AN: Edited 6/9/2014

EotW 2: Welcome to Platform One

Kira kept her eyes trained on the picture in front of her, her mind wondering as she thought about her earth. She thought about her parents and her friends. She wondered if they still existed in this universe and if right now they were down there, buried in the earth waiting for it to burn. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she thought about all the time with them she'd lost, all that they were never able to do. She quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. That was the past, now she needed to focus on finding a way to help the Doctor without messing things up.

Kira was startled out of her thoughts by the intercom sounding. "Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation, and religion." The Doctor left the room as the speaker droned on, leaving Kira and Rose to follow as they walked down a long hallway. "Earth death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester suite." The speaker finished. Once it was done Rose turned to the Doctor, a curious and slightly confused look in her eye. Kira was currently walking behind the duo, since the hall was too narrow for her to walk next to them.

"So, when it say's 'Guests' does that mean people?" Rose asked the Doctor as they turned a corner in the long hallway. Kira was looking around in interest. She'd seen this episode at least ten times in her universe, but she never really payed attention to how extravagant Platform One was.

"Depends what you mean by 'People'." The Doctor answered. Or kinda answered, more like skirted around the question really. Rose seemed confused, like the answer should be obvious.

"I mean people. What do you mean?" Rose asked, looking at the Doctor like she was wondering just how sane he was. Kira took this moment to steal one of the Doctor's lines, a line she'd always liked.

"Aliens." Kira said in synch with the Doctor. She had to hold back a giggle at the look on Rose's face. She seemed weirded out. The Doctor on the other hand, had an amused twinkle in his eye as they rounded another corner in the hallway.

"What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?" Rose asked, curious and slightly worried.

"It's not really a spaceship." The Doctor explained, trying to calm Rose down as they made it to a door at the end of the hall way. "More like an observation deck. The grate and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn." The Doctor spoke quickly as he sonicked the door, opening the door for them.

"What for?" Rose asked, seeming slightly lost.

"Fun." Kira and the Doctor answered at the same time, though Kira's voice held a hint of sadness. They walked into a large and elegant room with marble like floors and walls and large dark marble columns along the sides. There were pedestals placed in front of the columns with artifacts in glass cases on top of them. The roof of the room was a large window that extended out and down to become the wall directly across from the door. Through the window you could see the sun engulfed in flames that danced around it and the earth dangerously close.

"Mind you, when I say the grate and the good, what I mean is the rich." The Doctor continued as they walked further into the room towards the window. Kira was stunned by the sight and realized just how little attention she'd paid while watching the show and idly wondered if she'd ever watch it again.

"But, hold on. They did this once on 'Newsround Extra'; the sun expanding; that takes hundreds of years." Rose said, trying to wrap her head around everything. Kira could kind of understand her confusion, considering she'd yet to come to terms with the fact that this was her new life.

"Rose, it does take a considerable amount of time, but we are five billions years in the future. So I think enough time has passed." Kira said, trying to get Rose to understand.

"The planet's now the property of the National 've been keeping it preserved." The Doctor continued, trying to explain everything to Rose. "See down there?" He asked, pointing to the small satellites surrounding the planet. "Gravity satellites holding back the sun."

"The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things." Rose stated, looking at the Doctor and Kira for answers. Kira just continued looking out the window, leaving these questions to the Doctor. She was slightly worried that she was butting in to much and stealing too many lines.

"They did, and the 'Trust' shifted them back. That's a classic earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over." The Doctor explained to Rose, glancing at Kira and wondering if she was alright. He knew who she was now, but he wasn't sure if she knew yet. The truth behind the writing on her wrist.

"How long has it got?" Rose asked, glancing between the Doctor and the world outside. The Doctor broke his gaze from Kira and looked at his watch quickly before looking out the window.

"About half an hour. Then the planet gets roasted." He said, emphasizing the word 'roasted'. Rose looked at him like she was slightly amused but mostly confused.

"Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do; jump in at the last minute and save the earth?" She asked, confident that they were going to play hero again. Kira glanced at Rose with a sad look in her eye, knowing how sad Rose would be when she finds out the truth.

"I'm not saving it. Time's up." The Doctor said, leaning in close to Rose to try and get his point across.

"But what about the people?" Rose asked, unable to believe that they were just going to sit here and watch the earth burn from above.

"It's empty. They've all gone, all left." The Doctor explained with a happy tone in his voice.

"Just me, then." Rose said, a slight realization overcoming her. Kira turned to Rose and gave her a wide smile.

"Nonsense Rose, I'm here. Though, I'm American and from your future I'm still a human." Kira tried to force a cheery tone in her voice, and from the small smile on Rose's face she thought she succeeded, but one glance at the Doctor told her that he saw right through her. In truth she was scared. Scared that she wasn't human, that something happened when she traveled here, or maybe before that, when she touched the model TARDIS at the convention she went to. She wasn't quite sure, but she knew something was up. There was the odd writing on her wrist that labeled her as some sort of 'Keeper' and the Doctor's reaction when he saw it. And then there were all the small changes she'd notice. Like her increased strength and stamina. Before she could barely run half a block before collapsing, and now she could run miles without to much issue, or the fact that she was able to fight the Autons before. And now there was a pain in her chest. It would leave just as quickly as it appeared, but it seemed that each time it appeared it'd become worse and last longer. Kira was snapped out of her thoughts by the blue alien walking up to them with annoyance and nervousness written clearly across his face.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked with a sharp tone to his voice. Kira let out a shaky sigh as she turned to face him with the Doctor and Rose.

"Oh that's nice, thanks." The Doctor said with a sarcastic smile on his face to match the tone in his voice. He stealthily moved his hand to grab Kira's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He'd seen that worried look in her eye and knew something was up, he'd have to ask her about it later.

"But how did you get in?" The blue man, the Steward if Kira remembered correctly asked them, an obviously worried tone in his voice. "This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now"

This man is overworked. Kira thought to herself, noticing the strained and exhausted look in his eyes. She'd seen many people with that same look in their eyes before, heck, she'd had that look in her own eyes many times before. The Steward was panicking, obviously trying to find a way to remedy this situation before it's too late.

"No, that's me. I'm a guest. Look, I've got an invitation." The Doctor said, letting go of Kira's hand pulling out his psychic paper and showing it to the Steward. "Look, there. You see? It's fine, You see? The Doctor and Kira plus one. I'm the Doctor. This is Kira. And this is Rose Tyler, she's my 'Plus One' is that alright?" The Doctor spoke quickly, gesturing to Kira and Rose respectively. Kira slightly blushed at being included on the ticket. She'd assumed she'd be another 'Plus One'. The Doctor smirked slightly as he glanced down and saw her blush, causing her to blush an even darker red. Rose seemed to find this a both amusing and annoying if the conflicted look on her face was anything to go by, though the Steward didn't seem to notice anything.

"Well, obviously. Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy." The Steward said, slightly chastened by this new information. Kira reached up and grabbed the psychic paper from the Doctor's hand and looked at it, wondering what she'd see. On it she saw a extravagant invitation inviting the Doctor and Kira to attend a viewing of the sun expanding with a friend of their choice on Platform One, though after looking at it a moment Kira saw it flicker a bit turning to a blank white paper before turning back. It did this a few more times, giving Kira a rather annoying headache before the Doctor snatched it out of her hands.

"The paper's slightly psychic. Shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time." He explained to Rose, glancing at Kira and wondering if she already knew this. He was slightly shocked to see the annoyed look on her face as she slowly massaged her temples. "You okay?" He asked her, gently cupping her face and moving it so he could look into her eyes. She would have blushed if the pain in her head wasn't so severe.

"Yeah, just a slight headache, it'll leave soon enough." She reassured him, a slightly forced smile on her face.

"He's Blue." Rose said, deciding to move the conversation. She wasn't sure why, but she was slightly irritated with how much the Doctor was babying Kira.

"Yeah." The Doctor said simply, removing his hands from Kira's face and turning to face forwards again, a large smile on his face. Kira gave a relieved sigh, happy that the Doctor's attention was off her at the moment. She wasn't sure her heart could handle that much attention from him.

"Okay." Rose said, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that it was normal that someone was blue.