"What the hell happened!?" Rose cried as we entered my house; she gazed at my shattered coffee table with a horrified look on her face.

"The Doctor showed up in my garden this morning," I answered quickly, racing up the stairs to my bedroom and grabbed my laptop from my desk. "Remember the mannequins from last night? Apparently he was tracking it or something and was led here by some kind of signal, and the arm that I brought home last night came to life and attacked us both." I reached the bottom of the stairs to find Rose staring at me as though she was thinking I was on drugs. "Yeah I know, it sounds insane," I set my laptop on my kitchen table and turned it on. "But that's what happened."

"Is that why your face is swollen?" Rose asked, gently running her fingertips along the edge of my jawline, where the arm had squeezed to try and suffocate me. I flinched when she touched a rather sore spot near my chin. "Sorry," she murmured, removing her hand from my face. "So what are you planning to do? Are you going to go to the police?"

"No," I answered as I pulled up a search engine. "I don't have enough information to tell them anything, and if even if I did, do you think they'd listen to a story about window shop dummies coming to life and an arm tried to choke me?"

Once the search engine loaded, I typed in 'Doctor Killer Mannequins' and only got a list of websites to order life-sized slasher film dummies. Okay… I typed in "Doctor Living Plastic" and that one came up empty as well.

"Who says Google has all the answers?" Rose asked sarcastically, kneeling beside me as I sat back in my chair.

"There must be something," I murmured. There must be, but there is hardly anything for me to work with, nothing that-

"That won't last, he's gay and she's an alien."

No, there's no way that can be connected to anything. Right?

I cleared the search and typed in "Doctor Alien" and the very first link that came up was "Doctor Who: Do You Know This Man?" As soon as I clicked it, the first image that came up was a blurred picture of the Doctor with the bold print 'DO YOU KNOW THIS MAN? CONTACT CLIVE. Rose gasped beside me. Bingo.

"How did you know to type that?" she asked.

"Just a hunch," was all I could say.

1111

"You're not coming in!" Rose said as Mickey parked on the other side of the street. After spending better part of the morning emailing this Clive about the Doctor, we'd (reluctantly on my part) agreed to meet at this man's house after he insisted, and Mickey had insisted on coming with us. I really hated the idea since I've never met this man before; he could literally be some kind of serial killer. "He's safe, he's got a wife and kids!"

"Yeah, who told you that? He did! That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say!" Mickey replied nervously.

"Don't worry, Mick," I assured him. "Got pepper spray in my pocket, just in case."

"Oh yeah, pepper spray is gonna do the trick!" Mickey replied sarcastically. "Quite right, too!" Rose got out first and pulled the seat forward to let me out since I rode in the back seat, and the two of us made our way towards this Clive's house. Instances like this always made me uncomfortable; I was always really introverted and new situations and new people can really stress me out sometimes, which is why I usually let Rose do the talking. Rose rang the doorbell and I turned to look back at Mickey, who was still sitting in the car and trying his best to look tough. The door opened and before us stood a boy no older than twelve.

"Hello, we've come to see Clive," Rose greeted. "We've been emailing."

"Dad!" The boy called down the hallway. "It's some of your nutters!" Oh, that's nice, thanks. The boy stalked off and behind him came an older, pudgy man looking in his early forties.

"You must be Rose and Annie, I'm Clive, obviously." He greeted us, shaking both our hands.

"We should probably tell you, my boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're gonna kill us!" Rose said, giving a light chuckle.

"Oh, good point; no murders." He smiled and waved at Mickey, who was still trying to look tough.

"Who is it?" a female voice from upstairs called out.

"Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor, they've been reading the website. Please come through, I'm in the shed." Rose and I followed him through the house and into his garden, where he had a small blue shed. I tightened my grip on my can of pepper spray still in my pocket.

"A lot of this stuff is quite sensitive," Clive began as soon as he shut the door. "I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept, if you know what I mean."

"Of course," I reassured him.

"If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind… this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place." He pulled a thick blue folder off a bookshelf. "Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just "The Doctor." Always "The Doctor." And the title seems to be passed down to father and son; appears to be an inheritance. That's your Doctor there, isn't it?" He pointed to a nearby computer where it had his webpage pulled up, with the picture of the Doctor.

"Yes, that's him," I answered.

"I tracked it down to the Washington Public Archive just last year," Clive explained. "The online photo's been enhanced, but if we look at the original…" He reached into his folder and pulled out a series of photos. The first was like the one he had on his website; there was a red circle drawn around the Doctor's head. Clive flipped to another photograph, this time it extended to the surrounding crowd. He flipped to another photo, this time extending even further, and my jaw dropped when I recognized the photo.

"November 22, 1963, the assassination of President Kennedy," Clive answered grimly. This was unbelievable; this photo had to be at least over forty years old!

"Must be his father," Rose reasoned, but the feeling in my stomach was saying otherwise.

"Going further back, April 1912," Clive continued, going to retrieve something to the side; Rose and I continued to stare at the photograph of Kennedy, and he came back with another photo that looked even older than the first one. "This is a photograph of the Daniels family of Southampton and friend," he pointed to a man standing beside a family of five, and despite the older image, I could easily see the face of the Doctor. "This was taken the day before they were set to sail to the new world, on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason they cancelled the trip and survived." The knot in my stomach tightened the longer I looked at the photo; my brain was trying desperately to comprehend and piece together what Clive was showing me. This just couldn't be possible…

Clive reached out to his left and took a piece of paper off the wall. "Here we are, 1883, another Doctor," Clive showed us a drawing, this time of an island with a volcano that seemed to be erupting. "Look, it's the same lineage, it's identical!" He pointed to a drawing of the Doctor, right down to the leather jacket. "This one washed up on the shore of Sumatra, on the very night the Krakatoa exploded."

"No way…" I whispered to myself; my head felt like it was about to explode from all this new information. The rational part of me insisted that this was nothing but coincidental, that Clive was just another conspiracy nut, but I couldn't help but think that maybe he was telling the truth.

"The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history; when disaster comes, he's there. He brings the storm in his wake, and he has one constant companion," said Clive.

"Who's that?" Rose asked in a whisper.

"Death." Now I was starting to feel nauseated. "If the Doctor's back, if you two have seen him, then one thing's for certain: we're all in danger. If he's singled you two out… if the Doctor's making house calls… then God help you." I stared at Clive, who looked so grim and worn as he warned us. But for some reason, I couldn't help but think that this couldn't really be what the Doctor was about, despite what had happened to me this morning. He wasn't the sort of person to cause trouble; he proved it when he saved Rose and I last night and when he saved me from the killer arm. If he hadn't been there, we would be dead.

"But who is he?" Rose asked. "Who do you think he is?"

Clive looked right into our faces as he answered, "I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world."

1111

"Alright, he's a nutter. Off his head," Rose grumbled as we reached Mickey's car. "Complete online conspiracy freak. You win!" she said to Mickey as I climbed in the back seat and she took her place up front. I didn't say anything; I was trying to calm the so many raging emotions in my overstuffed brain. "What do you want to do tonight?" she asked me. "I fancy a pizza."

"Sure, that's fine with me," I replied dismissively.

"Pizza!" Mickey replied, "P-p-p-pizza!"

"Or Chinese?"

"Pizza!" he exclaimed, starting up the car and pulling out onto the street, weaving the car like he couldn't control it.

"Mickey!" I cried out as he finally straightened out. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, buddy, pal, mate!" he answered, but his voice sounded fake and like a record that skipped. Red flags immediately came up in my head. I didn't say another word until we reached a restaurant in town, where I kept watching him. As we were seated, I noticed that Mickey looked almost shiny and his features were suddenly smoother and proportionate, like a life-size Ken doll. Rose seemed oblivious, rattling on about where she should start in finding a new job. I could only pay half attention as my thoughts were pulled in all kinds of directions, from Clive to Mickey to Rose, and I was getting so close to a migraine. I rubbed my temples to stem it.

"Do you think I should try the hospital?" Rose asked Mickey, who had the fakest smile I'd ever seen on him. The more I look at him, the more uncomfortable I get. "Suki said they had jobs in the canteen. Is that it then? Dishing out chips?"

"I'm sure you can find something better, you're a good worker," I said.

"I could do A-levels. I don't know, it's all Jimmy Stone's fault; I left school 'cause of him, look where he ended up." Ah yes Jimmy Stone: five years older than Rose and the biggest deadbeat if there ever was one. This was before she and Mickey got together, and she had once said she wanted to marry him. I'd never been so appalled at her before. Thank God she finally had some sense in her. "What do you think?"

"I think you could do whatever you put your mind to," I answered honestly.

"Come on, Annie, I ain't got half the brains you got."

"I mean it, Rose. You just gotta get out there."

Rose turned to Mickey, "What do you think?"

"So where did you meet this Doctor?" he asked, completely off topic.

"Oh I'm sorry, was I talking about me for a second?" Rose replied irritably. But Mickey continued as though he hasn't heard her.

"Cause I reckon it all happened back at the shop, am I right?" Why the hell was he suddenly wanting to know about the Doctor so badly?

"No," said Rose.

"Come on," he urged, smiling with such a fake smile that it was giving me the creeps.

"No, Mickey, it didn't," I answered, not going to give anything away to him. Now I was convinced that something happened to Mickey between the time we arrived to Clive's until the minute we left. Whoever did something to Mickey was surely going to attack the Doctor.

"What was he doing there?" He pressed.

"I'm not going on about him, Mickey, I'm really not," Rose answered, "Cause I know it sounds daft, but I don't think he's safe. He's dangerous." She added in a low whisper.

"What was he doing there, Annie?" Mickey turned on me, gazing at me intensely.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mickey," I said shortly.

"But you can trust me mate, buddy, pal, friend, buddy," Mickey jerked his head and spoke as if he was a malfunctioning robot. "You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning and I can help you, Annie." His voice darkened, as though he was threatening me. "Cause that's all I really wanna do buddy, mate, mate, pal, buddy."

"What are you doing that for?" Rose asked, now starting to look alarmed.

"Did something happen to you?" I urged.

"Your champagne," a waiter approached our table, holding out a bottle.

"We didn't order any champagne," Mickey replied instantly, not taking his eyes off me. "Where's the Doctor?" he practically growled, suddenly grabbing onto mine and Rose's wrists and squeezing tightly.

"Madams, your champagne," the waiter tried again, this time stepping beside me.

"It's not ours," I said dismissively. "Mickey, let me go, this isn't funny anymore!"

"Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I need to find out how much he knows, so where is he!?" he growled, squeezing me tighter as I tried to break free of his hold.

"Mickey, stop!" I cried.

"Doesn't anyone want this champagne?" The waiter tried again.

"Look, we didn't order any- " Mickey began, but stopped short when he spotted something behind us. "Ah, gotcha." I finally turn my head and my heart lurched in my chest when instead of a waiter, the Doctor stood and smiled at us as he began to violently shake the champagne bottle.

"Don't mind me, I'm just toasting the best of friends! On the house!" He aimed the bottle at Mickey and unfastened I, making the cork fly out and hit him directly in the forehead. Bust instead of knocking him out or sending him to the floor, the cork actually absorbed into his head, making it wobble and wave like liquid, and then spitting it out right at the Doctor.

"Bloody hell," I gasp, utterly horrified.

"Anyway," Suddenly Mickey stood and raised his hand, and I saw his hand widen and flatten, actually turning into some kind of club and smash it right on the table, karate-chopping it in half, sending both me and Rose backwards to get away from him. Everyone around us started screaming as the Doctor reached forward and grabbed Mickey in a headlock and started jerking until he yanked off my friend's head with a pop. The headless body fell backwards onto another patron's table, breaking the table in half and shattering the china. The Doctor held the head in his hands, where to my astonishment, the head's eyes opened in a glare at him.

"Don't think that's gonna stop me," Mickey's head warned, making a patron scream.

"Rose!" I cried, pointing to the fire alarm beside her, and she slammed her fist as hard as she could into it, causing it to go off. "Everyone get out now!" I screamed to the entire restaurant and everyone just scrambled for the exits. Rose snatched my hand and the Doctor followed us as we raced toward the back, the headless Mickey hot on our tails. We darted through the ends until we ran out the very back, the Doctor just barely shutting the door when the body caught up with us, banging on it with all it's might. I pressed all of my weight on the door while the Doctor pulled out his silver-blue laser and aimed it against the lock, releasing myself once the door locked.

"Open the gate!" Rose struggled against the chained gate door at the far left while the door, pulling on the padlock with all her might. "Use that tube thing, come on!"

"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor corrected calmly as he just waltzed like he was taking a stroll through the park. I grabbed his arm and tried to get him to move faster; there was a dent in the door getting bigger and bigger by the second as the headless Mickey kept beating on it even harder.

"Doctor come on, we've got to get out of here!" I urged him.

"Nah, tell you what, let's go in here," I was about to ask him what "here" was when he pulled a key out of his pocket and walked towards a tall blue wooden box, the words POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX blazoned at the very top.

"In there!?" I cried, exasperated as he stepped inside.

"You can't hide inside a wooden box!" Rose yelled, still trying her best to get the gate unlocked. "It's gonna get us!"

"Rose, come on!" I practically begged as the door was seconds away from giving out, and I ran inside the box, expecting to run right into a closet space, when my eyes widened at the sight before me.

I was suddenly in a room that was as big as a ballroom with a domed ceiling, with coral-like posts securing the beams surrounding the walls. The floor was covered with what seemed like miles and miles of wires that were protected by a metal grille. But the most impressive sight was that in the very center of the room was a huge circular console that extended all the way up to the ceiling, giving off a low blue glow. The Doctor himself was circling the console, flipping switches and levers, quietly whistling to himself.

"It's gonna follow us!" Rose gaped as she ran inside, stopping just behind me.

"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me they've tried. Now, shut up a minute," The Doctor said casually, taking the head and actually plugging it up to the console.

"Um…" my voice was lost as I gazed at the indescribable wonder before me, noticing that the entire room seemed to pulse very gently, almost as if… it was breathing.

"You see, an arm is too simple, but the head's perfect," The Doctor continued, mostly to himself. "I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source." He sat the wired head on the console, the sight of my best friend's head making me nauseated. The Doctor turned to face us with his hands in his pockets, his back very straight. "Right then, where do you want to start?" he asked expectedly.

"The, uh…" Rose stammered behind me, "The inside's bigger than the outside?"

"Yes," he replied with exasperation, as though he's heard this millions and millions of times.

"It's alien," I whispered.

"Yeah."

"You're an alien." I said, already knowing what he was going to say.

The Doctor looked me right in the eyes as he said "Yes."

Surprisingly, despite this outrageous confession, I find myself… relieved. Relieved that finally I was able to get some of the answers I'd been searching for.

"Okay," I simply said, making the Doctor widen his eyes in surprise.

"That's it?" he asked, incredulous, like he'd never seen anyone act like that before. "No alarm or shock or 'what do you mean you're an alien!?'"

"Oh, I'm sure it's coming, stay tuned," I said, still transfixed by this so strange box. "What is this place?"

"It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S, that's Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

"Impressive," I praised. I was pulled out of the conversation when I heard Rose let out a sob behind me. Immediately I rushed over to her and wrapped my arms around her.

"It's alright," the Doctor said. "Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."

"Did they kill him?" She blurted out, suddenly composing herself. "Mickey. Did… did they kill Mickey, is he dead?"

"Oh," the Doctor blinked. "I didn't think of that."

"You didn't think of that?" I asked in a dangerously low voice.

"He's my boyfriend!" Rose yelled. "You… pulled off his head… they copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just gonna let him melt!?"

"Melt? The Doctor spun back to the console, where indeed the head started to deflate like a football, the skin leaking like a melting ice cream scoop. "Oh no, no, no, no, no!" He scrambled around the console, furiously flipping switches and levers.

"What are you doing!?" Rose cried frantically.

"Following the signal, it's fading!" He swung a computer screen towards him, anxiously gazing at it. I caught a glimpse of the screen, but it only had blinking circles; I couldn't make any sense of it as suddenly the TARDIS started shaking and rumbling, making me grab onto the railing beside me. "Hold on, I've got it… no, no, no, no, no, no!" The box began to shake even harder, and the familiar noise that I'd heard earlier today, that strange, unique wheeze and warble was almost deafening. Just as soon as it started it stopped, the shaking ceasing and the Doctor flying past us and out the door. Immediately, I chased after him.

"Doctor, wait!" I cried. "Don't go out there, it's not…" but my voice trailed off as I found myself in the middle of London, right beside the river. "…safe."

"I lost the signal, I got so close!" The Doctor growled, a deep scowl on his face as he stormed. I was still very bewildered about the fact that we moved from one place to another; how did it even do that!? Rose stepped out and looked just as unbelieving as I felt. I could see the enormous room from the open door and very cautiously, I moved around the blue box, eyeing it; is this his spaceship? For a spaceship, it was quite genius. I'd always thought that aliens were supposed to have flying saucers and look like E.T. or something.

"We moved. Does it fly?" Rose asked.

"Disappears here and reappears there, you wouldn't understand." The Doctor grumbled, his flared nostrils making him look similar to an angry bull.

"But if we're somewhere else, what about the headless thing that's still on the loose?"

"Melted with the head, are you gonna whitter on all night?" he snapped at Rose, making me glare at him.

"Hey, lay off, would you?" I shot at him; he turned his deep scowl right at me.

"Annie, what are we gonna tell his mother?" Rose asked me. All I could really do was shrug; what can I say to Mickey's mum? Her son was killed by evil plastic? Poor woman had already been through so much… I lost my train of thought as we saw the Doctor still staring at us, like he couldn't believe we were still talking about him. "Mickey," Rose flared again, her face red; it was always that color when she lost her temper. "We'll have to tell his mother he's dead and you just went and forgot him again! You were right, you are alien." She turned her back on him, looking as though she was desperately trying not to punch him in the face.

"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-"

"Yeah, he's not a kid-"

"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering about on top of this planet, alright!?"

"Alright!"

"YES IT IS!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, effectively silencing them both, thank God. Their squabbling was giving me a massive headache. I took a deep breath and exhaled out off my nose. "Right, now that we're done with the yelling," I continued in a much quieter tone, and turned towards the Doctor. "Now, a couple of questions. First, what exactly is a police public call box?"

"It's a telephone box from the 1950's," he replied, smiling with pride as he stood beside it. "It's a disguise." His oozing enthusiasm made me smile; boys and their toys.

"Now this living plastic, what's it doing here? What's it got against us?" I asked.

"Nothing, it loves you," he answered. "You've got such a good planet, lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It's food stock was destroyed in the war, all it's protein planets rotted, so Earth, dinner."

"Any way of stopping it?" Rose asked beside me. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a large test tube with a dark blue liquid.

"Antiplastic," he simply responded.

"Antiplastic?" Rose and I said flatly; the fate of the world depends on antiplastic?

"Antiplastic! But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something this big in a city this small?" the Doctor asked, mostly to himself as he started pacing beside us.

"Find what?" I pressed him.

"The transmitter! The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"Okay, well what does it look like?"

"Like a transmitter!" Oh yeah, that helps so much, thanks. "Round and massive, somewhere slap bang in the middle of London! A huge metal, circular structure, like a dish, a wheel, a radial, close to where we're standing! Must be completely invisible." He stopped his pacing with a frustrated sigh, and that's when I noticed that behind him stood the London Eye. A dish, a wheel, a radial, huh? I start to smile.

"What?" the Doctor asked, noticing that I was staring behind him. Rose could see it, too; her eyebrow was raised as she started to smirk. He looked behind him for a second and then back at me. "What?" he asked again, and I nodded back to the Eye. He looked again. "What is it, what?"

"Seriously!?" I barked at him, and I grab him by his upper arms and spin him around to face the Eye, hoping he'd get the hint. He froze for a moment before doing a double take from me back to the Eye. "Oh," he murmured as the light bulb finally went off in his brain.

"Yeah," I deadpanned with a chuckle. The Doctor face lit up, grinning from ear to ear.

"Fantastic!" and suddenly he was off, sprinting along the river. Immediately Rose and I chased after him, making sure to keep him in my line of sight. Soon, I caught up with him, which was surprising since he was a very fast runner and I've not been one to be athletic. Once I caught up with him, he took hold of my hand, and faster we sped off, Rose right behind us, and descended down stone steps closer to the river. We finally stopped, and I had to put my hand on my knees to catch my breath. Holy shit, I need to work out more!

"Think of it," the Doctorbegan, "Plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables..."

"The breast implants," Rose added cheekily, making me giggle.

"Still, we've found the transmitter," the Doctor continued as though he hadn't heard her. "The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath." I glanced back at the Eye, now looking so massive as I stepped closer to it. There has to be some kind of entrance to a power source, something that makes it go... and that's when I saw it: a raised hatch at the end of some stone steps, like it could lead us underground.

"Doctor!" I cried; he and Rose were at my side in an instant. "Do you think that could be it?" I asked, pointing to the hatch.

"Looks good enough to me," he replied, and the three of us raced down the stone steps. The hatch itself looked rusted, as though it hadn't been opened for a while. With a grunt, the Doctor lifted the hatch, where an eerie red light and hot steam came up. It made me think of Dante's Inferno and that I was seeing the entrance into Hell. The Doctor started to climb down with eagerness and I followed suit down a ladder, deeper underground. I wanted to see this 'Nestene Consciousness' myself. After having been chased by mannequins and a killer plastic arm, I needed to see it.

Rose followed me down the ladder, and I could tell she was starting to get nervous. "Yeah, this isn't weird at all," she quietly murmured.

"You're telling me," I replied. My foot finally hit the ground and I find myself in a stone room, lined with pipes and chains and looked quite creepy. The Doctor was examining a heavy metal door on the other side and he pushed the door open. A hot flash of steam suddenly hit me in the face, making me cough and cover my mouth. I always had a problem with intense heat; it could make me wheeze and set off an asthma attack. I've not had one of those in years. Rose squeezed my arm as we followed the Doctor inside a massive stone room, lined with metal stairs and chains on the walls.

"The Nestene Consciousness," he announced, motioning to the very center at the bottom. There was a giant vat that was filled with a deep orange blob of what looked like molten lava that gurgled and rumbled, bubbling and waving.

"That?" I asked, in total disbelief. This was the thing responsible for attacking me? This wants to take over the planet?

"Yes," the Doctor answered. "That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."

"Well then, dip in your antiplastic and let's go," Rose urged. The Doctor looked at her with a slight admonishing look.

"I'm not here to kill it," he said, descending closer down. "I've got to give it a chance."

"A chance for what!?" I whispered, horrified. Why the hell does he want to give that thing a chance if it's gonna try to kill us!? The Doctor didn't answer me but continued down, until he stopped a level down and stood with his back straight, his hands leaning against a railing.

"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract," the Doctor said, his voice loud and clear. "According to Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." The Shadow Proclamation? What was he talking about? Was that the Doctor's organization? "If I might have permission to approach?" And to my complete astonishment, the blob started to respond to him, but instead of speaking, it started to growl like some kind of animal.

"Oh my God!" Rose cried beside me, racing further down the steps, and I immediately saw why.

"Mickey!" I cried, booking it down the steps behind Rose. He was already clinging to her when I reached him; poor guy looked totally frightened. He started grabbing my arms frantically when I kneeled beside him to check him over for any injuries. Besides being totally shaken, he wasn't hurt, thank God. "Mickey, are you alright!?"

"Annie!" he whimpered just as the Doctor passed by us. "Annie, the thing down there! The liquid, it can talk!"

"Shh, I know, just calm down, take deep breaths," I coached him in a gentle voice, letting my nursing training take over. "We're gonna get you out of here."

"Doctor, they've kept him alive!" Rose cried, relieved.

"Yeah, that was always a possibility," he replied offhandedly, like it was an afterthought. "Keep him alive to maintain the copy." And just continued strolling past us.

"You knew that and you never said?" Rose asked, looking as though she was getting ready to punch him in the face.

"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" The Doctor asked, almost patronizing. Jeez, what a jerk. The Doctor stepped down to the level below right, right above the vat where the Nestene Consciousness continued to roar and screech, the lava now starting to take shape of a twisted and mangled face. "Am I addressing the Consciousness?" he asked it, and it screeched in response. I rose to my feet, leaning against the railing and watched the encounter anxiously. "Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warped shunt technology. So may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?" he added cheekily, making the fiery blob screech even louder.

I facepalm, groaning at the Doctor's very lame joke. We're gonna die.

"Oh don't give me that, it's an invasion, plain and simple! Don't talk about constitutional rights!" The Consciousness continued to growl and twist in the vat, like it was arguing with the Doctor. "I AM TALKING!" The Doctor roared, as though this was such a normal argument. "This planet is just starting; these stupid little people have only just learned how to walk but they're capable of so much more! I'm asking you, on their behalf, please just go."

I didn't have time to be offended by that last remark of his, because I saw two mannequins sneaking behind him. "Doctor, look out!" I yelled, but it was too late; both of the mannequins had grabbed him and pinned his arms behind his back. Without thinking, I darted forward to try and help him, but both Rose and Mickey grabbed me to stop me.

"Annie, don't!" Rose urged, and we watched as one of the mannequins had reached into the Doctor's jacket and pulled out his vial of antiplastic. Oh great, there goes that. The Nestene Consciousness roared.

"That was just insurance, I wasn't going to use it!" The Doctor tried to reason to it, but it continued to screech like an animal. "I was not attacking you, I'm here to help! I'm not your enemy, I swear, I'm not!" The growling continued as he tried to get himself out of the mannequin's hold. "What do you mean?" the Doctor asked in a panicked voice, and behind us a door suddenly opened, revealing the TARDIS. Well, at least there's a way out. But how do I get the Doctor out of this?

"No, no, no! Honestly, no!" The Doctor cried desperately. "Yes, that's my ship." In response, the Consciousness continued to gurgle and roar, it's twisted, warped face rising higher out of the vat. "That's not true! I was there, I should know! I fought in the war, it wasn't my fault!" I noticed the change in the Doctor's voice, the despair and pain that somehow seemed to echo. And it pierced me. "I couldn't save your world, I couldn't save any of them!" The Consciousness screeched threateningly at him.

"What's happening!?" I yelled to him.

"It's the TARDIS! The Nestene's identified it as superior technology, it's terrified!" The Doctor struggled to get out of the mannequin's hold on him. "It's going to the final base! It's starting the invasion! Just get out Annie! Just leg it now!"

Mickey started yanking on my arm to pull me to the exit just as Rose pulled out her phone. "Mum?" she yelled over the noise. "Where are you, Mum!? No, just go home, just go home right now! Mum! Mum!"

"Where's Jackie!?" I yelled to Rose who shoved her phone back into her pocket.

"She's in town, we've gotta get out of here and find her!"

"But the Doctor-" I was suddenly interrupted when a bright flash of lightning came from the center of the vat out of the mangled Nestene Consciousness and hit the center of the ceiling, setting everything that was nearby on fire. "Doctor!"

"It's the Activation signal! It's transmitting! Get out, Annie!" The Doctor called from below, still in the mannequin's hold. "Just get out! Run!"

"The stairs have gone!" Rose cried as the steps crashed down below, leaving us trapped. Rose grabbed both Mickey and me and we ran to the TARDIS, but the door was locked.

"Really!?" I snapped angrily.

"I haven't got the key!" Rose whimpered. I look over my shoulder, still seeing the Doctor struggling. I tried to run to help him, but my friends wouldn't let go of me. "We can't just leave him!"

"There's nothing we can do!" Mickey cried, sinking to his knees in front of the door. "We're gonna die."

"We have to help the Doctor!" I argued desperately. "He can get us out of here!"

"Or he's gonna do an even quicker job of killing us!" Rose countered.

"But we can't-"

"Annie, are you hearing yourself!?" she yelled, sounding so flustered. "Are you really going to risk your life for some bloke from outer space!? Look around you! The world is about to end and we're gonna be first if we don't get out of here!"

The Nestene Consciousness roared and growled, still twisting and gurgling, but for one moment, one very strange moment, it spoke. "Time Lord," a deep demonic voice seemed to echo even over the noise. What's a Time Lord? The Doctor looked back up at me with such desperation on his face, but somehow, in a strange, indescribable way, I knew the desperation wasn't for himself. It was for me. Me and my friends.

"Annie!" Rose called in my ear. I looked her for a moment; my best friend who was gazing at me like I'd completely lost my mind. Maybe I did. But I tore my arm out of her grip and ran. On the wall several feet away was a fire axe, and I tore it off the wall with both hands. "What the hell are you doing!?" she screeched as I reared my arms back and his the chains with all my strength, hitting it three times before the chains broke off the wall and I was able to pull some down. Without thinking, I grabbed the chain tightly and took three huge steps before swinging off the ledge, lifting up my legs so that I could kick the mannequin off the Doctor, who angled it so that I could send it over the edge. I almost missed the other mannequin that held the antiplastic, but I just barely managed to sweep the and send it too over the edge. The Doctor caught me as I swung back over, setting me on my feet as the Consciousness screamed with a piercing, agonizing screech that hurt my ears. The Doctor had his wide smile plastered on his face, and I couldn't help but smile, too. That was probably the craziest thing I've ever done in my entire life.

"Now we're in trouble," he said as an explosion suddenly went off. He snatched my hand and we ran back up the steps where Rose and Mickey were waiting by the TARDIS, the Doctor reaching into his pocket and pulling out his key. The four of us stumbled inside and the Doctor raced to the console, slamming down a lever and sending us off. Only a moment passed before he landed, and Mickey wasted no time in stumbling out, even moving on his hands and feet to get away from the box as far as possible. We had landed in an alleyway, far away from the London Eye.

"Mickey, calm down!" I urged, following him until he reached a rubbish bin. "It's going to be alright. Nobody's gonna get you anymore, I promise."

"Mum's alright," Rose breathed a sigh of relief as she came up beside us. "Blimey, how are we going to explain that?" But before I could answer, the Doctor's voice sounded behind us.

"Nestene Consciousness?" he said casually, standing in the doorway of the TARDIS with his cheesy smile. He snapped his fingers. "Easy."

"What?" I groaned. "Are you serious? If it wasn't for me, you'd be kibbles and bits for the Nestene Consciousness."

The Doctor's smile softened. "Yes, I would. Thank you."

"Any time." I said with a smile of my own. I couldn't help but feel awkward about this moment now… what else can I say? What is the Doctor going to do now, go back in his spaceship and we just pretend like this never happened? Just remember today as the weirdest day of my life and move on?

"Right then, I'll be off," The Doctor announced, "Unless… I don't know… you could come with me."

Wait, what?

"Come with you?" I repeated, my voice higher from disbelief.

"Oh yeah," he said. "This box isn't just a London op, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe, free of charge."

"Don't, Annie!" Mickey whimpered, holding onto Rose like a lifeline. "He's an alien! He's a... thing!"

"Mickey!" I lightly scolded; just because he was scared shitless doesn't mean he could still be rude.

"He's not invited," the Doctor said pointedly. "So what do you think?"

"Doctor..." I sighed, still blown away that he even asked me this. "I can't just drop everything in my life to go travelling. I've got nursing school to finish! I can't miss that. And I've got my house... and I especially can't leave these two behind." I motion to my friends behind me. I couldn't just hop away to some galaxy a million light years away.

The Doctor only nodded. "You don't like to leave people behind. I get it. But there's millions and millions of planets and civilizations out there that you'd never even believed existed. And you'd get to see them all. But this is the best part," he looked at me right in the eyes with a secret smirk. "Did I mention it also travels in time?" My eyes widened at his revelation. The box was also a time machine? Now I've heard it all. The Doctor turned and stepped back into the TARDIS, leaving me alone to process this.

Now what do I do? I could stay and do the responsible thing, or... I could see firsthand just what the universe had to offer. I knew that this would be my only chance; if I stay, I may never get another opportunity. And the more I stared at the box, the more I longed for it.

I looked back at Rose, who had been silent throughout the entire conversation. "What would you do?" I whispered to her.

"Me?" She simply asked. "Well, I'd go in a heartbeat. Like he said, he had a time machine, right? He could have you back in five minutes. You wouldn't miss a thing here. But what do you want to do?" I looked back at the box for just a small moment, feeling the pull towards it so strong. Rose smiled at me. "Go, Annie. Just have him bring you back in five minutes, yeah?" Her big brown eyes started to water just a little bit, and I embraced her tightly, giving my best friend a kiss on the cheek. She gave me a squeeze around my middle for a second before releasing me, and I turned on my heel. With an excitement I'd never felt before, I sprinted towards the blue box as fast as I could.

Welp... I dropped the ball, I'm so sorry. I know I was supposed to have this posted over a month ago. School and a crappy retail job was a big part of it, but I also have the WORST attention span and focus. I'll sit down to write this and then five minutes later I'm just binge watching Markiplier's Let's Plays. I love him, he's my favorite YouTuber. :)

I will be doing better on the timely uploads, I promise. One of the things I really hate about some writers is where they won't post a chapter for months and leave me hanging on a story, and I'll forget about the story, and when they finally post one, I have to go back to the beginning and read it to refresh myself on the fic and it's just annoying sometimes. So I will me disciplining myself harder on getting the chapters uploaded. Thanks so much for your patience.

Oooo, I've got some reviews! Hooray! I will be replying to the reviews at the end of the chapters, simply because it is easier, and if there's some constructive criticism, I do want time to go over the review and try my best to apply it to the story. It's because of you guys that make me want to write better.

Loulouflowerpower: oh my gosh, thank you so much, I'm so glad you loved the chapter! That coming from you means a LOT since I read your stories of the Hatter all the time. I'm really loving your latest installment, by the way. As for Rose... she's not my favorite companion *cough Romana Sarah Jane Donna cough* but I don't hate on her. I do believe her character got written a little poorly towards the end of her run, making her just totally hung up on the Doctor to the point where it almost got people killed. In the first season, I really did like her because she was quite relatable, but once season 2 came along, the dynamic between her and the Doctor just got annoying to me. In this story, I do plan to write her in a better light since she's Annie's closest friend, but there will be times where Annie may have to keep her in check if Rose's head get too big.

Brazen Wulf: Hello to you as well! Thank you so much for the kind review! The summary is actually from a song that gave me the inspiration for this story. It's "Satellite" from Above and Beyond. They're my absolute favorite music group. The song itself really describes the relationship between my character and the Doctor, and this song will come up again later in this story. Won't say when, though. ;)

Thank you guys so much for the kind reviews! If you like this story, give it a review! Tell me what you think! Or if you have any questions, send me a PM and I'll respond as quickly as possible. In the next chapter, we'll see one of Annie's best known talents, and she'll find out more about our favorite alien! See you soon!