Chapter One

"Go out for chips? Sure. Let's land and then we'll be off." The Tenth Doctor smiled to himself as he was answering Rose's request for some delicious food. He did his usual manic dance around the controls while Rose watched, intrigued. They landed and stepped out of the blue box. Sure enough, Jackie was running at them. She grabbed onto Rose and hugged her tight.

"Long time, you've been gone. I'd been startin' to get worried sick."

"We're fine, Mum, came back for some fish and chips. "

"I'm so glad you've come to visit, Susan's been tellin' me all about−

"If you don't mind, The Doctor and I are going to go eat and then we'll visit, I promise." Rose cut off her mother and The Doctor stood awkwardly next to her.

"Well, okay, but you'd better come soon; we've got a lot of catching up to do." With one last hug, Jackie walked off and into her apartment building while the Time Lord and his companion walked in the opposite direction.

"So, chips. Lead the way, Ms. Tyler." They grasped hands and started off in the direction of a quaint place, just on the side of the main roads. The pair walked in, got their food (with banana smoothies), and sat down.

"Any ideas on where to go next?" Rose piped up, after swallowing her mouthful of chips.

"I was thinking maybe I could show you Karrible. It's got a purple sky and the population is nice. Or Frelly, I heard somewhere that they welcome guests with royalty treatment."

"Both sound wonderful."

"Rose, listen, this is very important."

"What? Tell me."

"This banana smoothie is fantastic." Rose laughed. The Doctor's hearts swelled a bit to know that he made her laugh like that and he smiled.

"You're a nutter! Absolutely crazy." By this time, they had both finished their food and drinks so they stood up and walked out of the door. Rose's hand slipped naturally into The Doctor's and they continued to walk around.

"We really should go see Mum; she gets so excited when we visit."

"Alright, let's go then, Allons-y!" They walked in the direction needed and chattered lightly, Rose leaning on his shoulder. The two walked into Jackie's apartment and called out to let her know they were there.

"Like to sit?" The young girl sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to her. The Doctor obliged and sat next to her, their bodies touching lightly. Jackie rushed into the room, carrying two cups of tea and sat down in a chair across from her daughter and company.

"So, how've you two been?"

"Great." The Doctor answered.

"Yeah, we went to this planet called Yuhruh…Yuhruhch…"

"Yuhruhchailyer." The Doctor offered.

"Yes! That's it! Anyway, there were these trees there, but they were orange, with little purple flowers on them, and the land was beautiful."

"That's sounds great!"

"How've you been, Mum?"

"I've been good, but I have some bad news."

"What is it?" Both The Doctor and Rose leaned forward, listening intently.

"Susan told me that there have been a lot of disappearances lately, just young girls, vanishin' off the streets."

"What sort of young are we talking about here?" The Doctor's carefree expression turned to a cautious and concerned one, the same with Rose.

"About Rose's age, actually, late teens and early twenties."

"Do I feel an investigation forming?" The young blonde glanced sideways at her friend and he nodded regrettably.

"We're going to go look about, see what we can find. Thank you, Jackie." He stood up alongside Rose and the two started towards the door.

"We'll come back soon, bye Mum, love you!"

"Bye Rose, Doctor, be careful!" With that, they were out the door and walking down the many stairs.

"Human or alien?" Rose asked, trailing behind the tan trench coat.

"Not quite sure yet. What do you think?"

"Not a clue." The Doctor burst through the door of the building and was engulfed in bright sunlight.

"Bit bright out, don't you think?" He directed this question at Rose was right behind him and she grabbed onto his arm reflexively.

"That isn't sun." Looking up at the sky was hard to do with the beaming light in their eyes, but when they did, what they saw was a large red spaceship hovering in the air, light pouring from the bottom.

"Well, I think we know that it's certainly alien." The Doctor stated calmly to his companion.