Take My Hand

by JustOneLittleProblem

When Rose is saved by a man in cricket whites, she doesn't realise that the adventure is only beginning.

1. Chapter 1

It all started on a cold, rainy Thursday morning.

Rose paid no heed to the police box until she saw the young woman sitting out in front of it, crying hysterically. Dark haired, she was dressed oddly, in some kind of wine red, velvet jumpsuit with puffed sleeves.

Rose was going to be late, but somehow the girl tugged at her heartstrings. Knowing she was going to catch hell for this, Rose crossed the pavement and sat next to the girl, leaning back against the door of the police box.

Sitting there, Rose waited for a reaction from the young woman. After a second, she got one. Her sobs faded from the frantic, desolate cadence Rose had heard earlier. The girl hiccuped once, and glanced at Rose through her fingers. "What do you want?"

The girl had rather a posh accent, Rose judged. Rose sat back, thinking carefully about her words. Honesty works, Rose decided. "My name's Rose. I just wanted to make sure you're alright. What's your name?"

The girl sniffed a couple times and swiped hard at her eyes before answering. "Nyssa."

Rose watched Nyssa carefully, gauging her reaction. She didn't want to make the poor girl any more upset. "What happened?" Rose asked gently.

Nyssa let out another wracking sob before managing to answer. When she did speak, it was almost inaudible. "I was traveling with three friends. One of them died in an explosion. It was horrible. We couldn't even bury him."

Rose patted her arm, feeling a great rush of sympathy. But she couldn't quite bury the suspicion that Nyssa was hiding something. "What was his name?"

Nyssa looked away, her voice shaking slightly. "Adric."

Suddenly starting to wonder, Rose glanced around. "Where are your friends? You shouldn't be cryin' out here all alone."

Nyssa looked darkly amused through her tears. "Tegan ran off in a huff, and I haven't seen her since. The Doctor is in our… hotel room, moping."

Puzzling over both the name of Nyssa's friend, and the fact that Nyssa obviously hadn't meant hotel room as her first choice of wording, Rose happened to glance at her phone, and recoiled like she'd stuck her hand in a hot skillet. Rose leapt to her feet, startling Nyssa. "Bloody hell!" She yelped, slinging her satchel over her shoulder.

Poised to bolt, Rose glanced back at Nyssa. "If you need anything, I work at Henrik's. Sorry, but I gotta run!"

Later, as Rose stood at the crosswalk on the end of the block, she happened to look back. Nyssa was gone, but the door of the faded blue police box stood ajar.

After a second, a delicate velvet-clad arm snaked out and shut the door. Rose only had a moment to wonder before the light changed. With a muttered curse, Rose dashed across the street.

Try as she might, Rose couldn't get the strange girl out of her head. Nyssa's words spiralled around her head in maddening loops, as did the image of her disappearing into the police box.

It wasn't surprising, Rose thought, any mystery in her dull, one-size-fits-all life was to be cherished. Rose was dead on her feet, but the prospect of a hot cuppa and some telly kept her motivated to get out of this hellish place, where time seemed to drip like cold honey, and the customers were circling sharks.

Heaving a sigh, Rose dove into a mess of ruined displays in the hope of holding back entropy for a little longer. The minutes rolled slowly by, made slightly more interesting by two customers spats and lots of backbreaking work. Engrossed in her own thoughts, Rose jumped when a voice came over the intercom, as welcome as the sun.

Five minutes to closing.

Taking that as her cue, Rose made an eager beeline for the staff lounge to retrieve her bag and clock out. Leaving, she almost sashayed. As she slipped in behind Shireen and Margo, Rose eyed Billy, the security guard. He was notoriously handsy. Just when Rose thought she was home free, Billy shoved a plastic baggie of colourful notes into her hand.

Rose's heart sank. "What is it?" She asked, although she could guess.

Billy grinned, exposing yellowish teeth. "The lottery money. Take it to Wilson, wouldn't ya?"

With a sinking sensation, Rose could see her meagre plans for the evening going up in smokeless flames. She forced a grin that felt more like a baring of teeth. "Sure thing. Wait for me?"

Billy's sickening grin took on a tinge of a grimace. "I have to, don't I? Now get a move on, Tyler."

Rose stalked off, glaring at the world as if it had wronged her. A flash of movement caught her attention, and Rose whipped her head around. A dummy stood in an unnatural position, looking perfectly innocent. Shaking her head, Rose headed for the lift, jabbing the button vengefully. After a long moment, the door opened with a squeak and a fitful wheeze.

Rose stepped into the lift, rubbing her eyes wearily. Behind the lights and the fancy sales pitch, everything here was rubbish. Just like the rest of her life.

The door clanged open again, and Rose stepped out, instantly uneasy. Something about this place gave her the creeps. Maybe it was the feeling of foreboding that lay over the place like some kind of shroud. Or maybe it was the mannequins propped here and there, wearing clearance rack rejects and blank, creepy stares.

Either way, Rose didn't intend to stay here a second longer than she hand to. Trying to quash her jitters, Rose strode briskly to the blue door labelled Wilson, CEO. She raised her free hand and rapped her fist on it three times. No response. A tendril of ice curled lazily in her gut. Forcing it down, Rose tried to convince herself that Wilson simply didn't hear her. "Wilson, it's me, Rose. I've got the lottery money. Come and get it."

Feeling increasingly edgy, Rose forced herself to count backwards from ten. When she hit one, Rose lost her temper and slammed the flat of her hand into the cold metal of the door. Unfortunately, it didn't help. It only made her hand sting. "Wilson! I can't keep Billy waiting!"

Just then, a loud creaking echoed through the barren hall, simultaneously making Rose jumpy and hopeful. She took a few tentative steps in the direction of the sound. "Wilson?"

If that was him, she could deliver the stupid lottery money, and get home. Focusing hard on the idea of her warm bed and a Dickens novel, Rose strode down the long corridor. A flash of elusive movement. Rose realised with some misgivings that the fluid strokes of motion was quite unlike her elderly boss's stiff, pottering gait. Had to be him. Didn't it? Rose's brisk pace slowed to a cautious creep.

By now, she was right next to the big storeroom where all the spare displays were kept. Another loud groan wafted eerily towards her, drawing her attention to the open door of the storeroom. As if in a trance, Rose walked into the room. She paused three strides inside the room, noting that things were unusually neat, with no boxes of clothes strewn about like so much flotsam and jetsam.

And then there were the mannequins. Lots of them. All of them dressed in a horrendous fashion that gave the illusion of the dummies having dressed themselves, if they had no fashion sense or skill at dressing themselves. Rose shook her head, and as she did, there was another ominous creak, and a flash of movement.

Rose took another step, and several things happened at once. The red door slammed with a thundering crash. Crying out, Rose whirled around, and bolted for the door. When it wouldn't budge, Rose beat her balled fists against it in frustration. When she'd still been with Jimmy, she'd heard about a shopgirl who'd gotten trapped overnight because this door locked automatically from the outside.

Apparently management had not seen fit to fix it. Maybe someone was still here. She pounded on the door, trying to make as much of a racket as possible. "Let me out! Let me out!"

Breathing hard from adrenaline, Rose leaned her forehead against the cool metal. That was when a loud creaking reverberated through the cold room, making Rose spin around with a gasp. Only to see a dummy stepping off of its plinth. Rose took a hurried step back, trying to look braver than she felt. "Ha." she said in a barely controlled tone. "You got me. Very funny."

The dummy kept coming, as Rose desperately scanned it for any sign it might be fake. Other than the god awful orange sweater vest, Rose couldn't find any. By now, more dummies were following, their arms moving in rhythmic menace. Rose backed up, thinking hard. "Right, got the joke. Not funny anymore."

Then she bolted, feet pounding the cement as she made for one of three side doors. Heart racing, Rose collided with it, only to discover it was locked. Thinking a few curses fit to ruin the ozone layer, Rose forced herself to calm down. I just need another door, that's all, Rose thought.

Legging it for the next door, Rose neglected to keep an eye on the encroaching dummies. She tried the door, only to find it locked. Heart sinking, Rose turned around to meet her fate. She was greeted by the three foremost dummies raising their arms to strike. Rose shut her eyes. What if they're not pranksters? some traitorous part of her brain whispered.

With that unpleasant thought rattling around, the last thing Rose expected was for the door behind her to fly open, and a cool hand to grab hers. Rose's eyes flew open, and she whipped around to stare at the man silhouetted in the doorway. He didn't look much older than her, with cheerfully attractive features, blond hair, blue eyes, and a smile that was nicely friendly(and made her heart stutter). Then her eyes dropped from his face. What in the nine circles of hell was he wearing? The man grinned at her, and tugged her towards the door. "Time to go! Can you run?"

Rose nodded mutely, setting a brisk pace. The man grinned wider. "Excellent!"

As they sprinted in the direction of the lift, Rose looked back over her shoulder. A appallingly ugly flood of dummies poured out of the room, the hissing of a ruptured water pipe providing a suitably ominous soundtrack. How in the heck did those things, whatever they are, break a water pipe?

They skidded to a messy halt in front of the lift, and he did something Rose didn't quite catch that made the doors spring open with almost indecent haste. He gently pushed Rose inside the lift, and hurriedly stepped inside himself. This time, Rose paid closer attention to what the man was doing, and noticed him using a silver cylinder to do something to the control panel. The doors snapped shut, but not nearly fast enough.

As if by magic, a dummy's arm appeared in the rapidly closing gap, halting the upward motion of the lift, and nearly clipping the man in the head. It then grabbed for his throat, and the man grabbed it, initiating a deadly, yet somehow comical game of tug of war.

He pulled one way, and the dummy the other. Just as several other mannequins began to clamour to get in, the arm came free with a plasticky pop. The doors closed smoothly and the lift began to rise. He rocked back on his heels, and turned to Rose with a smile, before tossing her the arm. She caught it out of reflex, noting it was solid plastic.

She tried not to think about what that might mean. "You pulled its arm off! Clever trick."

The man smiled brightly at her, and though she tried not to notice, it was bloody gorgeous. "Not a trick. Merely required a bit of force applied in the right direction."

Then his gaze grew intense. "You said 'it'. What makes you say that?"

Rose, startled by the change in direction, struggled to find the words. "I-it was solid plastic. It wouldn't be if it were a costume."

The intensity went out of his eyes, and he beamed at Rose. "Very good! They're Autons, or living plastic."

Rose looked down at the plastic arm in her grasp. She was no longer sure if the bloke was crazy or not. Rose decided to change the subject. "What's your name?"

The mystery bloke was watching the doors impatiently. "The Doctor."

Rose's eyes grew wide, and she gently whacked him with the plastic arm. The Doctor turned around, eyes wide. "What was that for?"

"That's for leaving Nyssa crying out in front of some random police box, you git!"

A spark of recognition lit the Doctor's eyes. "You're Rose."

Rose nodded. "Rose Tyler."

At that moment, the doors slid open with a groan. Rose noted that there were several handprint-shaped dents in them. She shivered. Still lugging the plastic arm, Rose stepped out before the lift could close. The Doctor was already peering at the buttons to the lift, and looked up as she exited. "Mind your eyes. This can get a bit bright."

He touched the silver cylinder to it, and with an impressive hum, the control panel emitted a burst of light and sparks. Rose jumped back with a small squeak of surprise. The Doctor chuckled at her surprise. "I probably should have warned you about that."

Rose gestured at the silvery cylinder still in his hand. "What is that?"

The Doctor tossed it up in the air, and Rose watched as it spun through the air in a gleaming pinwheel, then landed in his outstretched hand. "Oh, this? It's a sonic screwdriver. Useful for lockpicking, sabotage, and many other things besides." He slipped it into his pocket.

Rose frowned at him. "So you mean it's good for illegal stuff?"

He opened his mouth, shut it, then said, "I suppose so."

The Doctor rummaged around in his coat pocket, and came up with a keypad-looking thing. A detonator, Rose realised after a second. The Doctor's smile looked a bit regretful now. "I hope you're not particularly fond of your workplace. With the number of Autons in the basement, I'll have to blow it up."

Rose had been expecting something of the sort. "What about Wilson? He's still in the building."

The Doctor's smile dropped as if it had never been. "Wilson's dead. I'm sorry, Rose, the Autons killed him."

Rose tried to swallow around the lump in her throat. Wilson was her friend, one of the few she'd had. And now he was dead. "He was set to retire."

The Doctor's dark blue eyes were sad as he gazed at her steadily. "I'm sorry, Rose. If it's any consolation, no one else will suffer like he did."

Rose met his gaze, letting a hint of challenge leak through. "See that they don't." Was all she said.

The Doctor nodded, still meeting her eyes, then punched a sequence into the detonator. Slipping it into his pocket, the Doctor grabbed her free arm, and guided her out of the doors. The Doctor dropped her arm and took a step back. "Go home, Rose Tyler. And forget about me."

For a second, Rose wanted to do just that. Shaking it off, Rose realised that she'd taken three steps in the direction of bus stop, and that the Doctor was gone. Well, she wasn't about to let him get away with questions unanswered. Rose slipped behind a dumpster, and waited.

Only a few minutes later, the Doctor slipped out again. He crossed the street, and Rose followed. Literally seconds after they crossed the street, the roof of Henrik's blew off in a massive plume of orange and yellow flames. Cars honked and swerved, people screamed, but Rose kept her gaze fixed on the Doctor's retreating back.

Then she noticed something. A battered old police box sat in an alcove, and the Doctor made straight for it. The door opened, spitting out two people. One Rose recognised instantly as Nyssa, and the other girl had to be Tegan. She was pretty, with short dark hair, pale skin, and wore a old fashioned flight attendant's uniform. The Doctor made a beeline for them. Greetings were exchanged.

Tegan looked around. "Doctor, you're being followed again."

The Doctor looked sceptical, but dutifully looked around. He nodded sharply. "You can come out now."

Busted.

Rose stepped out of the shadows. Nyssa smiled at her, and the Doctor shook his head. Tegan surveyed Rose with a neutral expression. The Doctor eyed her. "I thought you were going home."

Rose clutched the plastic arm tighter. "No way."

Tegan and Nyssa exchanged a meaningful look. Then they both looked at the Doctor. A moment of nonverbal communication passed between them, and the Doctor's expression turned stubborn. "It's not happening."

The puppy dog looks intensified, and the Doctor threw up his hands with an exasperated sigh. "Fine."

He turned to Rose. "Would you like to travel with us? All of time and space at your disposal."

Rose stared at him. "What do you mean?"

Nyssa grabbed Rose's hand, and pulled her towards the police box. "Come and see."

They stepped inside the police box, and Rose's jaw dropped. The interior was huge, and gleaming white, with a central console, and doorways leading off in all directions. Rose managed to regain her composure enough to look at Nyssa. "Is it alien?"

Nyssa looked vaguely amused. "Yes, it is."

The Doctor and Tegan had come up to stand next to them. Rose looked between the three of them with growing interest. "Are you alien?"

The Doctor and Nyssa both said yes at the same time.

Tegan just snorted. "I'm from Brisbane."

Abruptly something the Doctor said registered. "All of time and space? Is this a time machine?"

The Doctor seemed faintly smug. "Yes, she is. The best telepathic, sentient ship around. She's called the TARDIS."

Rose was about to say something when a loud electronic bleating noise echoed through the vast room. It sounded like a cybernetic sheep being tortured with death metal music. The Doctor swore quietly in a beautiful, chiming language Rose didn't understand. He strode over to the console, and pulled out a little viewscreen.

After looking at it, the Doctor turned back to them, forcing a smile. "Unfortunately, Rose, your first trip has been delayed. I thought the Nestene Consciousness was destroyed, but the signal hasn't stopped. It simply moved. Bring that arm here, so I can unscramble the signal."

Rose obeyed, and watched in fascination as the Doctor wired the arm into the console. After a moment, she went to stand by Tegan. Glancing sideways at Tegan, Rose asked the question that had been itching at her for a few minutes. "Is it always this wild? Living plastic, running for your life?"

Tegan's lips quirked up. "Usually. Sometimes it's peaceful, too. The Doctor's ability to correctly land the TARDIS is really something. One time he landed us in the middle of the only revolution in the history of an otherwise peaceful resort planet."

Nyssa shot Tegan a mildly reproving look. "Be fair, Tegan. It's just as much the TARDIS as it is him."

Tegan glared at her friend, gesturing emphatically. "I am being fair! He's a terrible pilot, and that's being generous."

The Doctor paused in his circling of the console to roll his eyes at Tegan. Rose snickered. For all their bickering, they felt like family. The Doctor flipped a switch, and the TARDIS began to tilt madly. The background hum that Rose had barely noticed before now scaled up, seemingly hemming them in on all sides.

After what could have been only a few moments, the hum changed pitch, becoming almost… frustrated. Now Rose could believe that the ship was alive. With a final shudder, the ship settled, and the hum died away, going back to its usual volume. Rose and Nyssa both let go of Tegan's arms.

Tegan glanced sideways at Rose, and said out of the corner of her mouth, "We'll be lucky if he actually followed the signal, instead of landing us in the nineteen thirties."

Rose declined to comment, even though she was burning with curiosity over what happened in the thirties. The Doctor abruptly made a sound of frustration, and glared at the console. Then he looked up. "The signal cut out before we could arrive. We could be anywhere in time and space…" he trailed off as he realised that the two humans and the Trakenite were nowhere to be found and the doors were standing open.

With an mildly exasperated shrug, the Doctor went outside. Rose glanced up at the Doctor as he walked out of the TARDIS. He had a straw hat at a jaunty angle on his head, and a neutral expression that Rose didn't know him well enough to read. He glanced around, seemingly taking a moment to realise that they had moved, but not far.

They were still in London, but were now on a bridge in the middle of the Thames. In the distance, the lights of the Eye blinked lazily, glowing a spectacular blue.

A few stars peeked shyly through the light pollution. Rose looked up at them, and realised with a shock that they were within her reach. Picking one at random, Rose promised herself she'd see it.

Distracted as she was, she didn't see the Doctor smiling softly at her. After a second, the Doctor put his hands together. "Right. We're looking for a transmitter. Something round and enormous. Like a dish or a wheel. Or maybe it's invisible…" his sentence slowly died as he noticed Rose staring intently over his shoulder. "What is it?"

He turned to look, and saw only the gently twinkling lights of the Eye. The Doctor looked back at Rose, an eyebrow raised in query. She nodded more forcefully, and he looked again. The Eye! The Doctor whipped his head around to grin at Rose. She grinned back.

The Doctor held out his hand, and Rose took it. They exchanged a glance, and the Doctor started at a run down the bridge. His cool hand fit hers almost perfectly, and Rose marvelled at the friends she'd found. Who knew getting locked in a basement with a bunch of homicidal shop dummies could have so many benefits?

Dimly, Rose could hear Tegan and Nyssa clattering along behind. Rose thought she could pick out a faint muttering of 'lovebirds' from Tegan, and an elegant snort from Nyssa. After what seemed a short distance, but might have been a lot longer, they all halted in the shadow of the Eye.

Rose looked sidewise at the Doctor. "Doctor?"

He was gazing around the Eye with keen interest. "Mmm?"

Finally he looked at Rose. "Why are the Autons here? Invading the earth seems kind of… B-movie."

The Doctor trotted over to the railing, and looked over before answering. "Indeed it does. But that's exactly why they're here. They need a new protein source, and Earth fits the bill."

Rose puzzled that over for a second, and made a noise of horror and revulsion when she figured it out. Tegan was equally horrified. Nyssa looked faintly green. Walking over to the railing, Rose leaned next to the Doctor, and tried to figure out what he was looking at.

Why exactly would he be staring suspiciously at a manhole cover? Scrunching up her nose to blot out the stink blowing off the Thames, Rose looked at the Doctor. "How are you going to fight them? All we did was run, last time."

The Doctor smiled mysteriously, the lights of the Eye glinting in his eyes, making them glow. "I'm not going to fight them. I'm going to negotiate… with conditions."

Rose batted her eyelashes at him. "Isn't that how you always negotiate?"

The Doctor chuckled, and reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out a little blue vial of translucent liquid. "Yes, but these conditions are very specific. Either they leave the planet with all kinds of haste, or I use this antiplastic."

He dangled it under Rose's nose. His smile was still boyish and charming, but his eyes had gone hard and sad. Rose fought back a shiver. He seemed so… nice, she'd forgotten he wasn't human.

Suddenly, with a fresh burst of energy, the Doctor leapt away from the railing. "Off we go! I know where they're located."

The three young women trotted after him, in varying stages of amusement and exasperation. When they caught up with the Doctor at the bottom of the stairs, he'd already pulled up the manhole cover and was waiting for them.

Rose stared down into the glaring orange light, and made a face. "Couldn't they have picked something a little more welcoming? Like, I dunno, a gazebo with flowers?"

Tegan snorted. Then she peered more closely at the opening. "It looks like a cliche from a bad alien invasion movie."

Nyssa was more pragmatic. "They're cliches for a reason."

Tegan and Rose both gaped at her. "You don't mean?"

Nyssa just gazed at Rose, one eyebrow raised regally. Rose shook her head. "Never mind."

She climbed past the Doctor and into the manhole. The Doctor followed, and after a second, so did Tegan and Nyssa. The four of them emerged onto a catwalk suspended over a massive cavern. Other catwalks crisscrossed the "room", all leading down to a gigantic central platform. Out in front of the platform boiled and seethed an unnatural looking something. "What the hell is that?" Rose breathed.

"The Nestene Consciousness, the central consciousness that controls all the Autons." The Doctor answered, not much louder.

Some primal instinct seemed to make them all uncomfortable with the idea of catching its attention. The Doctor looked at the three of them, and smiled just slightly. "Right then! I'll go negotiate for the safety of Earth, you three stay here."

And he started off down the stairs at a brisk trot, coattails flapping. Rose exchanged a glance with Tegan and Nyssa, and saw the same reluctance to stay mirrored there. "Don't know about you, but I'm not staying."

Rose started down the stairs. After a second, Tegan followed, then Nyssa. Rose was alarmed to see that as the Doctor neared the bottom of the stairs, a clump of clumsily-dressed Autons were moving out of the shadows and onto an intercept course. Rose moved to the nearest corner of the platform, Tegan and Nyssa following, and they all huddled together, watching the Doctor.

The clump of Autons also stood similarly inactive, watching the Doctor's every movement with dangerous attention. For a second the Doctor simply stood motionless, hands in his pockets, coattails flicked back.

Only his eyes moved, flickering from the Nestene Consciousness, to the three women, and back. His expression was distinctly neutral, and Rose couldn't tell what he was thinking.

After a moment, the Doctor moved a few steps forward, and stared down into the Nestene Consciousness. "May I approach?"

The Nestene Consciousness sloshed around, and made a gurgling of affirmative. The Doctor inclined his head politely, and bounded forward with all the enthusiasm of a puppy. "Thank you."

He leaned a hip against the railing, and folded his arms across his chest. "Now, where was I?"

He smiled, and it seemed such an innocent expression, that Rose had to smile, despite the danger they were in. "Ah, yes. The planet. Earth, as you quite well know, is a level five planet, and it is illegal to interfere in its development under convention fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation. Not to mention the significant damage done to the Web of Time."

There was an almost pitiful gurgle of plaint from the vat. The Doctor shook his head forcefully, making his blond hair flop around. "No, no, no. You've got this wrong here. Your constitutional rights are not being infringed upon!"

The Nestene Consciousness let out a dangerous hiss. Rose looked at Nyssa, a little taken aback. "He can understand it?"

Nyssa smiled a little. "The Doctor is good with languages. Plus the TARDIS will translate most languages."

Rose wanted to learn more, but the Doctor had started talking again, so she stayed quiet.

"I suggest you use your technology and leave this world at once. Furthermore-"

"DOCTOR!"

The frantic shout came from three throats at once, scraping them all raw in the sheer desperation of the sound. The Doctor whirled about in time to send one dummy flying in a hurricane of plastic shards, but was quickly restrained by the next two Autons.

One held his arms, while the other swiftly searched his pockets, coming up with the vial of antiplastic. Rose's stomach twisted, and her heart sped up. The Nestene Consciousness roared in rage, and reared up like a wayward tsunami. The Doctor looked back at Rose, then to the pit. "I wasn't going to use it, I swear to you. It was only a bargaining chip!"

Behind them, two twenty foot panels slid back to reveal the TARDIS. The Consciousness let out a sound like metal tearing, and a crackling dome of blue electricity came to life around it. At the same time, two dummies broke away from the pack eyeing the Doctor intently. They grabbed Nyssa by the arms, and dragged her away. Tegan went to strike at one with an angry, ear-blistering curse, but Rose dragged her back. At that moment, the room began to shake as blue light shot through the ceiling.

Panic gripped Rose in earnest. "What's it doing?"

The Doctor shot her and Tegan an anguished glance. "It knows what I am, and what my people have done, and it is terrified. Get out of here, both of you! The TARDIS will take you home."

Tegan was the first to go, edging around the dummies, and slipping toward the TARDIS. Rose's gaze roved the room, searching for something, anything that could save her friends. Just then, her gaze fell on an axe hanging on the wall, next to some chains affixed to the wall. She could feel Tegan's eyes on her, but she didn't care. "Rose, what are you doing?"

Rose bolted up the stairs, flying up the steps three at a time. "I have to save them! 'M sorry."

She grabbed the axe off the wall, and heaved it onto her shoulder. "No A-levels."

Rose brought the axe down in an explosion of wood splinters. "No job."

Again the axe fell. "No future."

The moorings broke. "Tell you what I do have, though. Jericho street under sevens gymnastics. I got the bronze."

Rose wrapped the freed chains around one arm, leapt nimbly up onto the railing, and swung. She impacted the dummy holding the antiplastic first, sending it and the vial careening into the massive vat. The Doctor did something too fast to see, and the other dummy staggered away, seemingly unable to stand up straight. By the time Rose swung back around, the Doctor was waiting with outstretched arms. Easily plucking Rose off the chain, the Doctor wrapped Rose in a tight hug. "You were brilliant!" He murmured.

Just then, a boulder the size of a car flattened the stairs. The Doctor released Rose with what seemed like a touch of reluctance. When they turned back, Rose could see that the dummies were all twitching on the ground, and Nyssa was free. Rose ran over, and hugged a startled Nyssa. "Glad you're okay." Rose said quietly to her new friend.

Nyssa hugged her tighter. "That was impressive."

Not sure how to answer that, Rose patted Nyssa's back, and drew away. The Doctor smiled at Rose, and together, the four of them left for new adventures.