Author's Note: Somewhere about halfway through editing this chapter, I realized that I was all over the place with the -tenses, particularly in Rose's narrative. I think I've fixed most of it, but I very much doubt that's true, so please forgive any little mistakes as far as that goes. As always, please let me know if there are any glaring errors to continuity or established canon, and definitely let me know what you think!

Chapter 4

Rose Tyler

{Rose, you're in this universe's version of the United States of America}, Aftran said inside of her head, {They drive on the other side of the road}.

"Oops," Rose laughed, and adjusted the car, "Now would be a real bad time to be pulled over by the cops, I s'pose, yeah?"

"Yes," said Cassie from the backseat. "The Yeerks have infiltrated most levels of government, including the police force. I'm guessing by now they're looking for us- well, for you, Rose. You're the only one who's face they've seen."

Next to her, the Doctor gestured to make a turn, and Rose followed the traffic to the left. Despite the horrors she had just witnessed, Rose felt fairly calm. Now that the Doctor was back by her side, she figured it was nothing the two (well, four, with Cassie and Aftran) of them couldn't set right. Even the cuts that the alien Visser Three had left had stopped bleeding and stung a bit less now. In her head, she heard Aftran… shift… if that made sense, to get her attention. That situation was a bit weird, even compared to the things she's experienced with the Doctor. Like that time Cassandra took over her body, but even more invasive. At least Trampoline Face couldn't read her thoughts…

{I'm sorry, Rose. I'm trying to avoid seeing as much as I can.}

Rose realized that Aftran felt guilty, and that she would definitely have heard those less-than-positive comparisons in her thoughts.

{No, no it's alright! I understand you didn't ask for this!}

Now Rose felt guilty. Both of them were unsure of how to handle this. Next to her, the Doctor was almost giddy. Or seemed that way. Rose knew he was still very troubled by what they had seen down in the Yeerk Pool, and frankly, it freaked her out a bit too.

In the rearview mirror, she noticed the young black girl shift uncomfortably. The girl, ("Cassie," Aftran gently reminded her) couldn't have been more than 16. Three years younger than Rose when she first met the Doctor, and it was very clear that this teenager was fighting in a very dangerous war. Which reminded her…

"So, Cassie," Rose began cheerfully as she could manage, "How is it you can turn into an elephant like that? Are you an alien? I mean, you look human, but so does this bloke and he's anything but, yeah?"

"Um, no. I'm human," Cassie looked nervous, and Rose thought perhaps she was not used to explaining her situation.

"…From Earth. I just use alien morphing technology, invented by the Andalites, who fight the Yeerks that we just escaped from. It, um, lets me change my shape into any animal whose DNA I can acquire through physical contact. "

Cassie explained, but Rose knew from her own experiences that she understood just as much about how this "morphing technology" worked as Rose did the inner workings of the TARDIS. Cassie continued to do her best to, however.

"It's our only tool to fight them. They've been using stealth to take over as much of the Earth as they can, and there's no way of knowing who is on their side, so we can't trust anyone, or let them know who we are."

"You trusted me fairly quickly, given the situation," the Doctor said, and Rose smiled, knowing sooner rather than later he would open his mouth.

At his comment, however, Cassie almost looked a bit… troubled? Ashamed? Rose couldn't quite figure it out.

"I, uh, wasn't sure if I could," Cassie began, awkwardly, before the Doctor interrupted.

"But you did. Despite the risks. Why?"

The girl sighed, and looked down.

"I don't know. I just had… a feeling about it. Most Controllers would have reacted much differently to seeing that situation. You… seemed like a trustworthy person."

Rose had to laugh at that.

"Really? He looked trustworthy to you?"

Rose smiled, and the Doctor looked a tad indignant.

"Rose Tyler! I happen to be a very, responsible, trustworthy- Well, fine, maybe not always, but I don't lie all the time… well, I do the stretch the truth a bit and – oh stop that already!"

He looked a bit put out. Rose had begun laughing again at the word 'responsible' and had not stopped since.

"Yeah, says the man who carries around the psychic paper in his front pocket."

"Oh well sure! Make me look bad in front of the guests, I see how it is!"

"It was a stupid risk," Cassie continues, clearly not cheered by the joking time-travelers in the front of the car, "And I'm sure when my friends find out about it, they're going to be pretty upset with me."

For just a moment, Rose felt Aftran take control again.

"Cassie, your gut feelings have served you exceptionally well in the past. Remember it was just such a feeling that told you to trust me, and in turn, secured my trust and the girl Karen's freedom. I am positive the Animorphs will understand, particularly since the situation has worked out favorably."

Rose's voice paused, and she felt Aftran give a slight smile with her mouth.

"And while I have done my best to respect Rose's privacy, I have seen enough of her memories and past to vouch for both her and the Doctor's… trustworthiness."

Cassie gave the slightest of smiles. It was clear she felt some relieve at Aftran's words.

"Thank you, Aftran"

Rose felt Aftran gently let go of control of her speech, and then made another turn where the Doctor pointed. The car was now in a small neighborhood, houses mostly dark in the evening dim. Rose gave a slight shudder.

"Ugh, Aftran. I know you're being real polite in there, but that does take a bit of getting used to."

{I apologize. I felt Cassie needed to hear that from me.}

{Sorry, yeah, you're right. It's a bit awkward for both of us.}

Beneath a street lamp far up ahead, she thought she could just make out a familiar blue box in the glow.

"That reminds me!" the Doctor exclaimed, clearly excited to soon be reunited with his ship.

"Aftran, while I was in the Yeerks systems, I worked out how to make a basic Kandrona emitter, since we were there originally to rescue you and all. I'll be able to rig up something basic for you, if you wouldn't mind climbing out of Rose's head for me."

Rose could feel Aftran's initial shock, then joy, and part of it radiated out to her own facial expressions. The Yeerk had no words. In the back, Cassie let out a small gasp as well.

"Well, I'd say she'd be delighted, Doctor, if I had to guess," said Rose, grinning. "Although I don't quite know what 'Kandrona' is, Aftran clearly does."

"Kandrona Particle/Wave Emitter," the Doctor explained, his tone becoming more serious and "scientific," "Mimics the radiation produced by the Yeerk home world sun, allowing them to obtain vital nutrients off-world by directing it's energy towards a body of water and creating the particles needed for the Yeerks to feed."

Cassie added, "That's what the Yeerk Pool is for. If they don't exit their host body every three days or so to feed, the Yeerks will starve to death."

Her voice was clearly relieved, and Rose realized that Cassie hadn't been sure how to keep Aftran alive once she got her out of that place.

{I… I'll live…}

Aftran's thoughts echoed in her head, and Rose laughed.

{Well yeah you can live. We weren't about to leave you shriveled up on the sidewalk or nothing.}

Rose pulled the car up to the curb next to the TARDIS, and turned off the engine. Inside her head the Yeerk was practically glowing. Actually, now that she looked, both Cassie and the Doctor looked pretty pleased as well. The four of them got out of the car, and Rose smiled, waiting for what she knew was coming next.

"Is… is that your ship?" Cassie looked puzzled. "There's probably a better choice holograms for it while you're here, we don't use blue, well, any, telephone boxes around here."

"It's not a hologram!" said the Doctor, a bit offended. "It's a police box!"

Cassie still looked quite confused, even as he walked up to the door and grinned.

"The TARDIS is the most magnificent ship in any universe!"

He pulled the TARDIS open, and Cassie looks surprised. Laughing now, Rose walked inside, followed by the Doctor, who called behind them out the door to Cassie.

"Come on in!"

The young girl clearly had not seen what's waiting for her yet, because Rose heard her briefly say something about it being a bit tight for space. In her head, Aftran was full of wonder, barely restraining herself from taking control of Rose's eyes to get a better look for herself.

{It's better in person,} Aftran remarked. Rose smiled and began to comment, when the TARDIS door slammed shut.

"Oh now!" said the Doctor, "Come on, be nice! Cassie is a friend!"

Rose was confused. The TARDIS had never, since she had arrived at least, refused a passenger before. The Doctor continued to plead with the ship as a frustrated parent would with a child throwing a tantrum. The interior lights even flashed, and Rose almost swore she heard a bit of a whine to the machinery.

"I promised her I would help! We keep our promises!"

The Doctor jiggled the door handle, but it refused to open.

"Don't. Be. So. Silly."

With one last firm tug, the door swung open.

"There, you see? It's fine! Come on in!"

The Doctor smiled and extended his arm to hold the door as Cassie walked in and gasped.

"Wow. It's… how is it… bigger? On the inside? Or is it just…"

The girl clearly didn't know what to make of what she saw before her, and Rose knew the Doctor loved every second of it. He walked dramatically around the center consol, touching bits of the machinery as he did. Cassie continued to look up in awe.

"This is a space ship?"

"Oh yeah," The Doctor grinned, and even Rose couldn't help but smile. His joy was infectious.

"And a time machine…?"

"It's the TARDIS. Time And Relat-"

"Yeah, yeah, save the show for later," Rose teased, interrupting him. "She knows it a space ship, she knows it's a time machine, now let's go save her friend, yeah?"

She laughed as the Doctor gave her a disappointed look.

"Rose Tyler, you know how patiently I've been waiting to give that speech to someone new who'll appreciate it. Seriously, the opportunity does not come around-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Boys and their toys."

The Doctor sighed dramatically, but Rose knew he wasn't really all that annoyed. The look on Cassie's face alone had him excited. She was still bothered, though, at the TARDIS's behavior. The ship was "alive" in its own way, so far as Rose had been able to tell, but she couldn't remember it ever showing outright hostility towards a person before….

"So, Cassie!" The Doctor began, "Normally, I'd do some grandiose speech about all of time and space and where do you want to go and what not-"

"And he still wants to give the speech, believe me," Rose laughed, interrupting again.

"Buuut," The Doctor continued, despite her joking still looking quite excited, "I think under the circumstances, I know exactly when you what to go. So, Cassie the Animorph,"

The Doctor paused again, for dramatic effect, and Rose just smiled, letting him have his moment.

"Here's what we're going to do."

Cassie

I was still quite unsure what I was expecting to happen when I chose to trust this alien who introduced himself as the Doctor- although, now that I had time to stop and think now… Doctor Who? Was it just a title, his actual name? Rose called him Doctor… so maybe it was just what he went by? He was an alien, after all. The Doctor was no stranger a name for an alien than Aximili or Elfangor or Aftran, really.

But still… whatever I was expecting then, this wasn't it. The "ship", the Tardis, was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Bigger on the inside… and could travel through time. Even despite my shock, I did notice how… attached… the Doctor was to it. He treated it less like a spaceship and more like a favorite child, or an old friend. Definitely an old machine, at the vary least. I could have sworn some parts of the railings were held on with duct tape…

It was also clear that he and Rose were very close. It sort of reminded me of Jake and I, but the two of them had a different level of comfort and familiarity that was really quite sweet; especially when I reminded myself that they were technically two different species… But I would have time to try and figure all this out later. For now, the Doctor explained to me his plan to save Ax.

"Now, obviously the simplest way would be to just ask your friend… Ax, was it? The Andalite?" The Doctor paused until I nodded to confirm, then "Yes, asking him outright about the proper way to perform the surgery needed to save him would be simplest, but I don't think it's our best option, given the unpredictability of time travel in an unfamiliar universe, and the difficulty of finding a time when he is lucid enough to explain. However-"

The Doctor grinned and Rose rolled her eyes like she had seen this all a hundred times before. She probably had. For me, though, it was all new and very confusing. Time travel was not a concept I understood anything about.

"What I need from you is the exact time and place you last saw your friend."

"7:23 pm, my family's barn, outside of town a bit."

The Doctor hit some buttons, and a map of our city appeared on a display screen. I pointed to the exact location.

"His temperature was 91.9, and the Tria Gland will reach a crisis point and must removed from his brain at 91.3 degrees. There's no pattern to how the temperature falls, unfortunately."

My voice sounded much calmer than I felt. I knew medical procedure, sure, but knowing how to splint a broken wing on a crow or force a pill down a scared fox's throat were nothing compared to brain surgery on friend who happened to be an alien species. And so far, the Doctor had given no indication that he or Rose knew anymore about medicine, alien or otherwise, than I did.

"The TARDIS should be able to get us close enough to that time and place. So then! What I need from you, Aftran," He turned, and pointed at Rose/Aftran, a dramatic side clearly showing again, "is a very big favor for the people who just saved your life."

"I understand, Doctor," said Aftran with Rose's voice. "I should be able to enter the Andalite's brain and provide Cassie with all the information she needs. However, I must warn you that it is unlikely that the Andalite will consent to this willingly. His people are proud and have a long-standing hatred of the Yeerks. He may find death preferable to my aid."

"Oh save me from stupid alien prejudices making everything more difficult. He'll just have to learn to live with having his life saved."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and looked more than a bit scornful at her words, and Rose gave a reprimanding look. Aftran was probably right, though. If Ax were conscious, he'd never allow Aftran near his brain. However…

"It's very unlikely that Ax will be lucid enough to protest," I said, "When I last saw him, he was completely unaware of what was going on around him due to the fever."

I tried not to sound as worried as I felt. Truthfully, I had no idea what kind of shape Ax might be when we got to him. And I had no idea how to explain any of this to Erik. Even though he was Chee, an android that had been around probably since before humans discovered fire, I had the feeling that time-travel was something that even he hadn't experienced. Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure I would even believe it was possible, if I hadn't already seen everything else the Doctor had done today.

"Right then!"

The Doctor's eyes were gleaming wildly as he flipped some switches and knobs around the giant center consol. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a smiling Rose reach over and grab onto some of the rusted looking rails around the consol, bracing herself a bit.

"Try not to fall out again, Rose Tyler!"

"Oh, like it was my fa-"

"VWOOOOORP! VWOOOOOORP! VWOOOOOOORP!"

The Doctor pulled a giant lever and a loud, strange noise completely interrupted whatever Rose was trying to say. The entire ship began to rattle and shake around me, nearly knocking me off my feet. In the midst of all this commotion, I saw the Doctor grin madly and shout.

"OH YES! Let's go save an Andalite!"