Just to let you know, this starts just after the New Earth Episode with Cassandra and the hospital.

Chapter One

Anomaly

The Doctor was dancing around the TARDIS control boards, babbling a million miles a minute about some new planet that he wanted to go to. Rose Tyler was leaning against the railing and watching him with a smile on her face. She loved watching him being clever almost as he loved her doing it. That thought made her smile even wider. At least, it did until the TARDIS suddenly shuddered and then jolted to one side.

The babbling abruptly cut off as they both had to grab hold of the console in order to avoid tumbling to the grated floor. "What's wrong?" Rose yelled over the noise and the shaking.

"She's picked up something!" the Doctor called back. "I caught a glimpse of it on the scanner before she-," he was abruptly cut off again as the ship jolted again, shaking loose their grips and tossing them to the floor. "Are you alright?" the Doctor asked as they both sat up.

"I'm fine," she assured him, using the console to pull herself up. "So where are we?"

The Doctor swung the scanner around to face them and peered at it. "We're somewhere near Newport, in 2014!" He ran his hand through his hair, making it spike up even more. "What's so interesting here that the TARDIS would come running without even being subtle about it?" He looked over at Rose and grinned.

Quickly, the two of them scampered down the ramp and out the TARDIS doors, being sure to shut them securely behind them. Rose's eyes widened at the huge house that stood before them. Actually, it was more than a house. It was a mansion. But it was so quiet.

"Can you hear that?" the Doctor asked.

"Hear what?" Rose replied incredulously. "It's totally quiet." At that exact moment, there was a loud bang from the back of the building. The Doctor grabbed her hand and they were running.

When they reached the back of the house, they saw only one person standing on the lawn. It was a young woman, late-teens, early-twenties with shoulder-length black hair and caramel skin.

As they ran up to her, she looked up and smiled. That threw Rose off. Most people would have instantly launched into a list of questions as to who they were, and what they were doing there. Instead, the girl glanced down at her watch and said, "I give him two minutes. If he has not defeated him at that point, there is something wrong and I am going up there to make him stop. We have an outdoor stadium for a reason! They need to learn to use it." She looked back up and smiled again. "In the meantime, I can greet you! I love new people. I'm Sashura Makarova, but you can call me Shura. What are your names?"

She spoke with a mixed Russian and English accent. It made her speech a little hard to follow since she tended to use pronunciations at random, but the Doctor was far more interested in her reactions than in her accent. "Hello! Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor and this is Rose. Um, who were you talking about just now?"

"Oh, that would be Kyoya. I always tell them not to battle in the house, but they are just too competitive for their own good! It's so annoying." Just then, the house shook and something exploded outward from it. The Doctor ducked, pulling Rose down with him to shield her in case there was anything more. Instead, Shura simply sighed and shook her head. "And that's that. I hope they're ready to do some major clean-up work." She smiled again. "Now then, why don't you come inside and we can get to know each other." Without another word, she turned and headed into the house, pausing in the doorway to gesture them inside before disappearing into the dim interior.

The pair outside slowly got to their feet. "Doctor," Rose asked, her voice trembling a little. "What was that that exploded?"

"It was some sort of telepathic energy. It just rushed out. This place is humming with energy. The Time Lords were telepathic, so I can feel it. It's just all over this place. Makes me want to move out of the way of some things. As though there's something there." He looked over at her. "Do you want to leave?"

"Course not!" she exclaimed. "It's a little spooky, but I won't let it scare me away." The Doctor grinned. "So, should we go in?"

"Of course! Off we go!" And in they went.

?DW?

The inside of the mansion was just as impressive as the outside. But it was decorated in such a mixed up and varied fashion, that the elegance was almost destroyed. The marble floors were covered in rugs of different sizes, shapes, patterns, colors, and materials. The walls were a little more clear, but they were still hung with varied paintings that didn't necessarily go together.

It was a bit of a sensory overload, but the Doctor managed to focus on the girl they were following. She was moving down the hallway in a zigzag pattern that had her bobbing and weaving as though to avoid figures. Finally, she reached a room near the end of the hallway, and ducked into the doorway.

Shura started talking the moment they were in the room. "Well, then. What are your names? No, wait," she said before the Doctor could open his mouth. "You already told me. you're the Doctor, and your friend is Rose. That's such a pretty name. Surprisingly, we haven't ever had anyone else called Rose in here. Not a very popular name. You, on the other hand," she said, turning to the Doctor. "We already have someone called Doctor here. He mostly stays on Voyager, though. And sometimes he goes by Joe. So silly. Twenty-five years to come up with Joe! He did have a name before for one episode. Schwitzer. But it had too many painful memories by the end of the episode, Beowulf and all that with Harry. Of course, we don't really need to go into all that. What I'm more interested in is what you're from. I don't recognize you. What are you from? It's got to be a show. There must have been a new show on last night. I was watching the SiFi channel when I went to sleep, so you must be space people."

She smiled, "Let me see if I can figure it out." She sat and stared at them hard for a moment. Rose looked uncertainly between Shura and the Doctor, while the Doctor simply gazed right back at Shura with his face completely neutral. "You are an alien," Shura said abruptly, pointing at the Doctor. "While you," she pointed at Rose, "are human. Completely human. But you must be something pretty special to be with such a person as him." She turned back to the Doctor, gazing directly into his eyes without flinching.

"You, sir," she said finally, "are older than you look. I'd place you at about 900 give or take a few years. While your youthful looks make you reminiscent of the elves, your eyes are not quite old enough. Yoda. Your eyes make me think of Yoda and his 900 years. You've traveled far and seen much. So much pain and sadness. You're happier now, but the pain is still there. simmering just under the surface."

"You're very perceptive," the Doctor said when she finally stopped. "How do you see so much?"

"I watch the people around me. I talk to them. And I read - a lot." She had a strange tone in her voice as she spoke, and Rose wondered what she was thinking.

Shura was silent for only a moment before she was talking again, "Anyway, we'd better get you two settled. Would you like a room in the house? I'm sure we have at least one available."

"No, thank you," said the Doctor. "We'll stay on our ship if that's alright."

"Of course," she replied with a smile. "The Voyager and Enterprise crews stay on their ships as well. It only makes sense. Not everyone can fit in here of course, so it works out well." She stood up from her chair. "I would love to see your ship, if that's alright."

"Of course," the Doctor replied with a wide smile. "I think you would like it."

Shura smiled back. "I'm sure I will." She gestured out the door and they proceeded into the hall.

They made it back to the TARDIS without incident, and the Doctor was quite pleased at Shura's reaction. "Oh, how wonderful! A tiny ship! If you both went in there, it would be awfully tight, so there must be something else." She walked completely around the ship, staying close to the walls to make sure that it was really the size that it looked. "It's really that size on the outside! That means it must be bigger on the inside! Oh, but this is incredible!" She turned back toward the house, cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "SAM!" She waited a moment, smacked her hand lightly against her forehead and called again, "SAMANTHA CARTER!" A longer moment passed, and then Shura smiled. "Sam, come and take a look at this ship! It's bigger on the inside!" There was a moment of quiet, and then she sighed, "Well, I haven't actually gone in yet, but it's the only logical deduction." Another moment, "Well, I was just about to ask him to do so."

She turned to the Doctor, "Could we see inside?"

"Of course," the Doctor pulled the key out of his inside jacket pocket, and was just about to open the door when Shura stumbled backward suddenly as though something had run into her.

"OW! What, Vidia?" She was quiet for a moment before she sighed in exasperation. "Not again!" She turned to the Doctor. "I'm so sorry, but I need to go take care of this. Ryuga is in another one of his moods and I need to go calm him down. I'll have to see your ship some other time."

"Oh, I hope it's nothing serious," the Doctor replied, sounding concerned.

"Well, that depends on how deep in the mood he's in," she replied. "Why don't you move your ship over by the barn. That's where we keep the smaller ships-" she broke off and turned her head quickly toward the house. She winced. "I'd better go, I'll see you later." Without another word, she took off running toward the house.

The Doctor stared after her for a long moment before Rose finally spoke up. "What was that? I think she's lost it."

"No," the Doctor replied. "There's something else going on here. I don't know what yet, but it's something major." He turned toward her and grinned. "This should be fun."