Invasion of the Unexpected

AN: Okay, hope you like this chapter… I swear the chapters keep getting longer. Oh, and also I've changed the structure of the Atopili's speach a little...

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Scrambling out of the phone box Rose backed away from where the mysterious light was coming from, breathing heavily she stared at the corner where the light shone. Then she sensed, rather than heard, that she should turn, and get away from there as fast as possible. She turned and ran from the looming light, her feet pounded the ground loudly, but she could still feel it gaining on her.

She knew the light from the thing running after her was shining on her back; she could feel it. After all, who could out run the speed of light? The light was warm, but not hot. She rounded a corner and to both her annoyance and relief she saw no one around. Turning into a darkened alleyway, she thought it had gone. All was silent except for Rose' deep breaths as she leaned heavily against the wall. The heat on her back had gone and the air had turned darker.

She leaned her back and closed her eyes. Then she felt it. The light pushed in on her closed lids. Instinct told her not to open her eyes, and instead she was forced to keep them closed, blind to what was going on her around her. Then there was the same singing voice as she had heard on the phone,

"You will help us ."

"Help you with what?" Rose said, her eyes tight shut. She could feel it in front of her; it was warm and bright.

"You will help us ."

"Just tell me what I can help with and… and then maybe I'll see what I can do," Rose said.

Rose suddenly felt something grip tightly on her shoulder; it was warm, yet very firm. The singing voice said,

"You must come ,"

"Tell me where you're taking me first," said Rose. She felt very venerable without the power to see what was right in front of her.

This time no reply came and she was about to try and shake the grip off of her when she felt a sudden pressure touch the top of her head. Something like warmth and joy ran down through her whole body, and she felt herself slump forward as, like her eyes, she closed too. But instead of darkness washing over, she felt a flood of light engulfing her.

………

The Doctor could smell bacon as he entered the kitchen that morning. And sure enough, Jackie was making egg and bacon for breakfast, as cheery as ever and chatting away to Pete as he fed baby Toby at the kitchen table. "Morning," greeted the Doctor as he sat down. He frowned, looking around the room, "Anyone seen Rose?"

"Thought she was with you," said Jackie, from the stove. "I expect she's just in the bathroom. Spends all morning in there."

But the Doctor shook his head, "No, I've just come from there."

"Oh yeah," said Pete vaguely. "I think I heard her leave this morning."

"Leave?" said the Doctor sharply.

"Yeah, don't worry," he laughed. "Probably just the shop or something."

The Doctor rose from the table and headed towards the door, "No… I know where she's gone."

"Wait, doctor," called Jackie as he left the room. "You don't want breakfast?" A second later they heard the door slam as he raced outside.

He set off at a fast jog towards Mick's house, a slight frown in place as he ran. The street soon came into view, but it wasn't long for the Doctor to realise, as Rose had, that things had turned very wrong in that house since their last visit. "Oh no," he whispered when he saw the scene in front of him.

The crowd had now thinned slightly but the police were still there, along with George who was still sitting with his head hung inside the police car. The Doctor marched over to the car without further thought, ignoring the glances from the staring locals.

"Excuse me," said a policeman nearby, walking over and staring at the Doctor. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh. I'm just -" he reached in his pocket for his psychic paper, but realised, with dread, that he didn't have it. The other – real – Doctor did. He looked up at the officer in front of him, saying quickly. "Shouldn't worry, I'm just looking in. I'm an officer – detective, strictly speaking."

"Any ID?" asked the policeman.

"Uh, no. No, I haven't," the Doctor admitted. He felt inside his pockets and patted his clothes, as if searching for it. "Must have left it in my other jacket."

The policeman eyed the Doctor suspiciously for a moment before nodding reluctantly. He seemed to have to be too busy controlling the crowd to worry about fake detectives, so he swiftly pointed at George, "Alright then, there's your man. Shot a man – Michael Birkitt – straight in the heart, early this morning. Doesn't even deny it."

The Doctor nodded, "Well, I'd like a word, um…"

"Regal. Officer Regal."

"Right, I'd like a word with George, Officer Regal."

"Here?"

"Oh, yes, here!"

Regal shrugged and opened the police car door, ushering the Doctor inside. The Doctor looked sorrowfully at George as he sat, "Hello George, remember me?"

"Yeah… course I 'member you," muttered George, lifting his head sadly. The Doctor nodded and George went on. "You a detective as well?"

"Sorry?"

"I thought you was a doctor not a detective?" said George.

"Ah, yeah, well I… dabble. I do a lot really," said the Doctor. George forced a small snort of laughter and looked out of the window. "What made you do it George?" the Doctor asked, gazing on him sadly.

George looked up at him, shaking his head with wet eyes, tears began to pour down his cheeks but he failed to give any sign that he knew they were there. "He was just sittin' there! He wouldn't do nothin'! And he just kept on sayin' it over and over and over again!" Mick cried out terribly, "I couldn't take it no more! So then I saw he'd kept a gun his dad 'ad given 'im…"

The Doctor's eyes were full of sadness as he stared at the crying youth in front of him, "George… I'm sorry. I am so sorry. Rose was right, we should have been there. I never thought we'd hurt two lives. I never thought…" he trailed off. "I had better go."

"Yeah," George nodded and wiped his tears away. "Bye, detective-doctor."

The doctor gave a tiny smile and made to get out of the car, "Oh!" he said quickly, turning around. "Have you seen the girl I was with yesterday, Rose?"

George nodded, "Yeah, I think she was 'ere. She went that way." He pointed vaguely to his left.

"Right," The doctor got out of the car, running his hand through his hair after slamming the door behind him; he didn't say anything to Regal when he called to ask the Doctor where he was going, but simply walked quickly in the direction in which George had pointed. He walked the streets, looking around for Rose, but for the life of him, he couldn't imagine where she had gone.

"Rose!" he called out. He sighed and after many silent streets he leaned back against a wall. Then, he heard a phone ring. His head turned sharply to the phone box where, for the second time that day tough he didn't know it, the phone was ringing. Slowly, the Doctor walked up to the phone box, went inside, and picked up the phone. He held it to his ear and after a moments pause he greeted it quietly, "Hello?"

There was silence for a few seconds, and then a singing voice rang out loudly into the Doctor's ear.

"Doctor… help us.

And help us help you ,"

The sound of the soft voice made the doctor's blood run cold. "Help you what? Who are you?"

"Help us. And help us help you ,"

"Help you -? Help you what?! What do want?!" said the Doctor desperately.

"Doctor, last of the Time Lords…

Help us. And help us help you .

Help us…

And you shall receive ."

"Receive? Receive what?!" The Doctor demanded, angry with himself, as much as the voice, for not understanding.

"Receive her ,"

The Doctor's face went suddenly pale; his face fell into a state of despair. "Rose…" he whispered, "no." He swallowed hard and spoke into the phone with a voice much calmer than he felt, but a tone full of his anger, "Give her back to me."

The voice sang on, with no fear of the Doctor's angry tone.

"Help us. And help us help you ,"

"Give her back!" he screamed, all calm gone. "What have you done?! Has she looked at you? If she has, or if you have so much as touched a blonde hair on her head, I'll -"

"You'll what?"

There was a definite edge to its song now. The Doctor found he was shaking with anger, but his voice was as calm as he could make it when he next spoke, "Okay! Okay, you're the Atopili, right? Okay, okay, give Rose back… and I'll help you."

"You, the doctor, will help us,

The last of the time lords will help us.

The last of the time lords will receive her

Once he has helped us.

Helped us…

Help us to win our war."

"War?" the Doctor frowned, shaking his head vigorously. "Atopili don't go into war. The Atopili have been hiding from war for centuries – legend says so!"

There was a long pause from the other end and, for a moment, the Doctor thought the line was dead. When the singing voice suddenly reappeared, it almost seemed apologetic,

"We are sorry.

You are right, it is not a war ."

The doctor nodded, knowingly, until it spoke again…

"This is the beginning of a universal annihilation ."

…

AN: Please review people. I hope you liked this one anyway, because it was fun to write. REVIEW! please...