Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their origianl packaging.

WARNING: This is a sequel. If you haven't read Dust In The Void, then certain things, especially the inclusion of one particular character, will make no sense to you! You have been warned!

Story Summary: Sequel to Dust In The Void. The TARDIS lands on a planet where most of the inhabitants have left and the rest of the population are dying. The Doctor finds himself caught up in events caused by an ancient prophecy.

Chapter One: The Random Path

'So that's what the twenty-first century looked like,' Xan observed, shutting the door of the TARDIS behind him. He dropped a couple of shopping bags on the floor.

'Pretty much,' Rose said. She was smiling, her arms laden with carrier bags. 'You like it?'

He wrinkled his nose. 'Not sure.'

'Be glad you didn't meet Rose's Mum on this little trip,' the Doctor said from the control console of the TARDIS.

'Oy!' Rose said sharply.

He grinned. 'Meeting your mum's an experience, is all I have to say on that subject. How about we go a little further afield? You got to admit, for Xan's first expedition, twenty-first century Earth's a little bit tame.'

Rose returned the grin and said to Xan, 'Come on, let's go put the shopping away.'

'You've got all the shops across the universe to chose from and you still insist on going to Tesco for milk,' the Doctor said.

'Stick with what you know,' Rose said, hefting bags up into her arms.

'If you actually did that, you would still be in that shop of yours.'

'No, I wouldn't,' she said. 'The reason being, you blew it up.'

He smiled reflectively. 'Oh, yeah.'

Rose rolled his eyes and inclined her head for Xan to follow her.

'What was that about?' he asked.

'We met when he blew up the place I was working at,' she explained. 'It's a long story, I'll tell you late. Fancy a cup of tea?'

He frowned. 'What?'

'Tea.' She stared. 'You've never had tea?'

He shook his head.

Rose laughed. 'Wow. Come on, I'll make you one. And show you where the kitchen is in this place. He seems to occasionally forget that we need to eat and have the occasionally cup of tea, so it's up to me to make sure we get food and stuff. I think he's forgotten where the kitchen is.'

'What's a kitchen?' Xan asked.

Rose stopped and stared at him again. He burst out laughing at her expression. 'What kind of idiot do you take me for?' he asked, smiling. 'Of course I know what a kitchen is.'

She punched his arm lightly. 'Stop it. Come on, we'll finish your tour of the TARDIS. Or rather, the tour of what parts I know my way around.'

'The physics inside this thing are incredible,' Xan said. 'I can't get over it.'

The Doctor heard most of this conversation, although he didn't comment or yell any of his usual helpful or unhelpful comments. He seemed absored in examining something on the controls of the TARDIS and barely seemed to notice when Rose brought him a cup of tea.

'You have a knack for this,' the Doctor said to her in a thoughtful tone.

She looked puzzled. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'He's what, the fourth man we've found that you've flirted with. I'm beginning to think you look for them.' He gave her a crooked smile, indicating this was meant as a joke.

Rose folded her arms, smiling, putting her head on one side. 'Feeling threatened, are we?'

'I'm sure I don't know what you mean,' he sniffed.

'Well, he's very good-looking.'

'Is he? I hadn't noticed.'

'Even you can't miss it,' Rose said, leaning her back against the console. 'Seriously attractive, would be a male model back on Earth, I reckon.'

'Thanks, I had no idea you felt that way about me.'

'I wasn't talking about you – '

'Thanks!'

'Although of course, you're quite attractive too,' she amended quickly, rolling her eyes. 'Men.'

'Adam, Jack and Mickey and now Xan,' the Doctor muttered. 'Four, count 'em.' He waved the fingers of one hand at her, grinning.

'You said he could come with us,' she reminded him.

'Yes, but I didn't know you were going to be flirting with him.'

'What else can I do with a bloke like that?' When the Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, she said hurriedly, 'That's not quite what I meant.'

'I'm sure I have no idea what you mean,' he said primly.

'Sure you do,' Xan said, returning. He gave the Doctor a wide grin. 'You want me to spell it out for you?'

'I'm nine hundred years old,' the Doctor said coldly. 'I do not need either of you to spell anything out for me. I could probably give both of you some tips.'

Xan laughed.

'Is it me or are you jealous?' Rose teased, grinning mischivously.

'Jealous? Of what? Him?' He inclined his head at Xan.

Xan smiled and drawled, 'Weeeeel, you wouldn't be the first.' He gave Rose a dazzling smile loaded with charm and charisma.

She giggled. 'He's gone red, too,' she stage-whispered, nodding at the Doctor.

The Doctor slammed his hand down on the TARDIS controls. 'Do you two children mind?'

'You're just jealous you've got competition for the best looking male aboad,' Rose told him.

The Doctor shook his head, finally smiling at the absurd conversation, and finally realising that he was the only one taking this remotely seriously and that he shouldn't be, not really. 'Shall we go somewhere?' he said, changing the subject. 'Any suggestions?'

Rose looked at Xan. 'Anywhere you want to go? Any time and place in the universe?'

'Not really,' he said, smiling. 'I'm happy to go anywhere.' He looked over at the Doctor. 'Are we going to go anywhere in particular?'

'Sometimes his driving's a bit erratic,' Rose said in an undertone.

'The entirety of time and space is quite big,' the Doctor said, not looking up. 'I'm bound to miss sometimes.'

A lot of the time, Rose mouthed to Xan who laughed.

'Let's set our course onto a random path, shall we?' the Doctor said, scowling at them both.

'If you like,' Rose said. She looked quickly at Xan. 'Takes a bit of getting used to, this time and space travel!'

'Okay, let's go!' the Doctor yelled. 'Rose, I want you to hold on that and that and Xan, you're to hold down that and the fire extiguisher. I reckon your reflexes are better than Rose's.'

'Hey!'

The Doctor looked at her. 'It's true,' he said.

'It is,' Xan agreed, grabbing hold of the fire extinguisher. 'Is this thing likely to catch fire?' he asked, sounding alarmed.

'She has done,' the Doctor said, perfectly cheerful. 'Long as you're quick off the mark, we'll be fine! Here we go!' He began to press buttons, spin wheels and flick switches. A flurry of golden sparks exploded out of the controls. The Doctor laughed and practically danced around the TARDIS, then banged his fist down on one of the controls and leapts backwards. 'Let's fly!' he yelled.

'Where are we going!' Rose hollered.

'When are we going!' Xan shouted.

'Who knows?' he yelled back, a wide grin plastered across his face. 'Who cares? Let's ride!'

The TARDIS raced through time, hurtled past stars and planets and spun through the blackness of void, on and on, and where she was headed no of them could guess.