noticed the leather clad arm that held it as the man politely explained "Your champagne"

"We didn't order any champagne." 'Mickey' dismissed the waiter without even looking up as he continued to interrogate Rose. Any ounce of subtlety left him as he gripped her hand violently and glared at her "Where's the Doctor?"

"Madam, your champagne" the waiter appeared on the other side of the table and offered it to Rose.

"It's not ours" she waved away the persistent waiter as she tried to free her hand from 'Mickey's' grip "Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?" 'Mickey' demanded, his voice growing louder and more aggressive by the word, which finally caught the attention of all the other diners.

"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?" the waiter questioned in a mock innocent voice which finally got their attention.

"Look, we didn't order it" 'Mickey' growled. He rolled his eyes with annoyance before he turned his attention on to the waiter. He froze momentarily at what he saw before his face stretched into a wide grin of satisfaction "Ah. Gotcha" as he realised the annoying waiter was in fact the Doctor he had been looking for.

The Doctor started vigorously shaking the champagne bottle as Rose turned with a gasp of surprise and delight at the sight of the man. He shook the bottle a little more before he said "Don't mind me" he grinned "I'm just toasting the happy couple" He aimed the bottle straight at 'Mickey' as he exclaimed "On the House!"

He released the cage that surrounded the cork and it shot out with extreme force. It impacted hard and fast into the centre of 'Mickey's' forehead which sunk in with the resounding sound of bouncing rubber.

Rose watched on in stunned disbelief as the cork disappeared into her boyfriend's forehead. She watched as 'Mickey' contorted and twisted, his cheeks puffing out and hollowing before he spat the cork out of his mouth with a resounding POP!

"Anyway" 'Mickey' said as he stood up. He raised his arm in a similar motion to the Auton from the basement. The difference being that this time the hand formed into a large rubber wedge. He slammed it violently down on the table in front of him, knocking everything to the floor as it splintered.

Rose fled over to the bar and cowered behind one of the pillars that was stationed around the restaurant. She screamed and tried not to watch as 'Mickey' violently smashed all the tables that were in his way as he pursued the Doctor.

The Doctor saw an opportunity and lunged for the Auton-Mickey. He grabbed him in a headlock and with a few harsh tugs managed to pull the head free from the body.

The rest of the customers in the restaurant all got up from their tables at the start of the commotion. Chaos reigned as they screamed and ran around in a panic, as they tried to escape the mad man that was destroying the place.

"Don't think that's going to stop me" the disembodied head declared from between the Doctors hands. A man that stood nearby yelped in horrified shock as the head somehow spoke. The body rose seeming undeterred from its lack of a head and continued to flail around the restaurant continuing its pursuit of mindless damaged.

Astra suddenly appeared from behind the bar, now dressed in a professional suit. She jumped over the bar and dodged around 'Mickey' to pull one of the fire alarms. She shouted as loud as she could over the panicking crowd "Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out! NOW!" as she directed people towards the exits and away from the destruction.

Rose turned from her hiding place and made a break for the corridor that led to the kitchens. She spotted a fire exit that led to the back of the restaurant and ran for it. The Doctor dodged around the body, keeping a tight hold on 'Mickey's' head. He grabbed Astra's hand and led her back towards the same door Rose was heading for.

The body eventually realised its prey had escaped and attempted to lumber after them.

~*0*~

Rose slammed into the door first forcing it open as she raced down the alley and started to pull on the locked corrugated metal gates.

The Doctor ran through the door pulling Astra behind him. He slammed the doors closed and released Astra's hand so that he could use his metal tube device to lock the door. He took Astra's hand again as he turned and calmly walked over to the same blue box she had seen every time the Doctor was around.

Astra turned to look back over at the door as a thud sounded. She watched as dents appeared in the solid metal door in sync with the sounds of something extremely strong hitting it.

Rose screamed in a panic as she looked over her shoulder to see the other two and the damage appearing all over the door. She was terrified what would happen should that thing get through. She turned to the Doctor and cried "Open the gate! Use that tube thing. Come on!"

"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor explained, as he waved the device at her, but otherwise ignored her request. He turned to look at Astra curiously "What were you doing there?" he asked, ignoring Rose who was shouting over at them.

Astra glanced warily back at the door as she answered "There is, well, was a couple of jobs going. Waitressing and bartending" she smiled as she absently gestured back toward the now destroyed restaurant.

"Ah" the Doctor nodded his understanding as they reached the police box. He noticed Astra's preoccupation with the Auton trying to get through the door so he knocked slightly on the wood to get her attention and said "Tell you what. Let's go in here" as he jerked his head towards the door. The Doctor took out the key from his jacket pocket and unlocked the doors. He gestured for Astra to head in before he followed. She shot him a slightly sceptical look but he had more than earned her trust so she stepped inside.

The Auton relentlessly hammered the metal, the door practically bent in half under its unyielding strength. They could vaguely hear Rose shrieking "You can't hide inside a wooden box. It's going to get us! Doctor!" but the Doctors attention was focused on Astra.

He watched her as she gazed around the impossible room. Her jaw slightly dropped in her awe and her gazed jumped around the room as she tried to look at everything all at once. He walked past her and headed up to the console, allowing her all the time she wanted to regain control over her awe. He was sure she would have questions after that.

She slowly walked up the steps that led to the main platform. She was sure that she had never seen anything so beautiful in her entire life. As she looked around the room she felt a warmth pass through her as the now constant pang of familiarity asserted itself. It felt like more than that though, it felt like she had returned home.

The huge dome shaped room looked almost organic in its style. Embossed hexagon shapes lined the walls. The ceiling appeared to be held up by a variety of Y-shaped pillars that appeared to be made from a coral looking material. The room was dimly lit by a large glowing blue cylinder that descended from the centre of the room down to the platform.

At about hip height it was surrounded by a very steam-punk looking set of control panels; it appeared to be divided into six separate sections. Each section contained an eclectic mix of things from a bicycle pump handle to a spiral-corded dial-wheel telephone and a gas mileage dial to a blown glass sphere. A monitor was fixed to a rotatable cross bar set just above the console. The monitor displayed a circular pattern that seemed to be some style of writing and had various post it notes attached with the same writing on.

Out in the alley, Rose continued to try and pull open the gate. She screamed when the door bent slightly and came off its top hinge. She gave up and ran over to the box she had seen the Doctor go into. She threw the door open and ran up the steps, knocking into Astra.

Astra released an "Oof!" as she fell down on to the steps. The Doctor heard and spun around in time to see Rose run back to the door, leaving Astra where she fell. He went over and helped Astra up and over to the console.

Rose had taken one look around the vast room and ran straight back out again. She backed away quickly from the strange box and ran around it to see if there was any possible, reasonable explanation for the enormous room that was crammed into such a small box.

The Auton finally succeeded in smashing through the door. Rose was forced to make up her mind quickly. She could stay and probably get killed by the headless body of her boyfriend or she could go back inside the strange box. The choice was obvious even though she didn't like it.

She ran back into the box and shouted to the Doctor "It's going to follow us!" she swallowed with intimidation at the sight of the room and resisted the urge to run back out again.

"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried" the Doctor smirked as he patted the edge of the console. He was very proud of his sexy ship. "Now, shut up a minute!" he said as he grabbed his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the head.

After scanning the head with his sonic he grabbed various wires from the console and connected them to the head. He paused when Astra came to stand beside him and watched curiously at what he was doing. He smiled to himself as he finished connecting the wires and settled the head to rest comfortably on the console.

"You see the arm was too simple" he explained to her "but, the head is perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source" he leant across the console to drag the monitor round for them to monitor the progress of the trace. "Okay, so where do you want to start?" he asked Astra as he could practically see the questions piling up within her mind.

"Erm..." Rose gasped softly directing their attention to her for the first time "the inside's bigger than the outside?"

"Yup!" the Doctor said as he fiddled with the console trying to speed up the process of the trace.

"It's Alien" Rose said breathlessly. Her brain seemed to finally realise that everything that had been happening had been alien and that Clive had been telling her the truth.

"Yup" he smirked wryly to himself, amused at her reaction in spite of himself.

"Are you alien?" Rose asked, her eyes alight with caution.

"Yes" he answered before he turned to Astra and asked "Is that all right?"

"Yeah" Rose gasped as she continued to look around the room. She didn't notice the question hadn't been directed at her.

Astra smirked at the man as she answered cheekily "It explains the ears"

The Doctor smirked as he saw the mischief that had filled her eyes. He gestured towards the room surrounding them "It's called the TARDIS, this thing. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space"

Astra flinched slightly as his words sent a sharp pain stabbing through her head. A voice echoed through her mind.

...A type-40 TARDIS...

...Grown by specialists...

...Travel through Time and Space...

The pain and the voice vanished as quickly as it had occurred. She shook her head in confusion as she tried to keep a hold of the information, but it felt like trying to recall a dream. The harder you tried to cling on to the details the quicker they filtered away.

Rose slowly approached the Doctors other side before she burst into loud dramatic sobs. This dragged the Doctors attention away from Astra, who he been watching in concern after seeing her flinch.

"That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us" the Doctor said in an attempt to sound sympathetic and comforting, although he had a feeling he wasn't really succeeding.

"Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?" Rose sniffled.

"Oh. I didn't think of that" the Doctor said. He didn't offer them more of an answer. He thought from personal experience it was always better to feel the relief that someone was alive that you thought dead than it was to feel the loss a second time if you were given false hope.

"He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think?" Rose started to yell.

Astra interrupted quickly as she spotted something on the console "Doctor, is the head supposed to melt?" she stood up from where she was leant and then leaned closer to get a better look. She was a little bit anxious in case this prevented the Doctor doing what he was trying to do but also fascinated as the head seemed to almost deflate even though she was sure it had been solid before.

"Melt?" the Doctor repeated as he whipped around in alarm. Upon seeing the Auton head melting quickly into the console he cried "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" as he raced around the console pulling levers and pressing buttons as he tried to follow the partial trace that hadn't completed before the head melted.

"What're you doing?" Rose shouted as she struggled to be heard over the noise of the TARDIS.

"Following the signal. It's fading" the Doctor explained quickly as he tried to follow the trace as it quickly faded "Wait a minute, I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!"

The Doctor checked the monitor and saw that he had managed to get close, closer than he had expected really considering how quickly the signal faded. He spun around, grabbed Astra's hand as he passed and led her out the door.

Rose looked panicked at the idea of going back out there shouted after them "You can't go out there. It's not safe!" but she followed along quickly. She didn't want to be left alone in the strange box. She left the TARDIS only to discover they had moved to the south bank of the river Thames.

~*0*~

"I lost the signal, I got so close" the Doctor grumbled. He looked around before heading over to the wall of the bridge that over looked the Thames. He lent against it as he tried to think what they could possibly be using to transmit the signal.

"We've moved. Does it fly?" Rose asked, her voice rising in pitch as she looked around incredulously.

"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand" the Doctor waved her off as he tried to think of anything possible that was available for the Auton's to use.

"Would the body have melted with the head?" Astra asked curiously as she approached the Doctors side and pulled herself up to sit on the wall. She hoped it would have, she didn't want anyone else to be in danger from that thing.

Rose took several deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down. She saw the fondness that the Doctor seemed to be developing for Astra and did not want that to happen. She decided it didn't matter that the man was an alien. She was still interested in him and she would do anything to take that attention away from Astra and put it onto herself.

"Yeah, It melted with the head" the Doctor smiled as he answered.

"What am I gonna do?" Rose whined. The Doctor shot her a questioning look, confused as to what she could possibly be going on about now. "Mickey, what am I gonna do about Mickey? He's dead. And you just went and forgot him, again!" Rose demanded "You were right. You are alien" she finished gesturing wildly as the Doctor seemed to ignore her.

The Doctor stopped listening to the girl at the beginning of her rant. As much as he wanted to care about the one man that had been used in the aliens pursuit to get to him he couldn't. He needed to focus on saving the rest of humanity. He needed to find the source of the signal!

The Doctor sighed as he tried to explain the bigger picture to the girl "Look if I did forget some kid called Mickey" the Doctor started but was interrupted as Rose shouted over him.

She was younger than Mickey; it wouldn't do for the man to assume he was a kid because that would just mean she was just a kid to him too. That wouldn't do at all, she just needed to prove him wrong "Yeah, he's not a kid"

"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?" The Doctor demanded. He had tried to keep his temper in check, he really had but he was busy with more important things and this girl just kept going on about the most inconsequential of things.

"All right" Rose shouted back. She didn't understand why the man seemed so angry at her when she asked a question. He didn't react the same when Astra did it.

"Yes, it is!" the Doctor scowled at her. He sighed as he tried to calm himself down.

Rose seeing him calm slightly decided to try a different track "If you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the North?"

Astra stared at Rose in shock. The girl had gone from worrying about her boyfriend to questioning the Doctor about his accent. Neither of which had anything to do with the current danger these Auton's presented.

The Doctor looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow. He wondered if many humans were this scatter brained "Lots of planets have a North" he looked over at Astra as he heard a scoff that she couldn't seem to contain and grinned.

"What's a police public call box?" Rose asked. She was not going to let the Doctors attention linger on Astra. She was far more interesting, damn it!

The Doctor saw the confusion that crossed Astra's face as Rose asked her latest question and waited as he saw her open her mouth to answer for him.

"It's a telephone box from the 1960's. They used it to call the police or as temporary prison cells for the police while they waited for reinforcements" Astra explained.

"It's a disguise" the Doctor nodded with a grin. He wandered over to the TARDIS and patted the corner of the box fondly. He knew he should probably try to fix the circuit so it blended in better but it just didn't feel like it would be his TARDIS anymore if it were to take the form of anything else.

Astra decided to speak up, the Doctor seemed to be getting distracted when the talk turned to his ship "This Living Plastic. These Auton's. What has 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. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!" the Doctor explained cheerfully with a quick mime of eating something with a knife and fork. His thoughts returning to the matter at hand as he walked back over to the wall and continued to search around.

"You said you were working on a way to stop it?" Astra asked, recalling the conversation they had earlier on.

The Doctor reached inside his leather jacket to an internal pocket. He pulled out a test tube that was filled with a blue liquid and sealed with a cork. "Anti-Plastic" he said as he showed it to her. "But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?" he questioned.

"Hide what?" Astra asked as she hopped down from the wall. She was ready to help "What exactly is it that you're looking for?"

"The Transmitter" the Doctor said as he walked back over to the wall and leant against it as he looked out over the river lost in thought "The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal"

"What would it look like?" Astra asked as her gaze landed on the London eye. When she thought of a transmitter she thought of a satellite and the London eye was very close to that kind of shape.

"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London. A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible" the Doctor explained as he looked at her "What?" he asked as he saw Astra looking at him fondly.

"You know sometimes, a solution can be right in front of you and because you're too close to the problem" Astra said as she nodded toward the eye "You just keep missing it"

The Doctor turned around and looked over the embankment trying to see what Astra was trying to show him "What? What is it? What?" he asked.

Astra stepped up beside him and pointed at the eye. She then very obviously drew the outline of the eye in front of the Doctor. She smirked when she saw the dawning realisation that lit up his eyes as he finally saw what she was trying to show him.

"Fantastic!" he cheered as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a run. The Doctor and Astra ran with wide grins on their face as they raced along Westminster Bridge to the walk way that would lead them down to where they needed to be. Rose trailing behind them as she struggled to keep up.

"Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies"

"the phones,"

"the mp3 players,"

"the televisions,"

"the computers"

"food packaging"

"the wires and cables" the Doctor and Astra alternated, not even seeming to realise that they were doing it.

"The breast implants" Rose added as she tried to be helpful.

The Doctor barked a laugh while Astra looked at the girl with curiosity. The girl was only nineteen and with her attitude she hoped that the girl wasn't so insecure that she was considering doing something like that to herself when she was probably still growing.

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath" the Doctor explained to Astra after shaking his head. She had helped with the transmitter so he figured she at least would be able to help.

Astra glanced around a spotted the parapet that over looked the base of the eye. She ran over and looked down the side to see a large man hole at the bottom of a set of stone steps. "What about down here?" she called back over her shoulder gaining the Doctor's attention.

The Doctor ran over to join her. He looked over the wall curiously from over her shoulder. "Looks good to me, you're very good at this," he said with a grin before grabbing her hand and leading her down the steps toward the entrance. Rose reluctantly followed them.

He unlocked the door with his sonic and peered inside. He glanced around quickly but nothing could be seen in the small room. A ladder led up to a platform that was glowing with a hellish red light that was emanating from further inside.

~*0*~

They climbed up the short ladder and crept along the short corridor that led to a large circular brick room. They climbed down the short ladder as they looked around. There were chains hanging from various points on the ceiling. Descending levels of grated metal floors circled the walls of the room until they culminated toward a huge pit at the lowest level.

They crept down the stairs to the next level so they could get a closer look at the vat. It seemed to be filled with a molten mass of some sort, writhing and gesticulating with unnatural liveliness.

"The Nestene Consciousness" the Doctor whispered to Astra as she stood next to him overlooking the commotion below. She cautiously looked over the rail keeping a tight grip on it as she watched. Several shop window dummies moved around on the floors below shifting various crates and things around as they prepared for the final conquest "That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature"

Rose spoke up from where she was stood on the floor above them making no move to go any closer "Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go" she whisper-shouted. She did not want to be in here for any longer than she had to be.

"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance" the Doctor said. He looked at the girl in disgust at the lack of thought to the creature's life. He turned and started down the steps that lead to the steel catwalk that overlooked the seething, pulsating vat. Astra cautiously followed behind making sure to keep a tight grip on the banisters as she slowly descended after the Doctor.

The Doctor approached the edge and looked down upon the vat as he announced "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation" as he stood straight with his arms folded behind his back.

The Consciousness flexed and gurgled an answer. The Doctor seemed to know what the creature was saying and answered accordingly "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"

Rose slowly descended to the next floor. She spotted movement out of the corner of her eye and was ready to run back outside when she spotted Mickey. He was on the level below but a bit further back crouched and hidden nervously behind a crate. She ran over to him shouting as she went "Oh, God! Mickey, it's me! It's okay. It's all right"

Before she could do anything to comfort him, Mickey put a finger to his lips hushing her. "That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!" Mickey whimpered, clearly terrified after everything he had been through.

"Oh" she exclaimed wrinkling her nose in disgust "You're stinking. Doctor, they kept him alive" Rose shouted toward the Doctor.

"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy" the Doctor answered off-hand, earning him a slap on the arm from Astra.

Rose was irritated by that comment and it showed in her voice as she scowled down at the Doctor and shouted "You knew that and you never said?"

"Can we keep the domestic's outside, thank you?" the Doctor replied. He did not have the time to listen to her inane commentary when he was trying to save the world.

The Doctor continued down to the next level. He grabbed Astra's hand as he went as he saw her shaking slightly. He assumed she had a slight fear of heights and wanted to offer whatever comfort he could. He pulled her close to his side as they stood directly above the vat squeezing her hand in reassurance.

The Doctor turned his attention once again to the living liquid in the vat. It was rolling and pulsing unpleasantly like a bubbling, infested bog. "Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?" the Doctor asked in a polite voice. His voice and stance remained unthreatening but Astra noted a seriousness about him that made her want to take him seriously. She didn't know about the consciousness.

The liquid writhed and pulsed. It leapt up slightly before settling in to a grotesque face. Protrusions erupted and took the shape of a scowling mouth and angered eyebrows. It churned and frothed in reply.

"Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights" the Doctor demanded of the Consciousness. They heard the vat continue to gurgle in what appeared to be its attempt to justify its actions.

"I am talking!" the Doctor commanded firmly. "This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learned how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go" he ordered as politely as he could. It really was ridiculous how many alien species always seemed to try and conquer Earth, there were plenty of other planets out there but no, it was always this one.

Rose noticed some of the dummies approaching the pair and shouted "Doctor!"

The warning came too late as the pair each found themselves restrained by two dummies. Astra yelped in shock as she was jolted forward by the abrupt movement. One of the dummies holding Astra leant over to the struggling Doctor and reached into his jacket pocket pulling out the vial of Anti-Plastic. He held it aloft for the consciousness to see.

The Doctor looked at the vial in a panic. "That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it" he yelled. He could only hope to placate the angry creature. The Consciousness gurgled and frothed an angry reply "I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear I'm not" the Doctor pleaded trying to placate the now extremely angry alien.

The Consciousness bubbled violently in reply. "What do you mean?" the Doctor questioned, a frown of concern spreading across his face as he listened. The Doctor gasped and looked up to see one of the storage containers swing open 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!" the Doctor pleaded desperately with the Consciousness.

"What's it doing?!" Rose screamed in horror.

"It's the TARDIS! The Nestene's identified it as superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it now!" the Doctor warned. He hoped the girl heeded his warning, knowing the girl and her boyfriend were the only ones that might have a chance to make it out of there alive.

As the creature in the vat roared at the Doctor, everyone could feel the energy that filled the room. The hair on their arms raised as their necks prickled with anxiety. Rose however pulled out her phone. The world was threatening to end and instead of making a run for it, she called her mother.

"Mum?" she called into her phone as the call connected. The Doctor heard this and looked around at her incredulously. He could see her yelling into the phone but not making any move away from where she and Mickey had stayed crouched.

~*0*~

Jackie exited the police station as her phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw it was her daughter. She smiled at the coincidence as she answered "Oh there you are. I was just gonna phone. You can get compensation I said so. I've got this document thing off the police. No need to thank me"

Rose ignored what her mum was saying as she asked "Where are you, mum?"

"I'm in town" Jackie answered as she walked round the corner and headed for the Queens Arcade shopping mall.

"Just go home. Go home! Right now!" Rose demanded.

"Darling your breaking up. Listen I'm just gonna do a little late night shopping. I'll see you later. Ta rah!" Jackie smiled as she hung up the phone.

~*0*~

The Doctor looked back around to see Astra struggling in the grip of the dummies as they both tried with all their might's to pull themselves free. Both he and Astra looked up as there was a snap of electricity. A huge amount of energy started to build, creating a translucent red dome of energy over the Consciousness. Arcs of electricity bounced around the room before it surged straight up and through the base of the London eye.

"It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!" the Doctor shouted to Astra. They both returned to attempting to shake off the dummies with even more vigour.

Outside the chamber, the London Eye started crackling with a bright blue energy.

"It's the end of the world" Rose whimpered, trembling as she curled up behind the crate with Mickey.

~*0*~

Clive and his family were in the mall having just come from a meal and were heading back towards their car. "There is no point in creating a spreadsheet if you are going to spend Summer money, in the winter months" Clive tried to explain to his wife.

He stopped and turned when he heard her gasp sharply. "Oh, my God! I thought they were dummies! I nearly had a heart attack" his wife explained, feeling slightly embarrassed by her outburst.

Clive watched the dummies suspiciously as he watched them move about. There was something off about the way they were moving. It wasn't quite robotic. He looked around at all the other shop windows and noticed all the other dummies doing the same thing. His wife smiled as they watched until one of the dummies raised its arm and smashed through the glass.

Clive reached out and dragged his wife and son behind him hoping to protect them from whatever was happening.

"It's true. Everything I read. All those stories. They're all true" Clive gasped as he looked around at all the dummies wandering around the mall. He turned and watched as one of the dummies stopped in front of them. It raised its arm, then dropped its fingers to reveal a gun.

Clive swallowed, he knew there was no way he was going to survive but he would be damned if these things got his family. Not if he could help it. He turned and called to his family over his shoulder "Run!" blocking the shot with his body as his wife and son ran away screaming.

~*0*~

The plastic in the vat became extremely excited as the signal started building before broadcasting from the centre of the Eye.

"The stairs have gone" Rose shouted hysterically as she finally tried to look for an escape.

The dummies wrestled with their captives trying to keep them in their grips as they tried to escape. The vat rumbled and the Doctor doubled his efforts as he understood. They were going to be thrown into the vat.

The dummies started to shuffle them forward a little at a time. The Doctor and Astra's struggles useless, under the unrelenting hold they found themselves in.

Behind them Rose dragged Mickey over to the TARDIS, hoping that if they could get inside that they would be safe. She shoved at the handle to try and get the doors open when she noticed the key hole. "I haven't got the key!" she shrieked as she realised the doors wouldn't open.

"We're going to die!" Mickey whimpered as he and Rose huddled near the base of the TARDIS. Rose leant up to peer down at the Doctor and Astra as Mickey, who had his eyes averted in horror, clung to her leg.

Astra spotted a small metal handle and had an idea. Instead of struggling she abruptly turned to face the right. She knew the dummy on her left was the one who held the Anti-Plastic and she hoped that it she managed to time this right it would be the one to fall into the vat.

The dummy not expecting the move jerked forward and tripped over the metal bar. It fell just as expected straight into the vat, taking the Anti-Plastic with it.

The dummies who held both her and the Doctor released their hold as they tried to catch the falling vial. This gave them the opportunity to push them in too. Astra, at this point, hit the same bar the dummy had and would have fallen into the vat herself had the Doctor not reached out in time to catch her.

The Consciousness released a shriek as it started to turn blue and crack with the same energy it had just been broadcasting.

"Now we're in trouble" the Doctor said grinning insanely as the adrenaline of their success filled his body. He held Astra tightly pressed up against him as she smiled back at him sharing the same sentiment.

Explosions erupted throughout the chamber and the signal from the Eye stopped. The Doctor and Astra ran to the TARDIS. Rose still stood in front of the doors staring around in shock as Mickey still clung to her legs. The Doctor quickly unlocked the door and dragged Astra inside, the other two racing in after them.

The TARDIS disappeared just as the pipes from the ceiling started to burst, spreading water throughout the room, as chunks of the concrete floor above started to break apart and fall down.

~*0*~

The TARDIS materialised in a side street off the alley it had been parked on the very first night they met. A small row of kiosks to one side had all been shuttered closed and locked as they were hastily shut when the plastic had started coming to life.

Mickey immediately raced out of the TARDIS and over to a pile of crates. He was completely terrified. First he got eaten by a bin, then everything that had just happened ending with the entire place seeming to be about to blow up and then there was the bigger on the inside blue box. He could not take anymore!

Rose slowly exited the TARDIS unsure what was going to be outside. Upon seeing a normal alleyway she pulled out her phone and called her mother.

~*0*~

Jackie was walking around some cars in the middle of the dummy littered road when her phone rang. She answered immediately after seeing her daughter's name on the screen.

"Rose, Rose, don't go out of the house. It's not safe" she warned "There were these things, and they were shooting! And they…" she tried to explain only to hear Rose laugh on the other end of the line before she hung up the phone.

~*0*~

Rose laughed as she hung up the phone relieved her mother was OK before she wandered over to Mickey. He whimpered slightly as she approached his position which was partially hidden behind a small tower of pallets. She grabbed his arm and tried to tug him up but couldn't when he refused. She straightened up as she muttered "Fat lot of good you were" ignoring the fact that she hadn't exactly been much help either.

Astra walked out of the TARDIS, straightening out her ruffled and torn suit, but other than that looking perfectly fine. She looked over at Rose and Mickey chuckling slightly as they both stood slumped against the nearby pallets.

The Doctor stood in the doorway of the TARDIS leaning against the frame. He looked toward Astra with a grin as he said "Nestene Consciousness? Easy" as he snapped his fingers.

Astra rolled her eyes with a crooked yet mischievous smile "Sure it was. The fact that we spent the majority of the time held down and I was the one who knocked the Auton holding the anti-plastic into the vat was absolutely no help what's so ever" she said, sarcasm lacing her voice. "Face it, you'd be dead without me there"

"Yep, yes I would," the Doctor said sincerely "Thank you. Right then, I'll be off, unless, err, 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".

Rose pouted over at the pair. Why was he only speaking to Astra, She was there and had helped too. She scowled and interrupted before Astra could reply "What 'bout me? I helped too!" she demanded.

"Alright One trip" the Doctor said. If Astra was friends with the girl it might just be the extra incentive needed for Astra to come along as well. He didn't know why Astra was friends with the girl but they must be fairly close being around each other as often as they had been.

What the Doctor failed to realise was that all the run-ins he had with them was purely coincidence that led them to always be together when the Doctor arrived. Be it just working in the same shop or Astra wanting to make sure Rose was OK or even them happening to choose the restaurant Astra was interviewing at.

He then waved his hand toward Mickey as he said "And he's not invited" He turned back to Astra "What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere" he looked at the girl hopefully.

"Is it always this dangerous?" Astra asked, the corner of her mouth betraying the excitement she was feeling.

"Yeah" the Doctor grinned, seeing her poorly-disguised smile and found himself unable to resist returning it.

Rose interrupted again by pushing past the pair and walking into the TARDIS like she owned the place.

"Well?" the Doctor asked, shaking off his annoyance before remembering something else he should probably add "By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?"

Astra smiled at him and said cheekily "As long as we can go pick up some of my stuff first?"

The Doctor, unable to resist in his excitement, grabbed her hand and dragged her inside. He pulled her over to the console all the while ignoring Rose, who stood on the other side of the it scowling at the two. He began setting everything up ready to go before he remembered something. "Where do you live?" he asked, looking over at Astra sheepishly making her laugh at him.

AN: I hope you enjoyed. Please read and review. BlackRoseBooks :) x