Rose
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or it's characters.
CLAIMER: I do own Katherine and a really old and slightly usless laptop.
The Katherine stepped in the TARDIS in a daze. She didn't notice the door slam shut or the blister she got last weak throb in protest of her running. What she did notice was the TARDIS fully entering her mind, joyful and exited. After three years of complete and utter silence in her head, someone connected with her. It was almost overwhelming, and Katherine didn't care that she might've looked weak or that her knees will definitely have bruises by night as she sunk to the floor. The tears she shed were both sad and happy -because however much Katherine has missed the TARDIS and the mental contact, it brought in sharp relief what she had tried to ignore. The reason why Katherine couldn't mentally connect with anyone. They were all dead. All the other TARDISes -with whom Katherine had spent most of her life, her parents and her mischievous –and often annoying- brother. Her husband. All the Time Lord's of Gallifrey, every little time tot. They were all dead. Because of her.
Katherine shook the painful thoughts away as she stood up. She wiped her tears and walked to the console on slightly unsteady legs. She stroked the console, in deep thought. A hope –one she didn't manage to quench completely, one that has burned brighter and brighter since she started following the insistent tug on her mind -rose to the surface of her thoughts.
"I-is… is the Doctor alive?" She asked, her voice breaking on the last word.
The TARDIS hummed a happy affirmative, the lights blinking. The Katherine let out a shuddering breath, uncaring of the tears slipping down her face.
"Whe-where is he? Is he here?" An exited laugh bubbled past her lips as she looked around the changed console room as if Doctor would to pop out of the wall at any moment.
The TARDIS hummed softly, sadness leaking through their reconnected bond. Katherine froze.
"What happened? Is he alright?" Images from her nightmares raised to the front of her mind -the Doctor on the brink of death, bloodied and alone, begging her to help.
"Is he injured?"
The sentient space-time ship didn't answer, but turned on the monitor that flashed a bright gold –getting the Katherine's attention.
A woman Katherine didn't know took the majority of the screen; a generic white background took the rest. It was just her head that Katherine could see, her wild ginger curls covering her shoulders and some of her face. Her dark blue eyes were sad as they peeked through a stray strand of hair. A corner of her lips was pulled up in a sort of sad smile.
"Hello Katherine."
Katherine stepped back, startled.
"What?"
"I know you are very confused right now, and you'll need this information in the following times. This is a recording, so you won't be able to ask questions, even though you'll really want to." There was a strange note of bitter amusement in the voice of the woman that a far corner of Katherine's mind decided to call Curly. There was a pause and Curly's face was suddenly devoid of all emotion, the previous amusement abruptly gone.
"I'll start with the good news. The Doctor is alive. The TARDIS will warn you when he gets close so you can get away without him noticing you."
"Why would the Doctor noticing me be a problem!?" Katherine couldn't hold in the indignant question. A dark voice in her mind reminded her that he probably hated her, but she drowned it out like she always did- she'd had some practice in the last three years.
The TARDIS hummed consolingly as Katherine stared at the woman's face, frozen with her mouth half-open. She felt rather stupid as she remembered it was a recording and that the woman had already said Katherine wouldn't be able to ask questions. She took a deep breath and held it as the TARDIS resumed the feed.
"After you so elegantly crashed your TARDIS to Earth, things only got worse. All kinds of horrors resurfaced and as the War went on the Time Lords got more and more desolate. The decadence in action was horrifying." Though Curly's face remained blank, Katherine could see the pain in her eyes.
"The Doctor was crushed with grief of your believed death, but he was eventually convinced that you would want him to fight and not give up Gallifrey to the War. To stop his memories of you tormenting him, he buried them and blocked them away. As Gallifrey fell he regenerated, but it was a violent regeneration and the memories of you were blocked almost completely. If-"
The TARDIS paused the video feed without Katherine saying anything and she felt an amazing amount of gratitude towards the sentient ship. There were tears falling down Katherine's face –tears she didn't remember shedding. She wanted to scream and shout 'LIAR' at the blank faced woman, she wanted to curl up in a ball and let herself be comforted by her TARDIS, she wanted to run out in the streets and search for the Doctor and beg him to remember her. She did none of that. Curly's word rang true, the TARDIS humming in sad agreement in Katherine's mind. She knew there was more to learn from Curly- the woman's interrupted sentence made that glaringly obvious. Katherine nudged the TARDIS mentally, telling her to resume the recording.
"-his memories return too quickly his mind will reap the consequences. They could range from his mind getting wiped clean of all memories to his painful death as his mind withered away. However, if they come back gradually -and without your prompting- there will be only minimal danger to his psyche. I think it necessary to add that if you revealed yourself as a Time Lady to him now, it would come as a bit of a shock and just might trigger his memories in a dangerous way. Good luck."
The Katherine stared at the black screen, the abruptly ended recording leaving her in slight shock. The information ran through her mind on a loop. The Doctor is alive. The Doctor regenerated. The Doctor doesn't remember me. She didn't know how long she stood there staring at the black screen when the TARDIS nudged her mind urgently, flashing her lights. Katherine shook herself out of her unintelligent thoughts and realised what that meant. The doctor was coming. An exited thrill ran through Katherine's mind at the thought even as she started for the door, Curly's words running through her mind. Mind wiped clean- painful death -mind withered away. She ran out of the TARDIS with her ponytail swinging, blending in with a group passing by, not allowing herself to look around and search for him. She wasn't ready for an encounter with a Doctor who had no idea who Katherine was. She wasn't sure she would ever be.
∽··∽
Katherine had no idea how she managed to get home. The walk was shrouded in a haze in her mind, with a far off recollection of someone bumping into her. She knew she must have looked pathetic as she entered the flat she shared with Rose and Jackie, as the latter immediately hung up on whoever she was talking to at the moment and made her sit on the settee as she made her some tea -which Katherine gratefully drowned.
The background noise of the telly and the banging in the kitchen joined with Jackie's continued chatter on the phone gave Katherine a surprising amount of comfort, allowing her to finally relax her tense muscles. She decided she could agonise over the situation with the Doctor later and just unwind for now – it would be of no use to go into hysterics.
She checked her phone absently and saw she had a message from her boss- Manny, as it was- and couldn't hold back the instinctive cringe at the prospect of an oncoming lecture. She was –understandably- confused when she read said message.
Okay, Smith, but you better not come tomorrow if you're still sick. I don't fancy catching your bug.-Manny
It was with bemusement that she saw a message from her to Manny, sent at 6.43 p.m.
Boss, I'm sorry but I won't be able to return after my pause- I had a little pukefest on my walk. –Katherine
She realised with a silent laugh that it was the TARDIS that sent it and sent mental thanks to the ship. It was obvious to Katherine that the ship had used the usual pattern of her messages to sound like her, using the words Katherine already has. She didn't know when she'll next see the Doctor and she really needed the job – boring as it was. She felt her thoughts shift back to her situation with the Doctor and decided to distract herself with her lovely birthday present.
It was in the middle of chapter five of Inkheart that Jackie's gasp made Katherine look up. The former was staring at the telly fearfully and Katherine joined her as she read the caption, HENRICK'S BLOWN UP glaring up at her from the screen. She was about half-way to the door when they opened and a shaken-up Rose entered, stopping her in her tracks. Jackie rushed past Katherine to her daughter, hugging Rose so tightly it was a wonder she could breathe. The relief that washed over Katherine at the sight of Rose alive was almost as strong as what she felt when the TARDIS 'told' her the Doctor was alive, and it made her distinctively not care that she looked like a sap when she hugged her just as tightly as her mother did as soon as Jackie stepped away.
Rose, it seemed, couldn't bare such pathetic displays of affection one so soon after another so she pushed Katherine away to collapse on the couch Katherine previously occupied with a huffed out "I'm fine."
Katherine joined her on the couch and let Jackie do the interrogation. No, Rose wasn't in the shop when it blew up. Yes, she was fine. No, she wasn't going to sue anyone. Mum, just leave me alone already! As the scare has passed, Katherine felt completely justified in her amusement at her friends' annoyance. She decided she'll ask her own questions later, when Rose was more likely to answer truthfully, and returned to her book.
∽··∽
"-Central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire. Early reports indicate-"
Katherine put down her book with a resigned sigh. With Jackie turning up the telly to full volume to keep up with the updates while non-stop chattering with various people on the phone she could barely concentrate on the words. Rose patted her knee consolingly with a half-mocking smile.
"There, there. You'll read after she goes to sleep." was her thoughtful consolation.
"Shut up." Katherine couldn't hold back a smile. "So, want to tell me what it was you didn't want Jackie to know?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rose lied unconvincingly.
"It's on the telly." Jackie was telling someone on the phone. "It's everywhere. She's lucky to be alive. Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old Bible."
Katherine couldn't suppress a snort. Rose elbowed her.
"Walking in now you'd think I was her daughter." Katherine snorted again. "Oh, and here's himself."
Mickey walked in without knocking and Katherine could see the worry in his eyes as he looked at his girlfriend. Mickey was no stranger to the Tyler flat. He and Rose had been friends since Rose was ten and started following the older boy everywhere despite his grumbling about it. They had only became an item a month ago. Now it was more the other way around, with Mickey usually following Rose's lead –like he did in becoming friends with Katherine.
"Was about time." Katherine couldn't help but rib him with a small smile, only to be completely ignored.
"I've been phoning your mobile. You could've been dead. It's on the news and everything. I can't believe that your shop went up!"
"I'm all right, honestly, I'm fine! Don't make a fuss." Rose said, fighting a fond smile.
"And you," He turned to Katherine. "Andy told me you were sick, and you weren't answering your phone either!" Mickey liked to think he was the big brother in their relationship, despite the fact that Katherine looked to be in her thirties -he said a few years didn't matter. Katherine didn't tell him she had a few centuries on him.
"I'm fine." Andy was a fellow waiter at the restaurant, and Mickey's friend. "And besides, I have no missed calls from you."
Mickey looked confused, then sheepish.
"Did you forget I got a new phone, again? It's been over a month!"
The silence was all the answer she needed. Rose laughed, and Mickey apparently decided that it was better to take the limelight off of him.
"Well, what happened?" He determinedly didn't look at a laughing Katherine and focused completely on Rose. He knew from experience that if you tried to stop her from laughing it would make it all the worse.
"I don't know!" and Rose the Bad Liar strikes again.
"What was it though?" Mickey apparently couldn't take a hint. Katherine threw a nut she found on the small table in front of her and missed him. He glared at her and then kindly proceeded to ignore her. "What caused it?"
"I wasn't in the shop. I was outside. I didn't see anything." Rose was avoiding his eyes, though Mickey didn't seem to notice. Katherine rolled her eyes. She was about to cut in the conversation before Jackie beat her to it.
"It's Debbie on the end. She knows a man on the Mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview." Katherine couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes and then focused on the mother-daughter pair. This was sure to be amusing.
"Oh that's brilliant! Give it here." She took the phone from Jackie and ended the call. Katherine and Mickey shared amused smiles. Jackie wasn't so entertained.
"Well, you've got to find some way of making money. Your job's kaput and I'm not bailin' you out." Katherine could see Jackie was just getting the wind in her metaphorical sails for a proper lection when the phone rang again, distracting her.
"Bev! She's alive. I've told her, sue for compensation. She was within seconds of death."
Katherine ignored the rest of the conversation.
"What're you drinking, tea?" Mickey asked, his tone incredulous. "Nah, nah, that's no good, that's no good. You're both in shock. You need something stronger." Katherine met Rose's eyes and they shared a knowing smile.
"I'm all right." Rose told him.
"And I puked today. I think something stronger was the last thing I need." It wasn't the truth but it was a valid excuse. Mickey seemed to think so too as he focused completely on Rose.
"All right, so Katherine's not coming. But Rose, come on, you deserve a proper drink. We're going down the pub, you and me. My treat. How about it?"
"Is there a match on?" Rose asked, ignoring his wheedling.
"No, I'm just thinking about you, babe." Katherine took a moment to wonder at being surrounded by such terrible liars.
"C'mon Kathy, tell her."
"Don't call me Kathy. And there is a match on, isn't there?" Katherine backed Rose up, annoyed at his chosen nickname for her.
Mickey seemed to have realised they weren't going to buy into his lies.
"That's not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes." At least he had the decency to sound sheepish.
"Go on, then. I'm fine, really. Go. Get rid of that." Rose urged him, pointing at a plastic hand Katherine hadn't noticed before. She blamed it on the craziness of the whole day.
"Yeah, beat it." Katherine teased. "You've taken up enough of our time as it is."
Mickey ignored her in favour of kissing Rose and then took his revenge by giving her a short noogie.
"Bye, bye." He smiled a purposefully idiotic smile.
"Bye."
"Ciao." Katherine teased. Mickey had once confided in her that his first girlfriend and kiss was an Italian girl. He didn't go into detail but it was apparently so bad he still flinched at the sound of Italian language. Katherine couldn't let the golden opportunity go by, mean as it was to tease him so.
Mickey rolled his eyes after the expected cringe, and then proceeded to pretended to be strangled by the plastic arm and leave the flat.
Rose and Katherine shared a commiserating eye-roll (men!) before Rose decided to take advantage of the situation.
"So, it's been a really stressful day." She hinted. "I really need to relax..."
"No." Katherine said immediately, knowing exactly what the blonde wanted.
"I've had genuine shock and trauma, just ask mum."
"No."
"Oh c'mon Katie, please?" she stretched out the last word and even put her way-too-effective puppy dog eyes to use, along with her -much preferred- nickname for Katherine.
"Ugh, I'm so gonna regret this," Katherine said with the voice of someone who knew what horrors were to come. "-but fine."
It was a problem to Katherine, how much she allowed Rose Tyler to sneak in her heart. It was a challenge -telling her no- when she knew she would probably be consumed by her darkness if it weren't for the family that practically adopted her. The soldier part of her mind -one that remained after the War, no matter how much Katherine hated it- told her it was a serious tactical disadvantage, allowing someone to have so much power over her. She ignored it.
"Yes!" was Rose's gleeful answer as she jumped right off the settee and towards the CD case, picking what was probably the worst movie of the terrible lot. Rose turned to Katherine.
"Bad telly time!"
The Time Lady groaned. "Do we have to?" Katherine knew she was whining. She just didn't care.
"You promised." Rose's voice was victorious.
That she did. And now Katherine had a few hours of some of the worst movies humanity ever filmed to look forward to. Joy. Please note the sarcasm.
∽··∽
Katherine didn't have the time to properly question Rose about last night's events thanks to falling asleep halfway through some film she didn't remember the name of, and she was pretty sure that's been Rose's intention all along. She didn't remember she was going to until she was already on the bus station, having been barely coherent before Jackie –lovely Jackie- gave her a thermos full of magnificent coffee as she stumbled out of the apartment, long before Rose's annoying alarm clock rang. She arrived about fifteen minutes late to the day's lecture in maths -but still a good ten minutes before the professor did.
After a good night's sleep –and that must have been the best sleep she had in years- the events of the day before seemed such a long time ago. She spent the lesson and the next brainstorming –how to find the Doctor, how to approach the Doctor without appearing suspicious to him, how to bear being around him when he wouldn't remember her, etc. Safe to say, she didn't have many answers to any of the questions by the time she was done- which was 3 o'clock. She was somewhat grateful for the day's full schedule as she really needed something to occupy herself with and give herself less time to focus on the fear that kept growing in her –that she would never get the Doctor to remember her safely.
∽··∽
In a contrast to the previous day, Manny's was fuller than usual. Katherine felt annoyed and grateful for the mind numbing work at the same time–though mostly annoyed as it meant she couldn't very well go on her break and leave poor Andy to face the mob-of-hungry-people (as he called the customers) all by himself. She was almost convinced her legs were going to fall off if she didn't sit down soon, and was about to beg Andy to give her five minutes when Rose and Mickey walked in and sat in their usual table, Rose looking a bit glum.
"Hello, my name is Katherine and I will be your waitress this evening." A cheery, over the top voice, a terrible Texan accent and a forced smile- it never failed to make Rose laugh.
Rose did, in fact laugh while Mickey just stared. Katherine figured her accent must have been even worse than usual.
"Hey, Katie."
"So, what do you wanna eat?" She asked, back to her normal voice. "And be quick, I've got hundreds of other people to serve."
Rose listed off the order slowly and with a smug smile -it was the same thing they always got- and Katherine couldn't help but notice how quiet Mickey was being. She blinked as she saw his skin seemed to have a special shine to it. She turned to the kitchen and stifled a snort. It seemed Rose had convinced (forced) him to put on the skin lotion he bought her again. It was an ongoing thing, Rose and Katherine had a bet on how long it would take him to finally snap and admit that no, he didn't buy the lotion because it was something he always wanted to have, but because he didn't know what to get Rose for Valentine's day and it was on sale. It was a terrible thing that stank of plastic, and it was probably really bad for the skin, but Katherine felt he deserved it after he obnoxiously refused her offered help with said gift.
She left their order in the kitchen and went back to serving other tables, wishing she could sit by her friends and chat and relax –not listen to the complaints of a tipsy customer who wanted a Manny's Special, not Quattro Formaggio –even though Katherine distinctively remembered him asking for the latter.
"Your champagne." the northern accented voice brought her up short.
Katherine looked around and saw a back, covered in a leather jacket, standing next to Rose and Mickey's table. Neither of her friends even looked up at him. Mickey dismissively said something, seemingly focused on Rose. You'd think they'd realise that Katherine was their waitress, not a strange northern guy. She crept closer -ready to tell the guy to bugger off- but something stopped her.
"Madam, your champagne." The Leather-Guy insisted.
"It's not ours. Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?" The concern in Rose's voice worried Katherine.
"I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?" Katherine stopped mid-step. Something was up with Mickey.
"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?" The exasperation in the Leather-Guy's voice put a fond smile on Katherine's face -though she turned it into a frown as soon as she realised it was there, confused. There was a strange buzzing in her head.
"Look, we didn't order it." Mickey finally looked up, and then stopped, seeming to have recognised the man. "Ah. Gotcha."
Leather-Guy started shaking a bottle of champagne he held in his hand vigorously. What was he doing? Katherine took a few steps closer, coming to stand almost directly next to him. She barely had the time to notice the half-scared, half-confused look on Rose's face when the man spoke, smiling a manic smile, not seeming to notice Katherine was right next to him.
"Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!"
The cork of the bottle went flying straight into Mickey's forehead, and got absorbed in it. There was a moment of calm which Katherine used to identify the creature posing as Mickey as an auton, and curse her thoughtless dismissal of the obvious earlier before the world resumed moving.
"Anyway." Auton Mickey got up and turned his hand into a chopper, unbothered by the cork which went flying out of his moth. Katherine rushed to Rose and tugged her up, puling out of her shocked stupor, wincing as the auton wrecked the table. Leather-Guy grabbed the auton in a parody of the noogie Mickey gave her the night before and pulled off its head.
The restaurant went in a panic, people rushing to stand up. The tipsy guy Katherine was having trouble with was screaming, soon getting joined by a couple of other customers.
The head in the man's –Katherine refused to call him anything else, regardless of the hope that seemed to grow with every passing moment- opened its mouth.
"Don't think that's going to stop me."
A man -Katherine vaguely recognised him as Andy- was screaming as he ran out of the restaurant, pushing past terrified customers, the kitchen staff on his heals. The body of the auton got up and started flailing about, and Katherine went into action with the certainty that if people didn't get out immediately, they were going to get hurt. She ran to the fire alarm and turned it on. Rose was obviously following the same line of thought as Katherine was and stared yelling, having a much greater lung capacity than Katherine. Like mother like daughter, indeed.
"Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!"
Katherine pulled Rose towards the kitchen, where she knew was a back exit.
"Come on, we'll never get out that way." She explained shortly when Rose protested.
The Leather-Guy followed, and they ran through the kitchens, the man carrying the plastic head, while the body wrecked the restaurant before following after them.
"Hey" Katherine breathed as they ran towards the exit, unable to stop herself as she realised how familiar the man felt. The hope within her had gone from a small spark to a raging inferno. "I'm Katherine, you are?"
The Leather-Guy, though clearly bemused, answered. "The Doctor. Fancy meeting you."
"Yeah." The breathless reply was the best she could do while fighting the overwhelming urge to throw herself on him and beg him to remember her. Alarm bells were ringing in her head, along with a great big caption of NOT READY NOT READY: ABANDON SHIP. Thankfully, Katherine was always a good actress – and an even better liar, so it didn't show. She just never had to lie to him before.
As they ran out the back door the Doctor (the Doctor! her mind screamed joyfully) took out his sonic screwdriver and Katherine followed Rose further down the back street. The Doctor sealed the exit shut while Rose inspected the gates at the end of the alley. They were padlocked shut, though that wasn't a problem -Katherine had a key, though Rose and the Doctor didn't need to know that. Even if she couldn't feel her (she could), the TARDIS was standing proud, and to Katherine it seemed she was glowing in a sort of otherworldly light.
Rose, as it was, was past confused and full in freaking out now.
"Open the gate! Use that tube thing. Come on!"
Katherine didn't respond to that as it was obvious Rose was talking to the Doctor.
"Sonic screwdriver." He corrected her, and Katherine couldn't supress a small smile. She had missed the trusty tool.
"Use it! Katie, tell him."
"Um, Rose-" Katherine started but the Doctor cut her off, seemingly not noticing she was there.
"Nah. Tell you what, let's go in here." He gestured to the TARDIS.
He unlocked it and went inside, leaving the girls alone. The Auton Mickey hammered on the metal door, making dents, and making Rose flinch in fear.
"You can't hide inside a wooden box. It's going to get us! Doctor!"
Rose tried the locked gate once again but Katherine pulled her towards the TARDIS.
"C'mon," She said, amused at her next words. "He seems to know what he's doing."
Rose seemed to contemplate resisting before allowing the Time Lady to pull her inside. She stopped as she took one look at the inside and ran outside again. Katherine, on the other hand, found herself frozen, as she took in the magnificence that was her TARDIS. This time, not otherwise preoccupied by the fact that her TARDIS was alive or other such matters, she took in the new desktop. It retained the usual mostly open plan, but the console was more central and the walls slightly curved. The roundels were replaced by brass coloured hexagons. There were coral shapes rising up to the ceiling. It gave the TARDIS a more earthly feel, a bit of a grunge look. Katherine absolutely loved it. Rose ran back in.
"It's going to follow us!"
∽··∽
"The assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute." The Doctor said, ignoring the panicking blonde. Katherine looked away from admiring the TARDIS and put an arm around Rose. It seemed this incarnation of him was rude –a contrast to his sophisticated eight self. It struck her then that she didn't even know which regeneration he was on.
"You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect." The Doctor was talking at them rather than to them. Katherine had seen him do that a lot of times to their companions, but he never did it to her. It was strange –being at the receiving end of it. "I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. Right. Where do you want to start?" He finally turned to them, remembering they existed.
Rose went first. "Er, the inside's bigger than the outside?"
"Yes."
"It's alien." Katherine stated this time. It was the first thing that fell to her mind, and she had to say something.
"Yeah." He answered, nonchalant.
"Are you alien?" Rose's voice was wavering.
"Yes. Is that all right?" Katherine focused on Rose, suddenly very interesting in her answer.
"Yeah." Rose said, and Katherine smiled in relief, nodding at the Doctor's questioning gaze.
"It's called the TARDIS, this thing." The Doctor started explaining and Katherine couldn't help but feel insulted at his calling her -well, their- ship a thing. The TARDIS let out an irritated hum as well. "T.A.R.D.I.S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." Rose burst into tears.
"That's okay." The Doctor said, awkwardly. "Culture shock. Happens to the best of us." Katherine ignored the oblivious Time Lord and turned to Rose, hugging her tightly. Rose returned the hug, relaxing somewhat, before turning back to the Doctor. Katherine didn't fail to notice the blond latch on her hand and hold tightly.
"Did they kill him?" Rose asked the Doctor. "Mickey?" She added at his confused look. "Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?"
"Oh. I didn't think of that." The Doctor dug himself deep into the metaphorical hole.
"He's my boyfriend." Rose started on him. "You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think?"
"Rose..." Katherine tried to calm her down, even though she knew it was a pointless exercise. "And now you're just going to let him melt?" Rose sounded slightly hysterical.
The Doctor, of course, ignored the upset human part and focused on the latter. "Melt?"
He turned around to see the Auton Mickey's head was melting on the console, where it was attached by multiple cables. The sight of her friend's copied head melting was grotesque, and rather disturbing. Katherine heard the TARDIS hum in annoyance at the Doctor's making a mess on her console.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor seemed to have forgotten about the two of them being there. He set the TARDIS in motion, running around the console without any noticeable pattern. It was strangely comforting to Katherine, to see his driving has not improved at all.
"What're you doing?" Rose somehow managed to sound angry, scared and confused at the same time.
The Doctor took no notice of her tone and replied. "Following the signal."
He was focused on piloting the TARDIS and Katherine winced as he pressed a lot of wrong buttons. She crept towards the console trying not to be obvious about flicking the neutron stabiliser. The Doctor had almost sent them spiralling off into a black hole -an admirable feat, seeing as how he was making only a minimal hop. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice her meddling. He always got all grumpy when she showed him up flying - not at all a difficult thing given his multiple failed exams, and her growing up around TARDISes.
"It's fading. Wait a minute, I've got it." He started panicking as the signal got fainter with every passing second. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!" He flung down the materialisation lever and as soon as they landed started running for the door.
Rose was, despite being angry with him, concerned. "You can't go out there. It's not safe." He –predictably- didn't listen.
Katherine couldn't help but smile at her friend. She knew Rose was still concerned about Mickey, Katherine was too, but she hoped that her hunch of him being alive was needed to maintain the Auton Mickey was correct. She wished the Doctor would be considerate for once and tell Rose he was most probably still alive, as she couldn't do it for obvious reasons.
Katherine took Rose's hand and gave her what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze and with a shared glance they started for the door, following the mad, wonderful, magnificent, alive idiot out.
∽··∽
The Katherine looked around as they came out of the TARDIS. She recognised the area as Westminster, on the north back of the Thames. She used to spend her breaks here, back when she was working in the nearest Starbucks.
"I lost the signal, I got so close."
Rose was still looking around, confused. "We've moved. Does it fly?"
"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand." He dismissed her, deep in thought.
"That seems pretty straight forward." Katherine put in, tired of being talked around. "So it, what? Teleports?" She tried putting it into human terms, using her formidable knowledge of the local Sci-Fi.
As the Doctor opened his mouth, ready to argue just how different what the TARDIS does was, Rose cut in. "If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose."
"It melted with the head." The Doctor said dismissively. "Are you going to witter on all night?"
Rose ignored him, as the shock of the materialisation wore of and she remembered. "I'll have to tell his mother." The Doctor looked confused, and Katherine found herself pitying him despite the fact that he deserved it. He didn't know the dragon he was waking, making a Tyler woman angry.
"Mickey." Rose was furious. "I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again!"
Katherine was more concerned about his gran herself as she knew that Mickey's mother was almost never around, dropping by only when she needed more money. She figured Rose was thinking of how her mother would react at such news and applying it to Mickey's family. She -unlike Katherine and Mickey- didn't know the feeling of having a parent who didn't give two damns about how their kid was. And even though the Doctor deserved what Rose was dishing up, she wanted to diffuse the tension.
"Rose-"
"You were right, you are alien." Katherine winced at the accusation even though she knew it was said out of anger. It highlighted the fear she had since she got close to the Tylers, that they would scorn her when they found out she was an alien- if not because of the fact, then because of the lying.
"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-" The Doctor started and Katherine felt all the pity she felt for him drain away, replaced with a worry. It wasn't like the Doctor to dismiss a life as unimportant.
"Yeah, he's not a kid." Rose defended, making Katherine's lips quirk up in amusement. Compared to her and the Doctor, every person on Earth was a kid.
The Doctor rolled his eyes and continued. "It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?"
"All right." The constant arguing was really starting to get on her nerves, especially as she wasn't informed of the catastrophe that the Doctor was trying to save the Earth from, even though she had a feeling the Autons had something to do with it.
"Yes, it is!"
"Oh, shut up you two!" Katherine finally burst out, not even embarrassed. "You two are going to stop bickering like two kindergarteners and explain to me what the hell is going on! Hopefully," She continued, her tone acidic. "-before we all die of old age!" The last words were shouted in frustration. The Doctor looked shocked, apparently shocked that a human would scold him so, while Rose looked sheepish, not a stranger to Katherine's reprimands.
"So you're silent all the time unless you need to yell at people, is that how it works with you?" The Doctor asked teasingly, before he saw the dangerous look on her face and decided it better to explain the situation. "All the plastic on Earth is being controlled by an alien being called the Nestene Consciousness, and if we don't stop it, it's going to take over the world." He paused, and then, apparently satisfied with his summary of the situation, nodded.
"What!?" Her tone was indignant-she couldn't believe the nonchalance with which he said it, the jerk, but the Doctor probably assumed it was from disbelief. She didn't correct him.
"If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the North?" Rose asked, diffusing the tension, asking a question that has been bugging her since the man said he was an alien. Katherine looked at the Doctor, interested in his answer to that.
"Lots of planets have a north." His accent was adorable. Katherine tried to think of a question a newbie human would ask- she didn't have the time to prepare herself for this, ironic as it was. She looked back at the TARDIS and got an idea-he always loved talking about her, and it was no wonder-the ship was amazing.
"What's a police public call box?"
"It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise." The Doctor smiled fondly at the TARDIS and Katherine smiled smugly.
Rose reminded them of the problem. "Okay. And this- this living plastic. What's it got against us?"
"Nothing. It loves you." The Doctor jabbered, in his element. "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."
Katherine frowned, confused. The last she knew, the Nestene had perfectly good planets with better (for them) conditions than Earth could provide them - especially as she'd managed to get a peace treaty with them at the beginning of the War, as the last thing they needed was for the Nestene to make problems on top of Daleks. The treaty contained agreement to follow the laws of the Shadow Proclamation which included not colonising on below level six planets.
"Its food stock was destroyed in the War, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth -dinner!" Katherine frowned, ignoring his enthusiastic voice-though she noticed it catch slightly at the mention of the War. The Nestene weren't involved in it, and most of their planets weren't even in the galaxy most of the battles happened in.
"After you so elegantly crashed your TARDIS to Earth, things only got worse. All kinds of horrors resurfaced and as the War went on the Time Lords got more and more desolate. The decadence in action was horrifying." Curly's voice echoed through her mind. She swallowed a sudden knot in her throat. She wondered how many other species were damaged by a war that was not theirs.
"Any way of stopping it?" Rose asked, oblivious to Katherine's unease.
The Doctor held up a tube of blue liquid.
"Anti-plastic."
"Anti-plastic." Rose repeated, and Katherine didn't bother to supress a snort. While Rose was confused Katherine was dubious. There way no way it was actually called anti-plastic, but it wouldn't be the first time the Doctor made up a name to avoid sounding stupid or ignorant in the face of something he didn't know.
"Anti-plastic." He confirmed, glaring at Katherine at the perceived slight against his honour. "But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"
"Hold on." Rose said. "Hide what?"
"Yeah, share with the class, Doc." Katherine prompted. She had always liked giving people nicknames, since her first regeneration read that it was an action humans often took part in, and she couldn't call him by his academy one.
The Doctor glared at her, like he did centuries ago on Gallifrey when they were time tots, and she told him his Academy nickname should be Theta Sigma. He didn't like it. "Don't - call me Doc. The transmitter." He stated, acting as if he was repeating himself, even though he didn't mention it before. Katherine easily followed his line of thought, though she didn't let him know. "The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."
"What's it look like?" Rose asked.
"Like a transmitter." The Doctor liked stating obvious. "Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London. A huge circular metal structure - like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible." Katherine stared at the London Eye, to which they had a great view of from where they were standing. She saw Rose follow her line of sight and the widening of her eyes in realisation. She glanced at Katherine, uncertain, grinning as she realised she had the right idea. They grinned at each other and waited for the Doctor to get the memo. It was pretty obvious.
"What?" He asked, realising they were ginning knowingly. "What?"
He finally turned around to look at what they were staring at on the south bank. Katherine expected a shout of 'Of course!' but the penny doesn't drop.
"C'mon, Doctor. It's obvious." Katherine teased, realising he was still missing it. He was so oblivious sometimes, it was adorable. "A wheel, huge, slap bang in the middle of London?" She hinted.
He finally caught on after a few more 'what's. He looked embarrassed and –this might be jut Katherine projecting her hopes- a little bit impressed.
"Oh. Fantastic!"
The Doctor, Rose and Katherine started jogging across Westminster Bridge, the former not seeming to realise he grabbed Katherine's hand-probably a leftover instinct from before he lost his memories. She enjoyed it while it lasted.
He started talking as he slowed their pace. "Think of it, 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." Katherine couldn't repress a snort at Rose's addition. She glanced at the Doctor to see his reaction but he seemed to ignore the interruption. Katherine suspected he was a bit embarrassed.
"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath." They all looked around when Rose spotted a large manhole entrance. "What about down here?"
Katherine remembered spending a break lying on it during the last summer, just soaking up the sun, and shook her head at the coincidence.
"Looks good to me." The Doctor smiled a slightly manic grin as they ran down, and as the Doctor opened the hatch Katherine turned to Rose. "Good thinking." She was suitably impressed with her blonde – and unexperienced- friend.
"Thanks." Rose smiled, a bit smug.
They climbed down a short ladder into a brick-built area with lots of chains. The whole chamber was bathed in some sort of red light. From there they went through a door and down a flight of steps into a multi-level chamber. At the bottom was a vat that contained the majority of the Nestenes- the main part of the Consciousness. It seemed the light was coming from it.
"The Nestene Consciousness." The Doctor started, going into lecture mode. "That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."
"Well, then." Rose breathed. "Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go."
Katherine shot her a disbelieving look and protested. "You can't just kill it!" She turned to the Doctor, aghast. "You just said it was a living creature." She was really worried, that this new Doctor, who so easily dismissed Mickey's importance, was changed by the War that much. The Doctor she knew would never just kill someone without at least giving them a chance, no matter how aggressive the Nestene usually were.
"I'm not here to kill it." The Doctor reassured her, and she sighed in relief. He looked at Rose who looked guilty as she seemed to realise what she said. "I've got to give it a chance."
He walked down to a catwalk overlooking the seething vat. His tone took a more official note.
"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."
"Audience granted." The plastic answered, and Katherine spared a thankful thought to the TARDIS for translating to her. She nodded approvingly at the Doctor, he started well; now he just had to not mess it up as he went- which was a lot to hope for with the Doctor, she realised.
"Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?" So far, so good, Katherine thought. He was following the proper protocol, and showing enough respect without grovelling and coming out as a coward. It seemed the Nestene followed at least a part of the Shadow Proclamation's Laws.
"You have permission."
As the Doctor went closer to the Consciousness, Rose suddenly started running down to a lower level. Katherine gasped in concern as she saw Mickey huddled down and followed her.
"Oh, God! Mickey, it's me! It's okay. It's all right."
"That thing down there, the liquid. Rose, it can talk!" Mickey was obviously terrified and Katherine shuddered at the thought of him being here alone for hours, thinking he was sure to die.
"It's alright, Micks. It's gonna be fine." She told him.
Rose hugged him and then drew back quickly. "You're stinking."
"Doctor, they kept him alive." She yelled down to the Doctor.
"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy." He responded, focusing on something the Consciousness was saying, Katherine hadn't been paying attention. Still, she rolled her eyes at his social ineptness. It was like he wanted people to be mad at him.
"You knew that and you never said?" Rose was angry and Katherine just couldn't let this one go.
"You idiot! Do you know how worried we were?" Well, how worried Rose was. Katherine knew it was a possibility, but it would have still been a comfort to hear.
The Doctor just rolled his eyes. "Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" He continued downwards, getting closer to the vat.
"Am I addressing the Consciousness?"
"You are."
"Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilisation by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"
Katherine was at the same time exasperated and amused at his word play, but frowned at the implied lack of respect. And he'd started so well, too.
A sort of face formed in the vat of plastic, and Katherine frowned at its reply. She has always hated politics.
"Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights." The Consciousness kept trying to insist it was in their rights to breed here; completely ignoring the fact that Earth was a level five planet. The Doctor wasn't buying it either.
"I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."
Katherine was smiling slightly; she had missed hearing his impassioned speeches in defence of humanity ('Indomitable!' the amazed voice of his fourth regeneration flew through her mind.), when she noticed a pair of autons creeping towards the Doctor. She lurched forward, but stopped when she realised she wouldn't get there in time. "Doctor!" She yelled, and he flinched, but the he didn't manage to get away in time.
The pair of shop dummies grabbed the Doctor. One of them took the vial of anti-plastic from his pocket. Katherine didn't supress a wince as the Consciousness roared angrily.
"TRAITOR! YOU WOULD ATTAC ME, THE GREAT CONSCIOUSNESS, WHILE PREACHING PEACE!"
"That was just insurance." The Doctor tried to placate it. "I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear I'm not."
"YOU ARE THE ENEMY! YOU WOULD SEE US KILLED, LIKE YOUR PEOPLE WANTED TO AS WELL. YOU ARE A TRICKSTER, LIKE THEY WERE. YOU HAVE COME ARMED,"
"What do you mean?"
Katherine groaned as a door slid back to reveal the TARDIS. This was really bad.
"IT IS NOT ENOUGH THAT OUR WORLD IS GONE, YOU WOULD DESTROY US COMPLETELY!"
"No. Oh, no. Honestly, no."
"IS THIS NOT YOUR TIME SHIP?"
"Yes, that's my ship."
"THAT IS THE SHIP THAT HAS DESTROYED OUR WORLD!"
"That's not true. I should know, I was there." The Doctor protested. "I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!" The pain in the Doctor's voice hurt Katherine more than she could say. She hated the fact that she couldn't do anything to soften it.
"What's it doing?!" Rose's voice reminded Katherine that it wasn't just the Doctor who was in danger. Both Rose and Mickey looked scared out of their wits.
"It's the TARDIS!" The Doctor explained. "The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose, Katherine! Just leg it now!"
The plastic in the vat kept roaring, and Katherine ignored its hurtful words. They reminded too much of the damage Gallifrey did in the War. Damage she did. Rose took out her phone and called Jackie, dismissing the Doctor's urging. Katherine ignored their conversation trying desperately to find a way to save the Doctor and the rest of the world.
Katherine flinched as the Consciousness started throwing energy bolts around. Rose was yelling at her phone seemingly frustrated.
"It's the activation signal." The Doctor shouted. "It's transmitting!"
Rose had a better name for it. "It's the end of the world."
Katherine grabbed her hand, at the moment ignoring Mickey who was latched on to Rose's legs. She tugged her arm towards the stairs. She had to get them to safety before it was too late. The Consciousness was getting extremely agitated.
"Get out, Katherine, Rose! Just get out! Run!" The Doctor shouted at them.
"The stairs have gone." Rose yelled.
Katherine looked up to see that yes, the stars have crumbled and she had to find another way out for her scared friends.
She looked down as the Autons tried to push the Doctor into the vat, and had finally had enough. She took a running leap and swung off the railing as Rose and Mickey ran to the TARDIS. She hoped the ship let them in.
"I haven't got the key!" Rose yelled, not realising Katherine wasn't with them, and Katherine frowned in disappointment. She had hoped to get at least Rose and Mickey to safety. She landed on one dummy, kicking it to the vat and managed to take down two more before she was overwhelmed.
"Sorry." She breathed, "That was a bit of a lame rescue."
"Ah, well." The Doctor teased. "You know what they say. Never look a gift horse in the mouth."
"Shut up." she smiled, rolling her eyes at Mickey's shout of "We're going to die!"
Katherine groaned as she barely resisted the dummy pushing her towards the vat. She was literally living on the edge.
"No!" The Doctor cried out as she stumbled a bit.
"Time Lords…" The Nestene hissed, drawing out she syllables, and Katherine spared a scared glance to the Doctor, hoping he hadn't caught the use of plural. He didn't seem to.
∽··∽
Rose stood up and looked down at the Doctor, gasping as she realised the situation Katherine was in - so close to the edge. She ran around the chamber, trying desperately to find a way to save them.
"Just leave him!" Mickey yelled "There's nothing you can do!"
"Katie's down there!" Rose screamed at him, making him pale with worry.
"Rose" Katherine yelled. "Remember the bronze you got!"
"I've got no A Levels, no job, no future." Rose started, grabbing an axe, realising what Katherine was hinting at. She really hoped this would work. "But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team. I've got the bronze!" She chopped through the rope holding the very long chain to the wall and took a firm hold. She ran and swung out along the side of the catwalk, kicking the four plastic dummies holding Katie and the Doctor into the vat. The vial of anti-plastic fell into it with the dummies. The golden plastic blob screamed as it started to turn blue.
"Rose!" Katherine screamed, and Rose could hear the fright in it.
The Doctor grabbed her as she swung back, putting her back on solid earth carefully, and Katherine immediately hugged her, the familiarity making Rose sigh with relief, still high on adrenaline.
"Now we're in trouble." The Doctor smiled a goofy smile and grabbed Katherine's hand as they raced towards the TARDIS, avoiding explosions, where Mickey was holding on for dear life. They all went inside, Katherine hugging Rose and Mickey as the TARDIS dematerialised.
As soon as the TARDIS landed, Mickey ran out, terrified. Rose and Katherine followed as a more of a leisured walk, and Rose called her mother again. She really hoped she was all right.
∽··∽
"Rose, Rose, don't go out of the house." Katherine smiled in relief as she heard Jackie's voice –panicked, but all right- sound from Rose's phone.
Rose laughed as she hung up, and went over to Mickey, who was trying to hide behind a pallet. The Doctor stood in the doorway of the TARDIS.
"A fat lot of good you were." Rose teased, turning to look at the Time Lords.
"Nestene Consciousness?" The Doctor snapped his fingers, smiling. "Easy."
"You were useless in there. You both were. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me." Katherine playfully glared at Rose as she continued. "Though I definitely wasn't expecting those moves down there, Cat Woman."
"Oh, shut up." She couldn't stop smiling.
"Yes, I would." The Doctor addressed her earlier statement. "Thank you."
He paused for a second. "Right then, I'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe, free of charge."
He was looking at Rose. Katherine tried not to be jealous while fervently praying that he let her come too. If nothing else, she knew Rose deserved to go; she was a quick thinker and had a good heart-the perfect attributes for a companion.
"Don't." Mickey cut in. "He's an alien. He's a thing." Katherine dreaded the day he found out she was an alien. He would probably be scared of her too. The thought made her want to cringe.
"He's not invited." The Doctor said. "What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere."
Who could say no to that offer? Katherine thought, though for her it was a bit more about the company than the adventures. Oh, she loved travelling, certainly, but she was sure it would be nowhere near as wondrous without the Doctor.
"Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asked.
"Yeah." He answered truthfully.
"Yeah, I can't." Katherine couldn't believe what she was hearing. She stared at Rose, stunned. "I've er, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so-"
She couldn't understand why Rose was declining the offer- she'd always wanted to travel around the world, or so she told Katherine, and now she was throwing it away?
"Okay." The Doctor unsuccessfully tried to pretend he didn't care. He turned to Katherine. "What about you? Katherine..., hang on, what's your full name?"
Katherine was breathless, hardly able to believe her ears. She was sure convincing the Doctor to let her come would be much harder.
"Katherine." She replied, a bit dazed. "Katherine Smith."
"You-you want me to come?"
"Well, yeah." He said.
"But I was useless in there." She didn't know why she was objecting.
"Ah, you weren't that bad." He smiled that gorgeous smile. "So what do you think?"
Katherine turned to Rose, feeling like she'd be a horrid friend to just go without consulting with her.
"Go on." Rose smiled. "You've always talked about seeing the stars." And she had, though she used stories as the cover for her real reason for the urge to go off planet.
"Now you can. Don't let the chance slip away."
Katherine hugged her tightly, feeling grateful for some reason, and then Mickey, who seemed to be too shocked to object to her going. She said a quick "Bye!" and then ran to the TARDIS.
"I think I'll take you up on that offer." She smiled ecstatically at the man, and stepped in as she heard the Doctor say a simple "See you around." before he started the dematerialisation.
"What is it?" She asked as the Doctor stopped moving suddenly and then started the materialisation sequence. He rushed to the door.
"By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?"
Katherine laughed as Rose ran into the TARDIS and hugged her with all her might, glad to have someone with her. They smiled excitedly at each other and turned to the Doctor. Katherine knew this was going to be hard, and painful-especially for her- bit it was also going to be fun, and amazing and just… fantastic.