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It was just gorgeous, the TARDIS. I completely stopped paying attention to the Doctor once I had walked in. I could certainly never get used to living here, it was just too amazing to ever become mundane or average.
"You really are a sexy thing, aren't you?" I whispered, stroking the console. The TARDIS hummed in appreciation. The girl knew everything that could possibly happen ever, so I knew she knew what I was talking about.
"Hey now, watch the controls!" the Doctor ambled up to me, sounding serious, but wearing a silly cheeky grin.
"You're just thrilled right now, ain'tcha?"
"Oh no, me, never get a thrill out of anything. Been there, done that, seen it all."
I smirked. "Now I know you're lying to me. Strange girl, strange abilities, strange circumstance, living plastic, Nestene Consciousness. You are beyond thrilled, you giddy school girl."
"Well, you got me, Miss. Holly Ashby," he said, smiling what was probably the most gorgeous smile I'd ever seen. I hadn't noticed it as much on the show. With Tennant, I could understand why Rose loved him. Never so much with the Ninth Doctor. But now, I just get it. The way you feel when you make him smile like this, it's just... it's breath taking. "Nothing gets by you now, does it? I suppose you'll be wanting to find your room and explore the place, then?"
"A room would be nice, yeah. I don't know about exploring, though. Got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Nestene Consciousness, remember?"
"Well you would know."
"And I do know. You just make sure you got that signal. Bright and early, because I am so ready for this!" I couldn't restrain my excitement any longer. I ran up to the Doctor and hugged him as if it was the last thing I'd ever do.
This actually surprised him, I could tell. He tried to be graceful, though, and gave me a bit of a hug. Not wanting to make him feel too awkward, I turned quickly and ran down the hall. I trusted the TARDIS would lead me to the room that was going to be mine, and she did not disappoint. When I reached the end of the hall there was one door, painted mustard yellow, my favourite colour. I smiled as I opened it, just blown away by how unreal this all was. I was greeted with the most perfect room I had ever seen. Beautiful big white four poster bed, twinkle lights everywhere. Matching desk, chair, and vanity. The floor was made of glass and the ceiling was midnight blue with nebulas swirling. All of the light from the room seemed to come from nowhere, it was just bright.
"Thank you," I whispered, almost too awestruck to even speak.
I didn't even think to change into pajamas as I crawled into the comfiest bed I had ever had the pleasure of lying in. I was suddenly beyond exhausted, and I knew that tomorrow would be the start of many more completely exhausting days. I had just gotten comfortable and shut my eyes when I suddenly heard the most beautiful song playing quietly out of nowhere. It was like a lullaby, and it made my heart hurt - not because it was sad, but because it was just so full of love.
For a second I believed that I wasn't alone.
For a second.
"Rise and shine!"
I opened my eyes slightly, groaning as the Doctor's face engulfed my field of vision. I clutched my blanket closer to my chest and rolled over. I was not a morning person, but I knew going into this that the Doctor was.
"C'mon you said it yourself, bright and early!"
"Yeah," I mumbled, "for you. What do you need me for?" And really, he's going to have Rose to help him out this morning. I can't see what I could do to help, except for annoyingly predict everything.
"You have ten minutes." With that, he left my room. Weird. On the show, we never saw everyone's rooms in the TARDIS. I was suddenly absurdly curious, wondering what the Doctor's bedroom looked like. Well, no use sleeping when I could explore for ten minutes. I put my hair into a quick ponytail and walked out. Hmm yesterday's clothes... oh well. I walked out into the hall and started opening every door that I came upon. I found many rooms, but not the Doctor's.
"Oh come on, is it really that rude? I just wanna see it!" I complained, stomping down the hall, looking for the next door. Instead the hall opened up and I found myself in the console room. Ten minutes must be up.
"Finally!" the Doctor said, pulling some last minute levers. I heard the whooshing and stared up at the ceiling, smiling. Okay, it's worth waking up early if I get to experience the TARDIS in action. We were only moving to a different part of London, though, so it wasn't at all bumpy.
"Where are we?" I asked, when we rematerialized.
"Still London. I'm following this radio signature coming from the living plastic."
"I know," I said, walking up next to him and picking up the device.
"Careful now, that's what we're gonna use to track it outside of the TARDIS."
"I know," I said again, lamely. I handed it to him and plopped down on the jump seat. "Is there anything I can do here?"
"Nope, you're with me."
"No, I mean, that's not-"
"Holly."
"Yes, Doctor?" I asked, warily.
"I'm not going to live my life according to what you saw on the telly. Just meeting you changed all of that, and I'll never know how much. So," he plunked the device into my hand, "after you."
"Mum, you're such a liar, I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays!" Rose shouted, walking into the kitchen.
"I did it weeks back!" she heard her mom shout.
"No, you thought about it!"
Rose knelt down to inspect the cat flap, only to see that her mom had done it - the screws had fallen out. She could have even sworn she saw one of them fall out as she watched. Then it moved suddenly.
"This is that girl's house," I whispered as the Doctor sonic-ed open the cat flap.
"You wouldn't think she would have felt sentimental about it, why would she keep a living plastic mannequin arm?" he asked absentmindedly as he moved to the last screw.
"No, her boyfriend Mickey threw it in the bin. It came back up to get her. Now hurry up!"
"It's just this-" he stopped, looking at Rose through the cat flap. We both heard her gasp, and then the door opened.
"So, your flat?" the Doctor said more than asked, walking past her and inside.
"Yeah, I live here. What are you doing here?" Rose asked, ignoring me as she followed the Doctor further into her house. That was fine. I wasn't about to get in the way. The Doctor turned around and motioned for me to come into the living room. His manic smile just made my heart start beating super fast. I numbly followed, and glanced as I watched the device tracking the arm.
"Who are you?" Rose asked, no longer focusing on the Doctor.
"Uh, I'm Holly. It's... uhm... it's nice to meet you," I said, glancing up at her and making it awkward. She was just totally Billie Piper to me. Plus... she hadn't introduced herself properly to either of us, so I was really trying to focus on not saying her name.
"Who is it?" Jackie asked, looking out at us from down the hall.
"Mum!" Rose exclaimed, as if she had forgotten that her mother was home, "It's about last night, he's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes."
"She deserves compensation," Jackie said, pointing at him for emphasis.
"We're talking millions," the Doctor and I said at the same time. He grinned at me and I blushed, handing him the device and sitting on the couch. Jackie went back into her room. Well, that's an improvement. The whole 'strange man in my bedroom' thing was always weird.
"Don't mind the mess," Rose told me apologetically.
"Oh don't worry. My flat almost always could use a good tidying up."
"Do you live on your own, or with that bloke," she asked, jerking her shoulder to indicate the Doctor, who was busy looking around for the arm, having abandoned the device on the coffee table.
"Well... I had my own flat, 'm in my last year of University. But then... well... I do live with him now, I guess."
"So are you two-"
"No! Nothing like that!" I exclaimed.
"What?" the Doctor asked, noticing my outburst.
"Nothing, nothing," I said, glaring at Rose.
"Do you want a coffee?" she asked us both, obviously trying not to laugh.
"Might as well, thanks! Just milk. Holly?"
"I'm fine," I muttered. We were barely into the adventure and already I wanted to go back to the TARDIS and just think about my life. I didn't get to do that, though. Instead, the Doctor collapsed onto the couch next to me, gossip magazine in hand.
"We should go to the police," I heard Rose say from the kitchen, "Seriously. All three of us."
"That won't last," he commented, "he's gay and she's an alien."
I raised my eyebrows, secretly giddy that I could finally see the people he had been talking about. But I was too distracted to pay attention to either of them. I mean I had loved the Doctor when it was a show but... but... I'm a 21 year old human and he's a 900 year old Time Lord. I need to have some better priorities! Can't get flustered whenever he smiles at me or someone mistakes us for a couple.
"I'm not blaming you, even if it was just some sort of joke that went wrong," Rose went on.
The Doctor went on ignoring her and looking around, as if he expected the arm to just jump out at him. He picked up a copy of the Lovely Bones and flipped through it super fast.
"Sad ending."
"I've heard."
"Never read it?" he asked, offering it to me.
"I'm a bit slower, don't think we have time," I said, laughing. He just shrugged and sat it back down.
"They said on the news they'd found a body," I heard Rose in the other room, while I watched the Doctor grab an envelope.
"Rose Tyler."
"Yup."
"You could've told me her name."
"Wouldn't that be a bit weird, though? Already knowing her name and stuff about her, I mean... well... I suppose that kind of stuff must not really matter to you..." I was talking to myself, thinking about River Song and that whole mess. Ugh. I wasn't going to get to see Season 7! This was terrible.
"Hmm, well," the Doctor threw the envelope back down and then looked in the mirror. How could I forget! The Doctor doesn't even know what he looks like!
"Ahh, could've been worse! Look at me' ears! Can't see how you couldn't'a mentioned 'em."
"I like your ears. Why would I say something?"
"All the same, he was nice. Nice bloke." I no longer had any idea what Rose was going on about in there. I wish I could remember where the arm had been. I could remember all of the major stuff, but not the smaller details. I just watched as the Doctor shuffled some cards rather impressively.
"Luck be a lady!" he said, making me laugh.
"Well anyway, if we are going to go to the police, I want to know what I'm saying," Rose said, catching my ear again.
"You should show me how to do that," I said, focusing on the Doctor.
"Easy, just-" his second attempt sent all of the cards flying. Of course.
"I want you to explain everything," I heard Rose say. If the Doctor heard a word of her little monologue in there, he didn't give any indication.
"You can show me some other time," I grinned, letting him off the hook for the cards so that maybe we could get back on track and save the world. It felt like we had been at Rose's place forever. Suddenly I heard something scurrying behind me, behind the sofa. I looked at the Doctor and could tell he heard it too.
"There we go!" the Doctor exclaimed. I leapt off the sofa and he reached back to try and grab the arm. Instead, it leapt out at him, grabbing him by the neck.
"Oh my god oh my god oh my god!" I said, panicking. Of course, now Rose had to finish up with the coffee.
I ran over to the Doctor, trying my best to be brave, and grabbed onto the arm, trying to pull it off of him. It felt like my actions had barely any effect on it. I let go, breathing heavily, getting ready to try again. Rose didn't seem to notice our predicament.
"I told Mickey to chuck that out..." she said, sitting the coffee down. Well, okay, I guess she's kind of half paying attention. I don't know. "Honestly, give a man a plastic hand... anyway, I don't even know your name, Doctor... what was it."
"Just the Doctor," I said, just as the Doctor in question managed to throw the hand off. Oh no! I slid in front of Rose in an attempt to block the hand from attaching onto her face, but it just latched on to mine. She screamed, finally realizing what was happening as I desperately tried to get the arm off of me. I could feel the Doctor trying to help, but he was having about as much luck as I had been earlier.
"Watch out, you guys, the-"
We slammed onto the coffee table, shattering it. Ow! Oh wow am I going to ever be feeling that tomorrow. We rolled off of the glass, and I was pulled up as the Doctor yanked on the arm. He let go suddenly, and I fell onto the couch, hearing the familiar sound of the sonic screwdriver. Oh thank god.
"It's alright," he said, finally pulling the arm off of my face, "I've stopped it. There you go, you see? 'Armless."
I giggled, grabbing the arm out of his hand. Rose looked at us both as if we were completely bonkers. I suppose we are.
"Uhm... we'll take care of that coffee table... later," I assured her, glancing at the Doctor, who rolled his eyes. I could just see what he was thinking. 'Domestics'. With a flash, he was back on his feet, heading out of the flat.
"C'mon Holly," he called behind him.
"Nice meeting you," I said, quickly following, arm in hand.
"Hey!"
When I got out the the hallway, the Doctor was already running down the stairs and I had to really rush to catch up.
"Hold on a minute, you can't just go swanning off!" Rose called after us, following.
"Yes I can. Here we are, this is us, swanning off. See ya!"
"That arm was moving, it tried to kill her!"
"Ten out of ten for observation."
"I'd say nine out of ten," I mumbled to myself, making my own little joke. Even with his big ears I don't think the Doctor heard me.
"You can't just walk away, that's not fair! You've got to tell me what's going on."
"No we don't."
I don't know why, but I like how he talks about the both of us. I don't know why, but I keep expecting him to just forget about me. Probably because I still feel like this should all be like it was on TV. I really have to stop focusing on the show unless it's important. I'm just... it's all so distracting!
Once we were outside, it was time to head to the TARDIS and see if we could still use the arm to trace the signal. I already kind of knew where the Nestene Consciousness was... but not really. It's kind of close to the London Eye. In a sewer-type thing. That's all I knew for sure, which wasn't a lot to go on.
"Alright then. I'll go to the police," Rose threatened, "I'll tell everyone. You said, if I did that, I'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I'll start talking."
"Is that supposed to sound tough?" the Doctor asked.
"Sort of."
"Doesn't work."
"Who are you? Both of you?" she asked, looking between the two of us. Ah, and me with my little arm friend.
"Holly told you! I'm the Doctor."
"Yeah, but Doctor what?"
"Dooweeeoooo!" I sang, and the Doctor tried to ignore me, but I could see him start grinning. He was grinning a lot today, actually. I guess he thinks I'm funny. I was actually trying to be that time, though.
"Just the Doctor," he said, repeating what I had already told her.
"The Doctor."
"Hello!"
"Is that supposed to sound impressive?" she asked.
"Sort of."
"It totally does," I said, nodding my head and smiling.
"Come on. You can tell me. I've seen enough. Are you the police?"
I bit my lip. I really want to just tell Rose 'oh yeah come on, hop in the TARDIS' but that's not how it's supposed to happen. I think this is the hardest part, having to be patient and wait for things, and not spoil things.
"No. I was just passing through. We're a long way from home."
Oh. Aww. I tried to hide my frown from Rose, and patted the Doctor's shoulder reassuringly with the arm. Hopefully he'd get it, and Rose would just think I was trying to be funny again.
"But what have I done wrong?" she asked, not seeming to notice my little one person sad-fest, "How come those plastic things keep coming after me?"
"Oh! Suddenly the entire world revolves around you! You were just an accident, you got in the way, that's all."
Ouch. I forgot how rude this regeneration could be. Really, he's always been rude and not ginger. I resisted my urge to tell him.
"They tried to kill me! That arm was in my flat!"
"It was after me, not you! Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, Almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, Holly and I were tracking it down, it was tracking me down... the only reason it fixed on you is that you met me."
I really don't know what I'm doing here, just listening to Rose and the Doctor argue. I backed away, arm in hand, and started heading back to where I knew the TARDIS was. If I don't get involved everything will just work itself out for the episode... damn it. I'm still thinking of this all... my LIFE now... as episodes. Ugh. I reached the TARDIS and just banged my head against the door a few times. Then I realized that I still didn't have a key and banged my head a few more.
"So, what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you," Rose said, angrily.
"Sort of, yeah."
"You're full of it!"
"Sort of, yeah."
"But, all this plastic stuff - who else knows about it?"
"No one but me an- hey, where'd Holly go?"
"I dunno, she kinda just backed off a bit back. Think she was tired of listening to us yelling. I don't blame her."
"Oh..." the Doctor said, knowing that what she was really doing was removing herself from what he figured she thought was 'an episode'. He turned away from Rose and again started heading toward the TARDIS, where he knew she'd be.
"Well wait up, I'm coming to look for her too!" Rose said, following.
"It's not really looking if you know exactly where something is, now is it? Go on, scurry back to your flat with your chips and your telly," Rose didn't notice the Doctor's uncomfortableness as he said 'telly', "and remain blissfully unaware. That's what you lot do, when all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on!"
"Okay, start from the beginning," Rose said, keeping up with the Doctor's pace as he rushed back to the TARDIS.
