AN: Thanks for the reviews! I really do appreciate it
"She waited. She waited for the something extraordinary the Doctor had promised her. The days passed much as they did after the last time they met, but this time when she turned a street corner her eyes scanned the horizon, and when she woke from her bed she would look to the sky. Waiting. Watching for something extraordinary.
Then one morning it happened.
As Jackie brought in the morning paper, Rose heard a gasp.
"Look at that." She said incredulously. Rose frowned, her mouth still full of cereal as she pulled the paper towards her.
Alien Ship Crash Lands In London
Her eyes almost didn't take it in.
"Look at that…do you think they're the ones who blew up your job?" Her mum whispered quietly over her shoulder.
"No, mum. I doubt that the aliens would strike Henriks in their world plot to take over the world." Jackie scowled.
"Well, they could do. You never know!" Rose swallowed her mouthful and nodded along.
Of course they would mum, of course they would.
She looked at the paper; a blurred picture of what was undoubtedly a ship sitting half cocked in the water. Her heart thumped a bit harder.
"Quickly, turn the telly on! They're not joking!" Her mum called as she glanced out of the window. Three helicopters thundered past towards the city centre. The window almost rattled.
Rose leapt up, grabbing the remote control.
And there it was. On the television.
Live pictures of an alien spaceship sitting right there in the capital of her city. She would think back and be almost surprised that it didn't send her into a heart attack. But at the same time she felt strangely emotional. There was something else. Something bigger than her and all the proof she needed was sitting a few miles away.
Something extraordinary is going to happen
He told her. The Doctor told her.
"I'm going out." Rose called over to Jackie, running her fingers through her hair and wiping the sleep from her eyes. Jackie had barely turned around before the door shut.
The roads were jammed, cars upon cars lined the streets, some were abandoned and some were still occupied by stubborn drivers. But Rose ran. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears, but she had to get there. She needed to see that the Doctor had fulfilled his promise and it wasn't, like him she suspected, a figment of her imagination.
"Stop right there!" A young man in camouflage waved to her as she made her way to the bright red cordons. She slowed, eyeing the gun in his hands warily. He motioned for her to turn around, so with a soft sigh she did. Furtive glances beyond the cordons told her she was close. She could see the smoke billowing from the broken ship.
Rounding the corner, she nearly collided headfirst into a wooden blue box. She stuttered to a halt, eyes regarding the curious object. It was strange, so out of touch with its surroundings but at the same time it seemed to melt into the brick and cement around it. The sapphire wood looked old, ancient even. But even then it seemed new all at once. With a shaking hand, Rose reached out her fingertips, tracing over the grains and ridges in the rough material. Her skin seemed to hum with the energy she felt.
And in her mind there was singing.
With a gasp, she tore her hand away, cradling it from the strange box. The golden light that had filled her mind slowly ebbed away and left her feeling strangely empty.
It was too much.
Imaginary Doctors and spaceships and singing blue boxes.
She ran all the way home.
But if she'd have looked back she'd have seen a figure in brown watching her from a distance, slowly fading away.
The next day was awash with stories of aliens and theories and conspiracies. Rose drank it all in, hoping for a glimpse of a brown coat or soft eyes, growing more disappointed as each second passed.
She turned the TV on, checking her watch. She was supposed to meet Mickey down the pub for a drink. She knew the football was on. She wasn't that stupid. But she froze as she read the caption on the news;
Nuclear war imminent?
"Mum?...Mum!?" Rose cried out, trying to get her voice heard over the roar of a hairdryer. Jackie came plodding out of her room in a dressing gown, hair still wet from the shower.
"Honestly, you'll burst my ears one day, I…." She stopped as she read the screen, lowering herself slowly onto the sofa.
Her hands came up to cover her mouth.
"Oh my God, what do they mean? Nuclear?" Rose shook her head, turning up the volume, straining to hear.
The mothership is said to be directly over the Earth with massive weapons of destruction, and the British government has requested access to the Nuclear codes for a pre-emptive strike. The UN will vote tonight.
"Mickey." Rose whispered, leaping from her seat, grabbing the clunky plastic phone. She dialed the number she had known by heart for years, praying that it would connect. She released a breath she had forgotten she was holding when his familiar voice answered.
"Babe, have you seen the news!?"-
"Yeah, I've seen it, where are you?" She hushed his frantic voice.
"I'm at Westminster Station. I'm trying to get to the pub but everything's blocked off."
"Mickey, just get to mum's flat." She heard the sirens on his end, making it hard to hear.
'Yeah, I'm on my way, we'll ride this thing out together babe, I promise-" His words of comfort were interrupted with a crash. Rose had heard that sound before. An explosion.
"Mickey? Mickey!?" She called into the phone. It was still connected and the rumbling of aftershocks could be heard roaring down the line.
Jackie stood, hands over her heart, waiting for an explanation.
"I'm here, I'm still here." His muffled voice reached Rose's ears and she leaned against the back of the sofa for support.
"You scared the life out of me, what happened?!" She cried, reaching for the remote and flicking through channels trying to find the latest update.
"It's Downing street, Rose. It's gone." She stopped.
"What do you mean it's gone?"
"It blew up. Downing Street blew up. I'm coming over Rose, I'll protect you, it's going to be okay." He disconnected the call. Rose lowered the phone slowly, mouth still slightly ajar.
"Rose, what is it, you're scaring me?" Jackie said, urging her daughter to speak.
"Number 10…it's been blown up."
She waited until night fell. Her mother was snoring softly and Mickey slept on the sofa. He still refused to share a bed with her when her mother was in the house. I can't take her eyes accusing me in the morning he once said. But Rose didn't mind tonight, it suited her even. She rose slowly from the bed, creeping around her room to pull some clothes on. Aliens…blue boxes…explosions…She knew who was behind this. Or at least, knew something about it. The Doctor. And somehow she knew she'd find him tonight.
She opened the window by her dresser, wincing as the old wood groaned. She hadn't done this since she was a kid. Only then she was sneaking out to see Jimmy Stone, not an enigma who called himself the Doctor. Shimmying down the fire escape, she sighed as her feet touched the solid ground. After all this time it still wasn't any less scary.
She gazed into the night. Sirens were still calling distantly, but everything else was silent. People were at home she thought, savouring the fact that they hadn't been caught up in an intergalactic war. She should be doing the same she supposed, but her heart was pounding on, driving her to this mysterious man.
Rose walked through the estate, eyes scanning the corners and the shadows. He was here. She could feel it.
"Doctor?" She whispered, voice almost seeming to echo around the empty underpasses and courtyards.
"Doctor….Help me." She said again. She needed answers. She needed him.
"I could never resist that one." And there he was. He almost melted out of the shadows, one she was sure she had already looked in. She paused. He looked even more tired than the last time. Squinting, she could see loose threads on his suit jacket, frayed and singed.
Rose was silent. She had thought it through this far…but had no idea what to say when she got to this point.
But the Doctor spoke for her.
"Big couple of days for you…well, for the human race really." He stepped further into the light, and Rose could see a small cut marring his cheek. Almost in a daze she stepped forwards, hand reaching out to touch it. He stood still, eyes following her hand as she caressed the broken skin.
But the moment was lost as quickly as it had begun, she stepped back as if her hands had received an electric shock. She averted his gaze, running a hand through her blonde hair as it shone under the moonlight.
The Doctor kept watching. Almost calculating.
She took a deep breath, steadying herself.
"Are you alright?" She said finally. The Doctor snapped back into his jovial façade, shrugging and giving a smirk.
"Always. Just a few bumps and bruises, nothing a good cup of tea won't take to fix." She raised an eyebrow.
"Just a few bumps and bruises? You look like you've been through a shredder." The Doctor looked down at his suit with a frown, regarding the singed cloth and broken threads.
"Could do with a bit of a clean up, yeah…" The wail of a siren focused her mind.
"You blew up Downing Street." She said accusingly, mind knitting the singed clothes and the explosion together all at once. He looked affronted.
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did!"
"No."
"I know you did!"
"Not directly!" Rose swallowed hard.
"Are you a terrorist or something?" The Doctor looked at her, obviously fighting his urge to laugh.
"No, Rose Tyler, I am not a terrorist."
"Then what do you mean not directly? You had something to do with it." The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets, looking past her to a place she could not see.
"I know the man who did. And he saved your life by doing it…the whole world as a matter of fact." Rose dithered, taking in his solemn expression.
"Is he alright? Your friend?" She said hesitantly, for some reason feeling intense relief flood through her when he nodded vigorously.
"Oh, yes, he should be fine. He hid in a cupboard." Forgetting herself she laughed, the thought of a grown man hiding in 10 Downing Street seemed rather ridiculous. The Doctor smiled with her, almost grateful to see her beaming. When the laughter quieted Rose stepped towards him again, scanning his eyes. They were both ancient and new, all at the same time. It should have been disconcerting, but it was…comforting.
"Aliens." She whispered, eyes imploring him to confirm it.
"Aliens." He agreed. She puffed out her cheeks, letting out a long breath.
"That's unreal."
"I told you…something extraordinary was coming." The Doctor stepped closer, the calculating behind his eyes showing once more. He was scanning her it seemed, waiting to see if she would give the right reaction. Ask the right question. Under the intense scrutiny of those brown eyes she faltered.
"I…I'm confused." The calculations in his irises stopped; replaced with a softness she had seen before. But she knew she had said the wrong thing…she could almost feel the weight of his disappointment.
"I know." Slowly…ever so slowly, he reached out a tentative hand, fingers just brushing hers. He took her palm gently; thumb stroking the soft skin he found there. Rose looked up at his face, but found him gazing intently at their entwined hands, a small frown settled on his face.
"I still don't know who you are." His eyes met hers then…and all at once he didn't seem so frightening anymore. This stranger wasn't a stranger…that much she knew. But the fragility behind his eyes made him seem broken. All she wanted to do was fix it.
"You will. Soon. The next time we meet I'll tell you who I am, Rose Tyler. I promise." She gave a small smile.
"I really should get you locked up." He gave her a look that made her blush.
"You always say that." Somewhere amidst the chaos of the last few days around her, this didn't seem to be such a strange thing to say anymore.
"When?" The Doctor looked up at the stars, almost searching for the answer.
"Just keep watching the skies. You'll know." His hand untangled for hers, dropping back to his side. She found the loss of it disconcerting.
"Will I understand then?" He gave her the same sad smile.
"Yes. I promise." And once more, he faded away into the night.