Again, don't take everything I say about Gallifrey as cannon. I made most, if not all, of it up. I only own my OC, Andromeda.
Everyone exited the TARDIS after the Doctor landed it. Andy looked around and saw that they were in a park of some kind. She noticed that Rose was also carrying a backpack. They entered an apartment complex of some kind.
"Mum, its us! We're back! And we want to introduce you to someone!" Rose yelled.
A woman, who looked a lot like Rose came rushing out.
"Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone. You never use it!" she exclaimed.
"Shut up, come here!" Rose said as they hugged.
"Oh, I love you."
"I love you."
"I love you so much."
The Doctor bent down and took Andy's hand. "Come on," he said to her quietly as they tried to sneak past Rose's mom, but she had other things in mind.
" Oh no, you don't. Come here!" she exclaimed, grabbing the Doctor's face and kissing him. "Oh, you lovely big fella! Oh, you're all mine."
"Just, just, just put me down!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"Yes, you are."
Andy burst out laughing, causing Rose's mom to notice her. Rose's mom looked at her with wide eyes.
"And, who is this?" she asked.
The Doctor was about to respond, but Andy beat him to it. "Hello, ma'am. My name's Andromeda, but you can call me Andy." Andy stuck out her hand for her to shake, only to be pulled in for a hug.
"Oh my God, you're adorable! You can call me Jackie, sweetie." Jackie then turned to the Doctor. "Okay, serious question: why is a child with you?"
"She's like me, Jackie." the Doctor explained. "She's a Time Lord/Lady."
"Really?" Jackie asked, looking back at Andy.
Andy nodded in response, hoping to be let down, but she was pulled in for a even tighter hug. She saw the Doctor smiling. "Come on, let her down before you suffocate her."
Jackie nodded and put Andy down and headed to where Rose was.
Rose saw her enter and smiled. "I've got loads of washing for you." she said handing her the backpack. She then handed her a metal trinket. "It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of, er, what's it called?" Rose looked back at the Doctor.
"Bazoolium!" Andy exclaimed, throwing her arms out. "It's a fun word to say!"
Rose smiled and nodded before turning back to her mom. "Bazoolium. When it gets cold, yeah, it means it's going to rain. When it's hot, it's going to be sunny. You can use it to tell the weather."
"I've got a surprise for you and all." Jackie told Rose.
Rose looked down at Andy. "Oh, I get her bazoolium, she doesn't even say thanks."
Andy shook her head sadly. "Some people just appreciate bazoolium."
"Guess who's coming to visit? You're just in time. He'll be here at ten past. Who do you think it is?" Jackie asked.
"I don't know." Rose told her.
"Oh go on, guess."
"No, I hate guessing. Just tell me."
"It's your granddad. Granddad Prentice. He's on his way any minute, Right, cup of tea!" Jackie went to the kitchen.
"She's gone mad." Rose said to the Doctor.
"Tell me something new." the Doctor said.
Rose was serious as she explained it to him. Granddad Prentice, that's her dad. But he died, like, ten years ago. Oh, my God. She's lost it." She then went after her mother. "Mum? What you just said about granddad-"
"Any second now." she replied, excited for her daughter to see her 'granddad.'
Rose smiled. "But he passed away. His heart gave out. Do you remember that?"
"Of Course I do."
"Then how can he come back?"
"Why don't you ask him yourself? Ten past. Here he comes."
They looked to a corner to see a creature come out. To Andy, it just looked like a ball of grey shaped like a human. She clung to the Doctor's leg. The Doctor and Rose stared in amazement and confusion.
"Here we are, then. Dad, say hello to Rose. Ain't she grown?" Jackie said to the thing.
The Doctor picked Andy up as he and Rose ran outside. Once there they saw the same creatures everywhere.
"They're everywhere!" the Doctor said as he put Andy down. Andy went further to explore.
"Andy, look out!" Rose shouted as Andy turned around to see one of the creatures walk to her. It then walked through her, causing her to shudder and squirm. The Doctor and Rose quickly went over to check on her. She buried her face in the Doctor's neck, scared. He picked her up, trying to comfort her as Jackie came out.
"They haven't got long. Midday shift only lasts a couple of minutes. They're about to fade." Jackie explained.
"What do you mean, shift?" the Doctor asked. "Since when did ghosts have shifts? Since when did shifts have ghosts?" Andy laughed a little at that remark, causing the Doctor to smile. He quickly got back to the matter at hand, though. "What's going on?"
"Oh, he's not happy when I know more than him, is he?" Jackie asked.
"But no one's running or screaming or freaking out-"
"Why should we? Here we go. Twelve minutes past."
Soon after she said that, the figures disappeared. Andy looked out again and they were gone. Everyone went back to the apartment. The Doctor quickly turned on the TV as Rose, Jackie and Andy settled on the couch.
"On today's Ghostwatch, claims that some of the ghosts are starting to talk, and there seems to be a regular formation gathering around Westminster Bridge. It's almost like a military display." the man said.
The Doctor turned to the next channel. "What's going on?"
The next show looked like a weather broadcast, but with ghost images on the screen. "And tonight we're expecting very strong ghosts from London, through the North and up into Scotland."
The channel changed again. This time it was a talk show.
"So basically, Eileen, what you're telling me is, that you are in love with a ghost."
"He's my ghost, and I love him twenty four seven."
Changed again to a ghost hunter. "Well, no one needs me anymore!"
Changed again to an advert. "My ghost was pale and grey until I discovered Ectoshine!"
Changed once again, but to a French station. "Et le President d'aujourd'hui, quelle est-"
Changed again to India, then to Japan.
"It's all over the world." the Doctor said.
He changed it again to British TV show Andy didn't recognize. "Listen to me, Den Watts. I don't care if you have come back from the grave. Get out of my pub! The only spirits I'm serving in this place are gin, whisky and vodka. So, you heard me. Get out!"
The Doctor turned off the TV and turned to Jackie. "When did it start?"
Jackie, thinking that her meant the show that was just on explained the plot. "Well, first of all, Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so she goes down-"
"No, I mean worldwide." the Doctor said as Rose smiled at her mother.
"Oh. That was about two months ago. Just happened. Woke up one morning, and there they all were. Ghosts, everywhere. We all ran round screaming and that. Whole planet was panicking. No sign of you, thank you very much. Then it sort of sank in. It took us time to realise that we're lucky." she explained.
"What makes you think it's granddad?" Rose asked her mother.
"It just feels like him. There's that smell, those old cigarettes. Can't you smell it?"
"I wish I could, mum, but I can't."
"You've got to make an effort. You've got to want it, sweetheart."
"The more you want the stronger it gets." the Doctor said.
"Sort of, yeah." Jackie replied.
"Like a psychic link. Of course you want your old dad to be alive, but you're wishing him into existence. The ghosts are using that to pull themselves in." the Doctor explained to her.
"You're spoiling it." Jackie accused.
"I'm sorry, Jackie, but there's no smell, there's no cigarettes. Just a memory."
"But if they're not ghosts, what are they then?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, but they're human!" Jackie argued. "You can see them. They look human."
"She's got a point. I mean, they're all sort of blurred, but they're definitely people." Rose said.
"Maybe not. They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world. But a footprint doesn't look like a boot." the Doctor explained. He then got up, leaving everyone else to follow.
"According to the paper," Rose said she and Andy entered the TARDIS. "They've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds. Now don't tell me you're going to sit back and do nothing."
The Doctor popped out from underneath the console with a backpack and a device with a hose attached to it. " Who you going to call?" he said in a goofy voice, making Rose and Andy laugh.
"Ghostbusters!" Andy replied, still laughing and throwing her hands in the air.
"I ain't afraid of no ghosts." he said, still using that goofy voice. He then left the TARDIS, ROse and Andy following.
Once the Doctor was outside her put metal cones in a triangle shape. "When's the next shift?" he asked Jackie.
"Quarter to. But don't go causing trouble. What's that lot do?" she asked.
"Triangulates their point of origin."
"I don't suppose it's the Gelth?" Rose asked the Doctor.
"Nah. They were just coming through one little rift. This lot are transposing themselves over the whole planet. Like tracing paper." he explained.
"You're always doing this." Jackie accused. "Reducing it to science. Why can't it be real? Just think of it, though. All the people we've lost. Our families coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?"
"I think it's horrific. Rose, Andy, give us a hand." He called and the went back into the TARDIS, hooking up the cable he laid out and Jackie following.
"As soon as the cones activate, if that line goes into the red, press that button there. If it doesn't stop," he handed Rose the sonic screwdriver. "Setting fifteen B. Hold it against the port, eight seconds and stop."
"Fifteen B, eight seconds." Rose repeated.
"Andy, if it goes into the blue, activate the deep scan on the left." he commanded.
"Wait, I know which one!" she exclaimed. The Doctor just started to teach her how to work the TARDIS, so she wanted to test her knowledge. "This one?" she asked pointing to a small button to the far left.
"Hm, close." he replied.
She pointed to a bigger button next to it. "This one?"
"Andy, now you've just killed us." he replied, making Andy and Rose laugh.
She then pointed to a medium size button. "That one?" she asked.
"Yeah! Now, what've we got. Two minutes to go?" he asked Jackie.
Jackie checked her watch. She nodded to confirm that it was in two minutes. The Doctor ran outside to activate the cones.
"What's the line doing?" he yelled back to Rose
"It's all right. It's holding!" Rose yelled back in replied.
"You even look like him?" Jackie told her.
"How do you mean? I suppose I do, yeah." Rose replied with a smile. Andy wished that she could go with the Doctor, because they seemed like they were about to dive into a serious topic.
"You've changed so much."
"For the better."
"I suppose."
"Mum, I used to work in a shop."
"I've worked in shops. What's wrong with that?"
"No, I didn't mean that."
"I know what you meant. What happens when I'm gone?"
"Don't talk like that."
"No, but really. When I'm dead and buried, you won't have any reason to come back home. What happens then?"
"I don't know."
"Do you think you'll ever settle down?"
"The Doctor never will, so I can't. I'll just keep on travelling. With Andy, too."
"And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human."
"Here we go!" the Doctor called out, causing Rose to direct her attention back to the scanner.
"The scanner's working. It says delta one six." she called out to the Doctor.
On the screen, they saw that one of the ghost was in the machine. The Doctor out on a pair of 3D glasses, confusing Andy as to why he needed them. He bent down to fiddle with a radio like machine.
"Don't like that much, do you? Who are you? Where are you coming from? Whoa!" the ghost tried to break through the field. "That's more like it! Not so friendly now, are you?"
The ghost then disappeared. The Doctor disassembled the machine and came back into the TARDIS.
"I said so!" he said as he through his coat to the side. "Those ghosts have been forced into existence from one specific point, and I can track down the source. Allons-y!" he started the TARDIS, making it shake. "I like that. Allons-y. I should say allons-y more often. Allons-y. Watch out, Rose Tyler. Allons-y, Andy. Oh, that's brilliant. Allons-y, Andy! And then, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonso, because then I could say, allons-y, Alonso, every time. You're staring at me." the Doctor noticed Rose staring at him.
"My mum's still on board." Rose informed the Doctor.
The Doctor looked behind her to see Jackie sitting on the self by the entrance.
"If we end up on Mars, I'm going to kill you." she told him, crossing her arms.
Andy laughed at the face the Doctor was making. Rose just smiled.
The TARDIS landed. On the screen, they could see that they were surrounded by troops armed with guns.
"Oh well there goes the advantage of surprise. Still, cuts to the chase. Stay in here, look after Jackie and Andy." the Doctor said to Rose as he started to walk out of the TARDIS.
"I'm not looking after my mum." Rose said, as they all followed after the Doctor.
"Well, you brought her." he argued.
"I was kidnapped!" Jackie exclaimed.
Rose ran and blocked the door, Andy following her.
"Doctor, they've got guns." Rose said.
"And I haven't. Which makes me the better person, don't you think? They can shoot me dead, but the moral high ground is mine." Before he could leave, Andy grabbed onto his leg.
The Doctor bent down to her level and saw that her eyes were filled with worry. "You're not going alone." she said.
"Andy, I need you to stay here." the Doctor said sternly. Andy just shook her head. The Doctor sighed. "I need you to look after everyone, can you do that?" he asked. "It's a very important job only you can do."
Andy nodded, causing the Doctor to smile, passing her off to Rose before heading out the door. Andy went to the door after he left to see what was going on, Jackie and Rose behind her. Andy saw that the guns were pointed at the Doctor. A lady with blonde hair then came out.
"Oh! Oh, how marvelous. Oh, very good. Superb. Happy day!" she exclaimed. She then started to clapp, to other troops following suit.
"Er, thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor." the Doctor introduced himself, although he was confused.
"Oh, I should say. Hurray!" Everyone clapped once again, confusing him even more.
"You-you've heard of me, then?" he asked.
"Well of course we have. And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. The Doctor and the TARDIS." the woman replied. Everyone clapped again.
The Doctor quickly made signs for them to stop. " And-and-and you are?"
"Oh, plenty of time for that. But according to the records, you're not one for travelling alone. The Doctor and his companion. That's a pattern, isn't it, right? There's no point hiding anything. Not from us. So where is she?" the lady asked.
"Yes. Sorry. Good point. She's just a bit shy, that's all."
The Doctor reached in and took hold of Jackie, dragging her out. However, that also made Andy come out since she was in front of her, though she was still behind the Doctor.
"But here she is, Rose Tyler. Hmm. She's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde. Not too steady on her pins. A lot of that," he made the sign of talking. "And just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty seven years. But she'll do."
"I'm forty." Jackie protested.
The Doctor still didn't notice that Andy was out as well, but the strange woman did.
"And who is the child?" she asked, causing the Doctor to look around confused until he spotted Andy. His eye's widened, but he quickly regained his composure and went to pick her up.
"Oh, this is Andromeda. You can call her Andy, though." he said with a smile, but he gave Andy a look of 'we'll have a talk about this later.' "She's one of my youngest companions, found her abandoned and decided to take her in. She's still new to all this."
The woman nodded, but Andy was confused. Why was the Doctor lying about how he found her? And that Jackie was Rose?
"Anyway, lead on. Allons-y. But not too fast. Rose's ankle's going." he said, poking fun at Jackie one last time.
"I'll show you where my ankle's going." Jackie said to him, angry, as they followed the strange woman.
"It was only a matter of time until you found us, and at last you've made it. I'd like to welcome you, Doctor. Welcome to Torchwood." she said as she opened a door, revealing a factory like place with crates everywhere.
"That's a Jathar Sunglider." the Doctor said, referring to a thing hanging from the ceiling.
"Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago." the woman explained.
"What, did it crash?"
"No, we shot it down. It violated our airspace. Then we stripped it bare. The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us." she said, sounding proud, she then lead then somewhere else. "Now, if you'd like to come with me. The Torchwood Institute has a motto. If it's alien, it's ours. Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down and we use it for the good of the British Empire."
"For the good of the what?" Jackie asked, confused.
"The British Empire." the woman repeated.
"There isn't a British Empire." Jackie said.
"Not yet. Ah, excuse me. Now, if you wouldn't mind." A soldier handed her a gun like device. "Do you recognize this, Doctor?"
"That's a particle gun." the Doctor replied.
Jackie went to touch it, but the woman kept it out of her reach. "Good, isn't it? Took us eight years to get it to work." she explained.
"It's the twenty first century. You can't have particle guns." the Doctor said matter-of-factly.
"We must defend our border against the alien. Thank you, Sebastian, isn't it?" she asked the soldier.
"Yes, Ma'am." Sebastian replied.
"Thank you, Sebastian. I think it's very important to know everyone by name. Torchwood is a very modern organisation. People skills. That's what it's all about these days. I'm a people person." she explained.
"Have you got anyone called Alonso?" the Doctor asked, causing Andy to quietly laugh.
"No, I don't think so. Is that important?" the woman asked.
"No, I suppose not. What was your name?"
"Yvonne. Yvonne Hartman." Yvonne responded.
The Doctor went over and put Andy down before picking up clamp like things. Yvonne smiled. "Ah, yes. Now, we're rather fond of these. The Magna Clamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tonnes of weight with a single hand. That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric."
"I could do with that to carry the shopping." Jackie said.
Yvonne smiled. "All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit, not the general public's."
Andy tugged at Yvonne's skirt, gaining her attention. "What's with the ghosts?" she asked.
Yvonne smiled at her. "Ah yes, the ghosts. They're er what you might call a side effect."
"Of what?" the Doctor asked, gaining her attention.
"All in good time, Doctor. There is an itinerary, trust me."
They then saw the TARDIS being taken away. Jackie gasped. "Oi! Where are you taking that?"
"You'll never get inside it." the Doctor told her.
"Hmm! Et cetera."
Andy felt her key necklace, remembering what the Doctor told her about it.
~Flashback~
Andy was in the TARDIS console room, talking with the TARDIS when the Doctor came in. Andy yawned.
"Come on, Andy," he told her. "It's time for bed."
She nodded, rubbing her tired eyes and taken the Doctor's hand following him to her room. Her room was a simple child's room, with stars on the ceiling. She dressed into her pajama, but the Doctor noticed that her necklace was still on.
"Andy, do you want to take that off?" he asked. She shook her head in response.
He picked her up and put her on her bed. "Do you know what it is?" Again, she shook her head. "It's a master key. It can open any TARDIS, it was used by the growers or mechanics for the TARDIS'. So, they could get in without the key from the owner. You're parents probably gave it to you."
By this point, Andy was really tired. "So, is that what you do then?" she asked laying down.
The Doctor froze. "What?"
When he didn't get a response he looked back to see Andy asleep. The Doctor smiled and got up and left the room, leaving Andy to her dreams.
~Flashback End~
The Doctor picked up Andy, breaking her from her thoughts as they were led somewhere else.
"All those times I've been on Earth, I've never heard of you." the Doctor told Yvonne.
"But of course not. You're the enemy. You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown." Yvonne explained.
"1879. That was called Torchwood, that house in Scotland."
"That's right. Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf."
"I think he makes half of it up." Jackie said, but was ignored.
"Her Majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express intention of keeping Britain great, and fighting the alien horde." Yvonne continued.
"But if I'm the enemy, does that mean that I'm a prisoner?" the Doctor asked.
"Oh yes. But we'll make you perfectly comfortable. And there is so much you can teach us. Starting with this."
They entered a room that had a giant sphere. Andy looked at it in confusion. What was so special about a big sphere?