AN: This is the first time I've tried writing the Ninth Doctor, and since mine is female, she's probably going to sound a little OOC. Also, while I've tried to use a lot of the dialogue from the episode, 'Rose' I haven't seen it in ages, as I can't find it on youtube, it's not on bbc iplayer and I've lost my box set, so the dialogue is made up from what I can remember.
IMPORTANT: I won't be following all the episodes of Series One, I'll jump around a bit and add my own in. This doesn't follow the series in any way, shape or form. Just to warn you.
If you spot any differences in this chapter, it's because I'm going through and re-working it slightly to try and make it better. Sorry I haven't updated, but life keeps getting in the way.
For Rose, it started out as an ordinary day. Wake up at seven o'clock, far too early to be up in her opinion, get washed and dressed, say goodbye to her mum and head to work. Rose worked at Henriks, it was a big department store and she worked on the shop floor. It was a pretty average day, all things considered, although she did see Mickey in her lunch break, and she was just going out the door at the end of the day, chatting to her friends Shareen and Tina when the door man reminded her about the lottery money for Wilson.
Rose backed away from the shop dummies, still holding the stupid money in one hand. It was starting to frighten her a bit now. They were just students, obviously, but it wasn't funny anymore. She felt a wall at her back and stopped walking. She was stuck, surrounded by the dummies. They raised their hands in unison, and Rose closed her eyes, hoping that she was just about to be the butt of a huge joke. Then, she felt a hand, a normal, non-plastic hand, grab hers and she looked up, startled. There was another woman there, she looked older than Rose, about the same age as her mum. "Run," the woman said, and pulled Rose away from the dummies just as they struck.
Now, they were in the lift, just after the woman had wrestled the arm off of one of the dummies. Even while she was trying to make sense of the impossible, Rose studied the woman who had rescued her. She was taller than Rose, with short black hair and piercing blue eyes. She wore a leather jacket and dark blue jeans with black Doc martins on her feet. Rose got the feeling that this was someone to be scared of.
"That makes sense," she said, when Rose proposed her students theory. "Well done."
"Well whoever they are," Rose said. "They're gonna be in big trouble when Wilson finds them."
"Who's Wilson?" The woman asked as the lift doors opened.
"Chief technician," Rose replied.
"Wilson's dead." She said it bluntly, like she was used to seeing people die, and then they were going down the corridor, Rose almost running to keep up with the woman's longer stride. She was going on about relay stations and blowing people up and living plastic- Rose couldn't make any sense of it, and then she was pushing Rose out of the door and telling her to go and eat beans on toast. Then the door was shut, and Rose was left staring at it blankly. Then the door opened again. "I'm the Doctor by the way," the woman said. "Who're you?"
"Rose."
"Nice to meet you Rose," the woman said. "Now run for your life!" And then the door was shut again and Rose walked along the pavement, still carrying that stupid arm. She turned back to look at Henricks, just as the store exploded. That could have been me. She thought. That could have been me in there. More than a little frightened, she ran the rest of the way home, completely missing the nondescript blue police box standing half hidden on the street.
The Doctor walked back into her TARDIS and patted the console absent mindedly. Why had she saved that little shop girl? She wasn't anybody important, just a stupid little ape, but something had made her save that girl, and ask her name. Rose. It suited her. Pretty, but still with a spiky defence. She'd certainly been spiky enough, and she'd found her feet quickly despite being in such a strange situation. She'd make a good Companion, that one... She stood stock still, stopping that line of thought in it's tracks. No, no more companions. Not after the War. Shaking her head, the Doctor concentrated on tracking down the Nestene Consciousness. It would cause havoc on a world that used so much plastic.
The next day, the Doctor was tracking a signal. So far, it had led her into a pretty run down area. The Powell estate, she thought it was called. It led her to a small flat and she crouched down, just as the cat flap flipped up. The shop girl she'd met the day before, Rose, stared back at her. She stood as Rose opened the door. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I live 'ere," Rose said.
"Well what d'ya do that for?" She asked. Sarcasm seemed to be the norm for this body. She turned to leave, but Rose grabbed her arm and pulled her into the flat. She looked at the girl in surprise.
"Who is it?" A voice called from further inside the flat.
"They're from the government," Rose said, heading into the flat. "It's about the shop." The Doctor followed her inside, only to be stopped at the door to a bedroom by a woman who she assumed was Rose's mother.
"She deserves compensation," the woman said.
"We're talking millions," the Doctor replied, following Rose. Her mouth was replying on autopilot while her brain was pretty much a stuck record. How did I end up in her house?
Then it was a couple of days later, and Rose was following her into the TARDIS to get away from the plastic replica of her boyfriend. She did the usual 'bigger on the inside' bit, running in and out and the Doctor took the time to examine Rose as she hooked the plastic head into the console. The girl looked to be about nineteen and she was blonde with whiskey coloured eyes, although she was smart and level headed. She could also spot the obvious.
"What's it look like?" Rose asked.
"Like a transmitter," the Doctor replied. "Big, round, dish. Slap bang right in the centre of London. It must be completely invisible." Rose nodded behind her. The Doctor turned, but couldn't see anything. "What?" she asked. Rose did it again. "What?" she asked again, more annoyed this time. What was wrong with these humans, couldn't they see that this was a matter of life and death? Rose simply nodded behind her again, a small smile playing on her lips. The Doctor turned around again, and this time, she saw the London Eye. She turned around grinning. "Fantastic!" Inside though, she was cringing. This body was just the slightest bit oblivious.
Rose ran alongside the Doctor as they headed towards the London Eye, and she felt a larger hand slip into hers and hold it firmly. They ran along the side of the bridge, heading towards the London Eye, and for a moment, Rose forgot about the imminent disaster, forgot about Mickey and her mum, she just focussed on running and the woman who's hand was in hers. It could be like this all the time. Every day could be like this.
The Doctor was fighting the Nestene Consciousness and it was looking pretty grim. Two of the shop dummies had found the anti-plastic she'd had inside her jacket and now her arms were pinned behind her. "I wasn't going to use it!" She cried, but they didn't listen. Things were going from bad to worse, when she heard the sound of metal on metal from behind her. Risking a look, she saw Rose grab hold of a chain dangling from the ceiling, and then the girl was swinging from the chain (what the bloody hell was that girl thinking? she'd get herself killed!) and she knocked the dummy that was holding the anti-plastic into the Nestene Consciousness. The Doctor managed to throw the dummy that was pinning her arms and then she caught Rose as the girl swung back towards her. They both looked down at the Nestene Consciousness and then the Doctor put Rose down and headed towards the TARDIS, trying to forget the feeling of that little body pressed against hers. Manners. That was all it was. Just manners. The girl had just saved her life after all, and if her hearts were still beating double-time, well, that was her own secret, wasn't it?
They were standing in an alley, and the Doctor locked eyes with Rose, ignoring her idiot of a boyfriend. "Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asked.
"Yeah."
"No Rose, don't go." Mickey grabbed her round the waist.
"Uh, yeah, sorry I... Someone's gotta look after this idiot and..." she trailed off.
"That's fine," the Doctor said, grinning. "I'll just be off then." As soon as she closed the door behind herself, her face fell. She needed a friend more than she'd thought she did, especially with the war being so recent. Scowling, she began flicking levers on the TARDIS getting her to fly away from London 2005. The TARDIS de-materialised, but she wouldn't fly away. "What's wrong?" the Doctor asked, worried that the run in with the Nestene Consciousness had hurt her oldest friend in some way. She couldn't bear to lose another friend today. An image of Rose floated into her head. "She wants to stay with him. She doesn't want to come adventuring with me," the Doctor argued. The image of Rose appeared more forcefully. Along with an idea of the TARDIS flying through time. The Doctor sighed, and began flicking the switches that would drive the TARDIS back to London, Earth and the 21st century. What difference would it make? Rose had already refused her, although it couldn't hurt to try. She landed only a few seconds after she'd taken off. Grinning she opened the door.
Rose turned to go, pulling Mickey with her. She was mildly disappointed that she hadn't gone with the Doctor, but she had to the responsible thing, she couldn't just leave her mum and Mickey and go gallivanting off across space with someone she'd only just met. Although it did sound fantastic, to use the Doctor's word. Then there was a wheezing, groaning noise behind her, and she turned to see the blue police box appear again. The door opened and the Doctor popped her head out again, a manic grin settling onto her features.
"Did I mention it also travels in time?" she asked. It took one moment, two, and then Rose grinned. She kissed Mickey on the cheek.
"Thanks," she said.
"For what?" he asked, confused.
"Exactly," she replied. Then she was running towards the TARDIS and inside it. The Doctor grinned from her position next to the console.
"So," she said. "All of time and space Rose, everything that was, everything that is, and everything that ever will be, where do you want to go next?"
"It really travels in time?" Rose asked.
"'Course it does."
"And you're really an alien."
"Yeah." The Doctor tensed slightly. "You okay with that?"
"Yeah."
"Fantastic." Rose frowned, curious. Who could blame her, after all, the Doctor was the first alien she'd ever seen.
"So how are you different to us humans then?"
"Oh, I've got a respiratory bypass system, a lower body temperature, bigger brain, two hearts." She turned towards the console.
"What?" The Doctor turned back.
"I've got two hearts." Rose stared at her.
"Really?"
"Yeah." She grabbed Rose's hand and pressed it to her wrist. Rose could feel the odd pulse beneath her fingers. One-two-three-four, one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four. "So," the Doctor said, pulling away. "Where do you want to go?"
I know this is pretty short, it's just to set the scene really. I think the next chapter will be set just after Episode three, but I might be wrong.
I'm going to try and update this soon, but with my track record I wouldn't hold your breath.
Catkin Thief.
