Chapter 2 - Red is for Warning
That night, Rose tossed and turned under her duvet as her mother's words darted around in her head. The last words she'd ever hear her say. Earlier, she had stood in the console room with the Doctor, as their images were projected onto Bad Wolf Bay in the parallel universe where her mum was waiting. There, they said their tearful farewells in the short space of time that the Doctor could give them.
Another thought was also on her mind. Her mum was pregnant with a sibling that she'd never get to see. She'd never even know if it was a boy or a girl. She'd always wanted a sister or a brother as a child, but now she had the chance, she wouldn't be there. She thought of all the bedtime stories she used to hear about her dad and his crazy money making ideas. Maybe her new sibling would get to hear stories of the Doctor and her, saving the world. The big sister he or she would never have.
Rose got up late the next day. Rubbing her eyes, she wondered if loosing her mum was a dream. Staring at the things she'd collected from the flat, which were sprawled across her bedroom floor, she realised that it was all too real.
She finally forced herself out of bed, pulled on her slippers and made her way to the console room. When she arrived, she saw the Doctor there, fiddling with his sonic screwdriver.
He looked up and smiled. "Morning, Rose! How you feeling?"
"Not great," she said, returning him a weak smile.
"I'm so sorry, Rose. Really, I am," he said.
"T'wasn't your fault, Doctor," she said, stroking her mother's dainty green bracelet that she still had on her wrist from the previous day. She swallowed as tears sprung to her eyes and she tried to fight them back. The Doctor edged closer to Rose and took her hands.
"It's okay. I'm here for you," he said, his voice gentle and understanding. She smiled softly, then put her arms around him, embracing him tightly.
After a few minutes, Rose composed herself and they decided to go and get some breakfast.
They walked through the corridor and arrived at the kitchen. The TARDIS kitchen was round, like the console room, but it had glossy white walls, and it was brighter and smaller. There was a round table in the middle with matching chairs. Around the outside, there was a huge refrigerator, along with some other appliances and a long stretch of shelving, all following the same white, silver and black colour scheme. The fridge was controlled by the TARDIS and supplied whatever the Doctor needed.
"Hmm, what d'you fancy?" he said, with a twinkle in his eye. "Choose anything. Doesn't have to be breakfast-y. Something that'll cheer you up!"
Rose thought for a second. "How 'bout ice cream?"
"Alright! Ice cream it is. What flavour?"
"Ooh... go on; surprise me."
The Doctor zapped the freezer with his sonic screwdriver and when he opened it, sure enough, two sundae ice creams stood there in shining glass bowls. He offered one to Rose when she sat down at the table. She picked the bright blue one.
"The green one looks a bit too...alien," she said.
"Oi! Just 'cause it's alien doesn't mean it's bad. Just look at me!" he said, with a cheeky smile.
"You're still full of it!" she said, rolling her eyes and laughing, for the first time in a while. It felt good to smile again. They dug into their ice creams as the Doctor did his best to keep Rose's mind off her family.
About an hour later, a loud, intrusive beeping interrupted their conversation. It seemed to be coming from the corridor, or perhaps another room. Then, the lights in the kitchen dimmed down. The Doctor frowned, then leaped up from his chair and ran out of the kitchen, chasing the sound, followed by Rose.
The Doctor came to a sudden halt when he got to the ship's console room, Rose almost ramming into the back of him.
"Doctor, what's-" she said, stopping when she saw what had happened the console room, "wrong."
"I don't know. I really don't know," he said, shaking his head gravely.
The TARDIS had lost its familiar green glow, and instead the whole room was filled with an alarming dark red light.
The Doctor leaped over to the console and tried countless buttons and levers, but despite all his efforts, the noise did not stop, and the lights did not return to normal. Rose went over to the computer screen, which had also turned red. It was showing some kind of message in circular Gallifreyan.
"Doctor, is this important?" she said, pointing at the screen and staring at it intently.
The Doctor swooped over and read the message.
"That's not good. Oh no, that's really not good. We're in big trouble," he said, running his hand through his hair, then scratching his head.
"What? What does it say?" she said.
"The TARDIS is trying to materialise in two different times at once, in the same place. I don't know why, I haven't been flying her."
"But how is that possible?"
"It isn't. That's the thing. The TARDIS could be ripped apart, along with us! I need to stop this, and fast," he said, rushing around the console again, trying everything he could. "Something is dragging us into both times, the same force by the looks."
All of a sudden, the TARDIS began to shake uncontrollably, knocking Rose off her feet, the Doctor only just managing to hold on. She tried to stand up, but was immediately forced back down by the vibrations. She crawled over to the passenger seats and wrapped her arms around them. The Doctor was clinging onto the console, still attempting to fly the TARDIS.
"Hold on Rose!" he yelled.
Then, they felt the sensation of plummeting into nothing. As Rose screamed, the Doctor looked up at his failing TARDIS. The desperate look in his eyes showed a rarely exposed side to the Doctor; fear.
Just moments later, they felt a terrific thud and whole room was overtaken by a blinding white light. Rose yelled as she felt the seats fading from under her tight grip. The TARDIS was leaving them behind.
"No!" the Doctor said.
Before Rose could get to grips with what was going on, everything went black.
