A/N: Hello, everyone! This is my first go at a Doctor Who fic, and it was a fun one. I've nothing much to say other than if I get anything wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me. And thanks for reading!

PS: Just to make things extra clear, despite, I'm sure, what many of you were thinking, I do NOT own Doctor Who.

"Run," the woman said.

She had appeared out of nowhere in the basement of Royal Hope. John had no time to question her as she took his hand and he did exactly as she ordered. He bolted past the leather-people that had cornered him minutes ago.

"What were those things?!" His eyes went wide and his voice frantic.

"They're called slabs. Just your basic slave race from another world." Her voice betrayed her as a Londoner and her cheerful, casual tone as mad.

John ignored her odd response as they ran into the elevator. The woman pressed a button a few times and the doors closed but not before one of the leather-persons managed to stick its arm through.

To his horror, the woman tugged on the arm until it popped clean off. "Why the hell did you do that," he cried. "His arm..." Despite his years in the medical field, John started to feel ill. What had he done to deserve this? Honestly. Well, besides stuffing Stoker's lab coat pockets with marmalade. But then, that didn't count. The man was unbearable.

She raised her eyebrows. "For a doctor, you sure are thick. Look," she took her fist and knocked against the side of it. "Solid leather, through and through." She smiled comfortingly at his nervousness. "Don't worry. Soon you'll be home safe and sound, watching telly and eating chips. Though I might join you for that second part if you don't mind. I do like a good chip... But then that's after I deal with the scary monsters."

John got the sneaking suspicion she was mocking him.

He scowled. "That's not exactly fair of you, putting it that way. How do you expect me to react? Besides, it's not like I was planning on running into these, these- slabs, as you call them. I was just looking for a missing patient."

"Did this patient happen to be an older lady?"

"Er-yeah..."

"Short, with blonde hair?"

"Yep."

"She come down here often?"

"Well yeah, actually. Poor old Mrs Finnegan- all the other doctors say she has a few loose ends. She's been in and out of here for ages. Always wandering off."

"Ah," said the woman. "Mrs Finnegan is dead." With that she stepped out of the open doors of the elevator and onto the ground floor.

"Dead? What do you mean dead?"

"I mean dead. Deceased, lifeless, passed away, stiff!" John felt his face go white, and the woman's eyes softened.

His eyes narrowed. "How?"

"What?" They made their way into the lobby now.

"How'd she die?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Alright then." She paused right before the entrance. "The shortened version is that your lovely Mrs. Finnegan was actually a shape-shifting alien murderer being hunted down by intergalactic police rhinos. I was able to locate her and turn her in before she used the MRI to sent out an electromagnetic pulse to destroy the entire planet. In effect, I saved all of you... again. We good, mate? Good. See ya later for those chips then. I still need to hunt down those slabs."

She shoved him out the door, and nearly went back inside before swinging it open again and looked him in the eye. This was the first good look he'd gotten of her, and he was surprised at just how normal, how young, she was. She hardly looked to be twenty, with unnaturally blonde hair, large brown eyes and an over-excessive use of mascara. Her lips were plump and seemed to be naturally turned upwards at the corners. Yet, there was a certain amount of sadness about her that was far older than her appearance.

"My name's Rose, by the way. And who're you?"

"Uh, I'm Doctor Smith- John Smith."

"Nice to meet you Doc-tah," Rose said, poking her tongue out between her teeth as she beamed at him. There was a crashing sound behind her, and she pulled something metallic out of the leather jacket that hung down by her knees. She pressed a button, and John heard shattering from inside. "Run for your life." This time she did shut the door, and when he tried to pull it open, he found that it was locked.

He walked away from the building, shaking his head in disbelief and gripping onto the leather arm that he didn't realize Rose had given him. What just happened?

To Be Continued...