Chapter Two: In Which The Doctor is Late
Doctor POV
The Doctor was late. He was hardly ever late! He hurried down the street back to the park where he had arranged to meet Martha and Sarah Jane. He could blame his being late on the shapeshifter he'd caught robbing a bank. (They wouldn't believe him. He had a time machine) or on the line at the flower shop (he was carrying a bouquet of Daises, a last minute peace offering.) but if he was being honest with himself the park was just a little too close to where she had lived. "No use living in the past." He reminded himself once again. More accurately the 57,500,276th time since she'd been taken from him. Yes. He had counted.
He burst into the TARDIS to find both Martha and Sarah Jane waiting for him. "You're late." Martha said as soon as he stepped through the door. He looked at their annoyed faces and decided that Daisies wouldn't cut it. He grinned sheepishly at his former companions as he stuffed the flowers into his jacket along with his sonic screwdriver. "Well, um, you see I was on my way and there was this robbery. I had to step in. But I'm here now!" Both women frowned at him, clearly unconvinced. "Never mind that. You're here now and that's what matters." Sarah Jane said. Martha nodded "I would kill for some chips right now. There's this place near here that has really great chips."
The Doctor frowned at her. "Chips? Why chips? You could have any food ever and you choose chips? You could have chips any time. This is your chance to try something new. I've never understood why you humans like them so much. Just fried bits of po-" "Doctor." Martha cut off his rant by placing her hand on his shoulder "we know." His shoulders slumped. "How?"
Martha smiled. "We know you. Besides, it isn't that hard to use an address book. You can't avoid everything that reminds you of Rose." He nodded. Martha was right. That didn't mean he'd listen to her. He'd ignored his own advice 57,500,276 times and he was the smartest person he knew. "I'll go eat chip with you" he said dejectedly.
"You've been traveling alone haven't you?" Martha asked. The Doctor dejectedly picked at his lunch. "You promised you'd find someone." She reminded him. This was met with a shrug. "Just haven't found anyone who fits the bill yet." He said, not looking her in the eye. Sarah Jane sighed "what is it this time." This wasn't the first meal that he'd ruined with his heartbroken moping. "First date. Came here for the chips." The Doctor replied. There was a long pause before Sarah Jane changed the subject by asking Martha about her work.
The Doctor ate his meal, only half listening to his friends conversing. He felt like he was being watched. He whipped his head around. The only other person in the room was a girl about Martha's age. She had curly red hair and blue eyes and was staring at him like she'd just seen a ghost. He looked about to make sure there weren't any ghosts around. There weren't when he glanced back she was staring out the window like nothing had happened.
Roses POV
Rose had told herself that no matter what she wouldn't go searching for The Doctor. What she hadn't considered was the possibility that she would ever meet him again. Not to mention on the very day she'd gotten back. She'd checked out her old flat, the spare key was still under the mat, and found that all her and her mums old stuff was stacked in boxes. She planned to rent it out and start all over. Her mother had stayed behind with Pete and the baby. Anyway there was a cool down time between jumps.
Rose had spent the whole morning exploring London. Around lunch time she had gotten hungry so she had headed to her favorite chippy. Imagine her surprise when, sitting in her usual seat eating her lunch, she hear the familiar sound of the TARDIS. A few minutes later the Doctor entered (following two women one of who Rose recognized as Sarah Jane Smith) and sat down to eat his lunch! She tried to ignore him but she couldn't help but listen to their conversation. "What is it this time?" That was Sarah Jane "first date. Came here for the chips" Roses eyes widened. They were talking bout her! She turned around 100% ready to tell him that she was right there. The words stuck in her throat. He wouldn't believe her. She was different now. H looked so terribly sad. She wanted to hug him close and tell him everything would be okay. But then he turned around. Their eyes met. She was glad when he turned away. She wouldn't have been able to.
Doctor POV
"I'll pay." Martha offered. "You paid last time." Sarah Jane argued. The Doctor wasn't listening. He was still studying the (little) red headed girl. Did he know her? She had acted as if she knew him. He watched as the girl go up and headed to the restrooms. He excused himself and followed her. The toilets were separated from the rest of the restraint by a long, dimly lit, hallway. He was halfway down said hallway when he heard a scream. "The Girl!" He quickly ran the rest of the way down the hall.
When he found her the girl was pinned to the wall, held there by a pair of shadowy arms a third arm was covering her mouth. She was straining to reach her bag which was laying a few feet away. She spotted him and gave him a look that seemed to say "a little help already?" He realized that she was slowly being absorbed into the wall, as if the shadow was eating her.
Whatever the creature was it was clearly shadow based, due to the arms that were trapping the girl. Since the creature was shadow based he just needed "Light!" He ran towards the shadowy beast, reaching into his jacket, and pulled out Daisies! The creature made a rumbling noise, almost like laughter, and swatted the flowers away with a forth hand.
The Doctor cursed and reached back into his jacket. "Where did I put my sonic?" The girl rolled her eyes. Her legs were already fully absorbed into the shadowy creature. She lunged forward, snagging the strap of her bag. She reached into it and pulled out a torch which she shined on the creature. It screamed and exploded into a million shadowy bits.
The Doctor watched the girl, awestruck, as she brushed shadow bits off her legs. "Blech. You wouldn't think a shadow would be sticky." She complained. The Doctor just stared at her. "What's the matter? Do I have some on my face?" She asked, glancing up at him. He shook his head. "No. It's just, why do you have a torch in your purse?" He asked her. She grinned at him "why do you have flowers in your jacket?"
The Doctor did a double take. He could have sworn that this girl had given him the same tongue-in-teeth smile that he'd only ever seen from Rose Tyler. "Do that again!" He said quickly. She looked rather taken aback. "Do what?" She asked "Smile." She did, although a bit nervously, and this time there was no tongue involved. He must have imagined it.
"That was an alien." Her words brought him back to reality. They weren't a question. There was no doubt in this girls mind that she had just almost been eaten by an alien. She was simply stating fact. He nodded. "And you. You're an alien as well." She added after a moment. "That's right. I'm the-" "Doctor!" Martha and Sarah Jane were running down the hallway towards them. They both came skidding to a halt when they saw the shadow goo all over the walls and floor. "What happened?" Martha asked.
"This young lady here found herself in the grips of an alien life form." The Doctor informed them. "Obviously. But how'd you get rid of it?" Martha asked him. The redhead made a snorting noise, clearly offended by the question. "I shined a flashlight on it while he played with flowers." She snapped sarcastically. Then she frowned as if she had surprised even herself with the outburst. Martha grinned "playing with flowers Doctor?" She asked teasingly. "What's your name?" She asked the girl. "Ro-Rhodes. Grace Rhodes. And you are?" Martha smiled "I'm Martha Jones. That's Sarah Jane Smith. We're friends of his." She pointed at The Doctor
"I'm afraid we've got to be going now." Sarah Jane cut in. "We'll both be late." They both hugged The Doctor and shook hands with a nervous looking Grace before heading out. The Doctor watched them go before turning back to Grace. "So Grace Rhodes. I've got an offer for you." She grinned at him "what kind of offer?" She asked. "How would you like to see the stars?" He asked her.