"Well, that's another happy ending if I do say so myself!" the joyful voice of the Doctor reverberated throughout the control room of the TARDIS as he strode right through the front doors towards the desktop control panel.
Behind him, his companions Rose Tyler the ever-so-enigmatic Jack Harkness followed close behind as they entered the police box that was ever as usual bigger on the inside than it was on the outside.
As he started going to work on the primary controls, the Doctor added in, "And to think it would've taken quite a while for a family to adopt Margaret the Slitheen."
"I can still see the eagerness in the eyes of Jingatheen family," Jack commented wistfully with a grin, "They were practically begging us to give Margaret to 'em."
"Ah, they were just a normal family looking for something special to do," the Doctor stated with a chuckle and rang the call bell on the desktop three times, "And besides, they still have to wait for a couple of months before they can start raising Margaret properly."
From Jack, his eyes darted over to Rose… and that was when his smile quickly faded from his face.
There was something off about the blonde female that he had been sensing for quite a while, especially since they saved the Earth from being destroyed by the Rift.
Throughout the entire time that they had spent on Raxacoricofallapatorius, not once had he heard Rose say anything at all. Even though he had been conversing with Jack all the while, the Doctor had noticed that she had never jumped into their conversations. Not even a grunt for a response.
And now he could finally see why it was so; Rose had a crestfallen look that had crossed her facial features. Her eyelids were drooped in a way as though she had been crying for a long while, and her posture appeared much more reserved and quieter.
Stepping away from the console for a moment, he turned fully in her direction, a look of concern on his face.
"Rose?" he asked her in a soft tone.
The answer was silence and no reaction at all from the blonde.
"Dwelling in her own thoughts from the looks of it," the Doctor deduced mentally.
Clearing his throat slightly, he asked again in faintly louder tone, "Rose?"
This time, there was a response, but not the one that he was expecting. With a sniff of her nose and a lonely tear dropping down her cheek, Rose started to break down into sobs.
Almost immediately, the Doctor was at her side, and he had a look of genuine sadness on his face.
"Are you alright?" he asked her in a comforting tone.
Rose gazed up to him with slightly reddened eyes and quickly shook her head.
"N-No…" she mumbled out softly, "… No…"
Coming up beside the Doctor, Jack asked her, "What's the matter? Was there something that we said just now? If there was then I'm so terribly sorry that-"
"I don't that's it," the Doctor cut him off with glance to the time agent, and then back to the still-sobbing Rose.
"I think it's something else."
For a moment, there was no more than silence that hung about the trio, and the Doctor was not liking it one tiny bit. If Rose was now crying all of a sudden, it would probably be due to what happened during when they were fighting to save Earth from Margaret.
And then after a minute or so, Rose finally broke the silence.
"It's about Mickey…" she croaked out despondently.
And that was about it for the Doctor to understand what was going on. He needed no more verbal information just to get a grasp on what Rose was going through.
"I understand…" he acknowledged with a slow nod of his head, "He thinks that you've been spending too much time with me."
With a slow sigh, he added in, "Well, I guess I can't fault him for assuming things like that."
"It's natural," Jack agreed knowingly, "It's always been in our DNA as men to grow jealous over those who are hanging out with our gals."
Wiping away a few tears from her cheeks, Rose spoke up, "I think I n-need a little… break… from all this excitement…"
The Doctor's lips were pursed, but only for a brief moment to not be noticed. As much as he was loathe to admit it himself, Rose was right.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the blonde had been spending much more time with him than with Mickey and her mother Jackie, ever since he walked into her life and she welcomed herself into his world. And at times when they do return to Rose's time to visit the pair, the Doctor could sense an aura of strain in their relationships.
It was as though Rose was growing further apart from her loved ones with every adventure that she goes with him through time and space.
And the source of the problem? Well, it was not hard to answer at all.
It was because of the Doctor himself.
It was thanks to him that travelling through time, visiting new worlds had opened Rose's eyes to a much wider universe, and yet it was also thanks to him that her interactions with Jackie and Mickey were becoming less frequent. There was always going to be pros and cons when it came to travelling alongside the Doctor, and it was clear that the cons were weighing heavily on Rose's shoulders.
With a deep breath, he made his decision.
"I suppose you could do with some vacation time back on Earth," he muttered out as he turned on his heels and walked back over to the control panel, "I bet Jackie would be thrilled to catch up on some mother-daughter time."
Wiping away one final tear, Rose managed a small smile of gratefulness.
"Thank you," she said softly.
The Doctor acknowledged her thanks with a short nod before he started working on the controls again. Not a second later and Jack joined him to assist calibrating the flight path of the TARDIS.
But just then however, the TARDIS buzzer alarm went off, and the interior lights began flashing red all over.
With an exasperated groan, the Doctor hollered out, "Not now, girl! Can't you see that I'm busy at the moment?"
The alarms continued to blare out, and the Doctor grumbled with a shake of his head.
"What's going on?" Rose asked anxiously, her eyes darting around to the lights as they continued flashing red, "What's happening, Doctor?"
"I can chance a guess," Jack called out from his side of the desktop, his eyes gazing over to the monitor screen, "We're picking up something on the signal sensors!"
Raising an eyebrow at this, the Doctor rushed over to the monitor to take a better look at the information displayed on the screen. All at once, the alarms went silent and the red flashes had ceased.
To this, the Doctor simply glared at the interior walls and muttered, "We really need to figure things out, love."
Getting back onto analysing the data on the monitor, the Doctor took notice of the wavy line that danced messily.
"Mmm hmm. Just as I thought," he stated, "A distress signal."
Rose and Jack came up on either of his sides to take a peek at the monitor.
"But I don't think we need to worry about this one," the Doctor exclaimed with a grin, "The way the wave line moves is akin to how a child messes with his dad's computer."
"You certain there's nothing more to it than just an erratic wave line?" Jack questioned, his brows furrowed in a look of doubt.
The Doctor waved him off, "Oh, of course not! If the intensity of the wave line was really erratic, then it would probably looked as though it was trying to jump out of my monitor screen!"
Rose stared in silence at the monitor, before her eyes began to widen just a few seconds later.
"Y-You mean... like that?" she asked worriedly, an index finger pointed directly at the screen.
The Doctor looked at the area of the wave line that she was pointing at, and then he noticed that something was off about it. The way the wave was curving upwards and downwards in a cycling pattern, and the way that the ripples were in-sync with the groaning and wheezing sounds that his TARDIS was making right now.
The Doctor's pair of hearts sunk a little, a look of dread crossing his features.
Somehow, he thought the signal pattern... familiar.
"Doctor?" Rose spoke up softly to him once she had caught notice of his dramatic change in mood, "I-Is there something wrong?"
"No Rose," the Doctor replied back, a tone of grimness felt in his voice, and his head shaking slowly as though he was trying to deny something, "There's nothing wrong - but there is something that is going on."
Jack raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Isn't that like saying the same thing?"
"Depends on your definition of something that's happening," the Doctor stated nonchalantly, "But this right here, is a really grave something."
"And why would you say that?" Rose asked, a look of wariness slowy forming on her face.
Fate truly was a bitch when it throws something in front of you just as you were about to get something you want.
"Because this signal..." the Doctor said and pointed a finger at the wave graph on his monitor, "... is no ordinary distress beacon."
"And it's not ordinary in the sense that...?" Jack questioned, looking rather muddled by the Time Lord's explanation.
The Doctor eyed him, seriousness written all over his face. "Because it is exclusive to the TARDIS."
Ignoring the looks that his companions were giving him, the Doctor wasted no time in scrambling over to the controls and began punching in new coordinates.
"Sorry Rose but looks like Family Day will have to wait," he apologised curtly, "If one of my other selves is in deep trouble to even be calling out for help, then I can't refuse to answer it."
Rose stared at him blankly, "What do you mean you other-"
She was cut off mid-sentence as the TARDIS began lurching sharply, and she was thrown off-balance from the force of the shaking. As the ship stabilised itself and sped off on a new trajected course, Jack ran over to help her to her feet. Both then proceeded to watch as the Doctor continued to do what he did best in steering the TARDIS, while also at the same time wondering what in the world had gotten the Time Lord so worked up all of a sudden. Before they could open their mouths and ask, the TARDIS came to a stop.
"Righty-o! We are here!" the Doctor declared as he took a step back from the console.
"And where exactly is "here"?" Rose asked him.
"4.2 light years from Earth, in the star system Sierra," said the Doctor as he sauntered over to the door, with his companions following close at his heels.
From the door, the trio emerged into a word that was as barren as the deserts of Mars. There was no life out here, no trees, grass, not a speck of green. No animals that roam the vastness of the land. And the sky was just as dull as the surface was. The only natural phenomenon this planet had to offer was a dust storm that blew in full force from the side of the trio.
"Well um..." the Doctor hacked and coughed forcefully from the dust filled his throat, "Not quite the fairy tale appeal that I imagined!"
Rose instinctively shut her eyes and held out her hands to shield away from the howling winds.
"It's not safe out here!" she exclaimed out loud, "We'd better sit this one out until it calms, Doctor!"
"I'm with Rose on this one Doc!" Jack called out, "We'd be going in blind into this storm!"
At their suggestions, the Doctor looked back at them, allowing them both to see that insane twinkling in his eyes.
"If this were any normal circumstance, I would've agreed!" he stated, "But there's someone out there that's in dire need of my aid!"
"And who is this someone that you're rambling about?!" Rose questioned him.
The Doctor stared on ahead into the thickness of the dust storm.
"Sometimes it's best to act first, and ask questions later!" he replied ecstatically, "Besides, I've walked through tougher storms in the Fall of Gyza!"
And with that, he started marching off further from the TARDIS, away into the storm.
"Doctor, wait! Are you insane?!" Rose cried out in shock and alarm, surprised that the Doctor would be crazy enough to pull of a dangerous stunt like that.
With a loud sigh of amused annoyance, Jack turned and head on back inside the police box.
Rose spun on him swiftly, stupefied at her friend's departure.
"Where're you going?!" she demanded, "The Doctor's out there all by himself, and you're just gonna bloody let him?!"
Jack returned to the doors a couple of minutes later, his usual cocky grin on his face.
"Relax Rose! We ain't gonna abandon the good Doctor like that!" he assured her, "Just need to dress up for the part first!"
He handed her one of three gas masks that he managed to find in the storage room.
Quickly donning their own masks and third in Rose's hands, the pair raced back outside into the hazy blindess of the storm. Trudging on blindly for a couple of metres, they were slowly becoming convinced that they might have strayed too far to become lost.
But that was when they noticed a familiar figure in the haze; he was apparently starting to feel the full force of the storm itself.
"You ever wonder if the Doc has days when his own words comes back bite 'im?" Jack commented.
Rose shook her head in irritation, "I think on that every single day. Come on!"
They carefully made their way over to the Doctor, who by now was down by one knee, buckling heavily from the immense pressure of the ensuing storm. He was just about to give out, when he spotted his duo companions approaching him.
An exasperated frown on his face, he chided, "Fat lot of time you two took!"
"Don't twist this 'round on us! You're the one who charged head-first into a bloody sandstorm!" Rose snapped back irritatingly.
Sometimes she even wondered how she could manage to put up with all of the alien's antics.
"I admire your craziness Doc, but I know a rash act when I see one," Jack stated with a shrug and handed him the third gas mask.
"I don't need a gas mask!" the Doctor growled frustratingly, but he took the mask anyway, "What I need is a signal to hone in on!"
He slid on his mask and then reached into the inner pocket of his leather jacket. He lifted his sonic screwdriver into the air and began buzzing the area all around him.
After a few seconds he groaned in disappointment.
"Not a trace of anything out here," he muttered with a head shake.
"Doctor..." Rose spoke up from beside him, now acting more calm than just now, "I beg you. Let's go back to the TARDIS first and wait for the storm to pass. We can go exploring for your missing "someone" later. Alright?"
The Doctor's first instinct was to protest, but then through her own mask, he could the pleading look in her eyes. Almost immediately his attitude softened, and the more rational part of his mind came into play. It was telling him to listen to her advice, to trust in her. Doing something like this too soon would prove disastrous should they even continue.
With a long sigh, the Doctor relented, "Fine. Let's head on back. Bloody storm's not my kind of playground anyways."
"But we're still stuck out here Doctor," Jack pointed out and gestured to the environment around them, "How the hell are we gonna get to the TARDIS in this mess?"
The Doctor sported a a wide grin, "Oh ye of little faith, Jacky boy!"
He turned his attention to his screwdriver and started fumbling with it. Noticing this, Rose questioned, "What're you doing?"
"Just doing a bit of reconfiguring," came a curt reply, "Setting my sonic to scan for TARDIS-centric frequencies. Just a turn here and a kink there... And there we go!"
He lifted it high into the air and began scanning the area again. This time after a while, his grin widened ever wider, if that was even possible.
"Bingo! I've found her!" he exclaimed joyously then gestured with his head at his companions, "Come on!"
He happily sauntered off, and Rose and Jack exchanged amused glances before heading off after him.
The trio continued on their way back towards the TARDIS, with the Doctor's screwdriver pinpointing the way like a sonar. Minutes of trekking later, and they finally spotted the police box off in the distance.
"Ha ha! There she is, the old girl!" the Doctor laughed then turned to Rose and Jack, "See? What did I tell you?"
"And here I thought the thing of your was only good for that buzzing noise," Jack joked with a smirk.
The Doctor whirled on him with a defensive look. "Oi! You're one to talk! If you had a sonic of your own it can do amazing things! I'd bet you'd be willing to keep this on your person for the rest of your days!"
Rose looked on between the two of them, appalled that they were doing this now.
"Alright that's enough you two!" she scolded them in way that her own mother would with her when she was very naughty, "You're not little boys in kindergarten, okay? You're grown men, so start acting like it!"
With a final huff, she stalked off towards the TARDIS, ignorant of both Jack and the Doctor staring at her with wide-eyed expressions.
"Behold, the second Jackie Tyler..." the Doctor muttered under his breath in bafflement.
"Girl does know her stuff..." Jack concurred with a slow nod.
As they began following after Rose, she had just arrived at the door of the TARDIS. But just as she started stretching out her hand towards the door, she froze.
It could be the storm or a trick from the light, but she swore that the police box appeared somewhat... different. She shook that thought from her head quickly. Anything that was to do with the Doctor would always seem weird.
Pushing the TARDIS door open, Rose took her frist steps inside of it. And then her eyes gradually widened, frozen and stunned by the interior before her. She was so shocked in fact that she barely even acknowledge the Doctor and Jack coming up from behind her outside.
The Doctor took one pause before the entrance and took a good look at his beloved space box. He too realised that something was off.
"My TARDIS didn't look this clean before..." he muttered to himself in confusion. And then he noticed the info plate at the front, and his brows furrowed even more.
What was supposed to be white with black fonts, was now the very opposite. Black with white-coloured words.
He reached over and traced his fingers over the surfacr of the plate, a look of horror crossing his face.
"What the hell has happened to my TARDIS?"
"Um... Doc?" Jack called out from inside; he had went in to ask Rose what was happening until he too saw the interior.
Frowning in suspicion at his sudden change in tone, the Doctor marched over inside and saw his two human friends just standing there, as if they were suddenly frozen in time.
"What's the matter with you two all of a sudden?" he questioned with a hint of growing concern in his voice, "Why, it's like you've just seen the big inside..."
He trailed off as his blue eyes finally registered the interior as well.
"... for the first time... ever..." he finished with a gaping mouth.
Now he was really starting to get stupefied and horrified at the same time. The TARDIS had changed! His beloved desktop scheme of coral designs and tree-like columns were all gone! Everything was new and different!
The walls were made of non-connected hexagons containing a cog-like pattern. There were also a few blue lights in the walls, along with a hexagonal monitor. The console itself no longer has time rotor, replaced by a giant crystal. Six other crystals were formed around the console.
"Okay... not what I was expecting..." Jack murmured softly, as equally baffled as the Doctor was.
"What happened?" the Doctor questioned out loud and he stormed over to the console itself. H
e was surprised that even all the controls were different. Looking up to the central giant crystal that was now supposed to be the rotor, he asked, "What's happened to you, old girl?"
A reverberating hum chimed throughout the control room, as though the TARDIS itself was responding to its flyer.
The Doctor blinked once and twice before uttering out, "W-What do you mean "it's been a long while"? I was just out for fifteen minutes!"
Another hum from the TARDIS.
"As grouchy as always? What do you mean by that? I mean..."
As the Doctor continued on his rambling, Jack and Rose could only watch and stare at him in absolute awkwardness and confusion.
"... What is he doing?" Jack whispered softly to Rose.
"I think he's communicating with the TARDIS..." was the only reply Rose gave him.
Jack looked at her in a way as if she had just gone mentally insane. But one glance from her and he realised that she was really serious. He stared back at the Doctor, not knowing what to think at the moment.
"Oi! Oi! There's no need for foul language!" the Doctor scolded with a small glare at one of the walls, "All I just want to know is what the hell is going on here!"
Suddenly, a loud beeping noise sounded off and instinctively the Doctor raced over to the monitor screen.
Even though he did not know the button schemes for this console, he could still read data and info on a TARDIS monitor well like a book.
His brows furrowed as he spoke out, "Wait a minute. There's another TARDIS in the surrounding vicinity!"
Alarmed by this, Rose stepped up to him and asked, "What do you mean "another TARDIS"? There's another police box out there?"
Jack looked at her in confusion, "What?"
The Doctor gave her an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, Rose, but I don't know what to tell you. There's something that's definitely going on here that we don't know-"
There was sudden knock on the door which made both Rose and Jack jump in startled surprise.
The Doctor, alerted and dark, finished, "And I think we're about to find out."
As if on cue, the door opened up and particles of dust from the storm outside blew in.
The trio stared warily at the silhouette fogure at the entranceway before he started walking on in, his full appearance illuminated by the lighting of the room.
He was wearing a blue suit with an inner blue shirt and black tie, and over it was a light-brown duster long coat that billowed about in the strong winds outside.
"Well now, here we are then! Safe and sound!" he exclaimed in a chirpy voice and he removed the gas mask he was wearing to reveal an ecstatic grin that could have made the Doctor's own pale in comparison.
Rose was instantly gobsmacked by just how young and handsome he appeared to be, not to mention that mother load of spikey brown hair on his head.
Looking around, he could not help but stare in wonderment at the interior design. "And it looks like someone's gave you a major overhaul," he remarked with an approving nod, "Not bad, not bad..."
The Doctor simply glared suspiciously at the newcomer then called out, "Oi, excuse me, Mister Whoever-You-Are, but may I know what the hell are you doing in my TARDIS?"
Curiously, the stranger froze up, as though he had recognised that voice from somewhere before.
He slowly turned around and his eyes met those of the Doctor.
A few minutes were spent staring at one another.
One had a stoic expression, the other looked as though he had seen a ghost.
"What...?" the stranger breathed in disbelief to himself.
"What indeed. You still haven't answered me, chum," the Doctor said with folded arms, slowly growing impatient and annoyed by the way he was acting.
The stranger continued staring at him.
"What?"
He strode right up to the Doctor until they were face-to-face with each other.
"What?!"
For those of you who don't know who the stranger is, shame on you!